Article: When to Start Fasting; Importance of Suhoor

Source: http://www.arabnews.com/?page=5&section=0&article=87536&d=4&m=10&y=2006&pix=islam.jpg&category=Islam

Edited by Adil Salahi

In the early period of Islam, fasting extended from the time when one went to sleep after praying Isha until sunset on the following day, a time span of more than 20 hours every day. Should one go to sleep before eating, but after sunset, one would have to continue fasting until the next evening. This was changed when the Qur’anic verse that made dawn the start of fasting was revealed. We explained the Hadith which clarifies the meaning of this verse, leaving no doubt whatsoever that we begin fasting with the first rays of dawn.

When this relaxation was given, the Prophet (peace be upon him) taught his companions to exercise it to the full, making sure to have a meal shortly before the beginning of the day of fasting. At the time of the Prophet, two of his companions made the call to prayer at dawn, Bilal and Ibn Umm Maktoom. Both were among the early companions of the Prophet. Bilal was a former Abyssinian slave who had a very melodious voice. Ibn Umm Maktoom was a blind man whose incident with the Prophet is the subject of Surah 80, The Frowning, of the Qur’an. Each one of them made the call to prayer at dawn time, with Bilal making it first, then Ibn Umm Maktoom. In order not to leave any room for confusion, the Prophet mentioned to his companions that they should consider the call made by Ibn Umm Maktoom as the signal for starting the fast. Aishah, the Prophet’s wife, mentions that Bilal made his call to prayer when it was still nighttime. She further quotes the Prophet as saying: “Eat and drink until Ibn Umm Maktoom makes his call to prayer. He does not make it until the break of dawn.” This Hadith is related by Al-Bukhari, and several other versions of it are related by Muslim. Al-Bukhari further quotes a statement added by one of the reporters of this Hadith which states: “The gap between the two calls to prayer made by them was no more than what it took the one to come down and the other to go up.”

We note that the time gap between the two calls to prayer was not more than a few minutes. Yet the Prophet was keen to tell his companions, and all Muslims in future generations, that they need not start fasting before they are absolutely certain that it is due. Some people in later generations began to advise people to leave a gap of time between finishing their meal and the time for Fajr, or dawn prayer. They did this as a precaution against error. This Hadith and similar ones are clear in that no such time gap is required for any reason. Indeed the Prophet has taught us to leave our meal before the start of fasting, i.e. suhoor or sehri, as late as possible. Anas quotes the Prophet as saying: “Make sure to have your suhoor meal, for suhoor is blessed.” Another Hadith related by Muslim on the authority of Amr ibn Al-Aas quotes the Prophet as saying: “The difference between our fasting and that of the people of earlier revelations is the suhoor meal.”

These two Hadiths stress the importance of making good preparations for a day of fasting by having a meal immediately before it is time to begin the fast. This meal is given a distinctive name, suhoor, which is derived from the root sahar which denotes the night time immediately before dawn. The Prophet explains to us that it is this meal that distinguishes our fasting from that of the people who received earlier divine messages. It is, therefore, a concession given to us by God so that we are better able to undertake the task of fasting throughout the day. When the Prophet indicated that something has become a distinctive mark of the Muslim community, that indication enhances its significance and makes it highly important for everyone to act upon it. As the Prophet adds in the first of the last two Hadiths that this meal in the early hours of the morning is blessed, he leaves us no doubt that we should always make sure to have it.

Some people find it difficult to wake up at that early time in order to have a meal. They say that they prefer to go without it rather than interrupt their sleep. Be that as it may, they lose a great deal of blessings by sleeping through that time. They will have to wake up shortly afterward anyway if they want to do their duty and offer the dawn prayer. If they wake up for suhoor they make sure of praying Fajr at the beginning of its time range, which is far preferable. Moreover, if they allow themselves half an hour extra, they can have a short stint of night worship which is always one of the best rewarded acts of worship. It is far more so in Ramadan, when every good action is rewarded much more amply by God. The best schedule any Muslim can have in the nights of Ramadan is to wake up, say, an hour before dawn, and have half an hour or 40 minutes of night worship before having his suhoor meal. He can then go on to pray Fajr and, perhaps, recite some passages of the Qur’an before going back to sleep, if he wishes to do so. That makes his day and night very blessed indeed.

The Prophet himself used to have suhoor. At times, some of his companions joined him for his suhoor meal. Zayd ibn Thabit, a young companion of the Prophet, reports: “We had suhoor with the Prophet (peace be upon him) before he stood up to pray.” Anas, who transmitted this report, asked Zayd: “How much time was there between the call to prayer and your suhoor?” He answered: “About 50 verses of the Qur’an.” This means that the Prophet started his suhoor about 15 or 20 minutes before it was time for Fajr. The recitation of 50 verses of average length, in a mode which is neither fast nor slow, does not take more than that.

We note here that Zayd, who was to become one of the most renowned reciters of the Qur’an and the person to be entrusted with compiling its complete and standard version at the time of Abu Bakr, estimated the time of suhoor by reciting 50 verses. The Arabs at the time used to estimate time by certain familiar actions. They used to say that a certain action is done over “the time it takes to milk a sheep, or to slaughter a camel, etc.” Zayd, however, chose a different sort of action, which is the recitation of the Qur’an. This serves as an indication that that particular time should be devoted for worship. Moroever, the Qur’an was the most important thing in the life of that Muslim community. Its recitation was the most familiar of actions to them. To give an accurate estimation of time, Zayd suggested that their suhoor took place earlier than Fajr by the short time which it took to recite 50 verses.

That was a suhoor taken with the Prophet. We note that the Prophet chose the course which he knew was easiest for his companions. He realized that if he had his meal long before Fajr, his companions would have done likewise. Since that is not required by our faith, he left his meal to the latest time possible. His companions realized that and followed his guidance. Sahl ibn Saad, a companion of the Prophet, reports: “I used to have suhoor with my family before going speedily to join Fajr prayer. My speed would be such that I managed to catch up with God’s Messenger when he was in his prostration,” i.e. sujood. Again, this Hadith indicates that the Prophet’s companions left their suhoor very late. There was no time left between finishing suhoor and Fajr time. Sahl needed to go very fast to the mosque after finishing his meal, because if he did not walk fast he might have missed Fajr prayer with the Prophet. What the Prophet’s companions did serves as a good example for us to follow. They understood the Prophet’s guidance better than anyone else. They had the easy resource of checking with him anything of which they were uncertain. By following their example, we also will be following the Prophet’s guidance.

Angela Collins: Why I decided to submit?

Source: http://www.islamicity.com/articles/Articles.asp?ref=IC0408-2411


I accept that I cannot control the events that occur in my life or in the lives of others.

Islam is the only religion that communicates total submission to our Creator, the Creator of all people and of all things. As a Muslim I know that everything I do first begins with an intention and then I must transform that intention into an effort in order to carry out what has already been decreed. This wisdom defines my path to be a better person to myself, my family, my community and to all of my brothers and sisters here on earth.

In essence Allah (the one God) opened my heart, Islam gave me the direction, and now I live to serve out the guidance lent by my Creator for happiness here on earth and if Allah wills, in the hereafter.

While religion is a resource to help guide ourselves to good behavior through our spirituality, there is no prerequisite that it should be far fetched in mental comprehension.

I am a recent convert. Catholicism is the religion followed by my forefathers. At the age of 14, I refused the trinity concept and narrowed what I saw as a complicated tale of 'three in one' down to 'two in one' and started attending a Baptist church.

Throughout my life, I have searched for understanding, but when it came to my faith I truly was confused about why God would come as a human being and would allow himself to die for the sins of only those privileged enough to believe in his (or his son's) crucifixion. I found this explanation extravagant and shared my doubts with pastors and scholars who gave every effort to communicate the Christian belief to my understanding. I asked myself: "Why would my religion need to be so complex?" When I reached adulthood, I decided to make it very simple. There was just one, our Creator and that was it. No other explanation could rationally make sense.

I see Islam as a religion that came to clarify the errors of human beings who changed the original word of God to fit their interests. Islam is simple: God is God. God created us and we worship God and God alone. God sent Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed (PBUH) to deliver his message to guide all people. In Islam, Jesus is the only prophet who never died which is why he is the only messenger who will come back before the Day of Judgment to lead the people of the books: [the Torah, the Injeel (Bible) the book of Psalms and the Quran]. The Quran is the final book that has never been altered to fit the changing interest of people throughout history.

Islam confirms that you are not awarded passage into heaven just because you say you are Muslim. And you may not go straight to heaven just because you believe that God is monotheistic. You go to heaven based on your intentions and actions following the message taught to us by the messengers themselves and confirmed by the original books of God. Heaven is not an exclusive club for those who merely follow what their fathers taught them. Instead it is your responsibility, especially as a Muslim, to constantly search for truth, understanding and to read and think. After reading every chapter in the Quran twice and taking detailed notes, I believe that this masterpiece could only have come from my Creator. Without a doubt the author of this book knows more about me than I know about myself.

It is no secret that Islam is seriously misunderstood and disliked by many here in my homeland, the United States. My conversion to this "controversial" religion has my family and friends puzzled. It is my sincere belief that Allah led me to Islam by enhancing my passion in exploring unfamiliar perspectives through foreign travel. I have a genuine interest in building bridges with all people everywhere rather than promoting my own ideology as the only system that can work for all people.

While culture shock is a mild term to express the drastically different life styles of Muslims in the Middle East, I saw great beauty in the generosity of people, the cohesiveness of families and the immediate acceptance of a girl so foreign in her ways. Even so, in the present I face a culture shock within my own predominantly Middle Eastern Muslim community. I do understand the challenges a Muslim born into their religion faces to dissect their own culture within it. After finding myself in Islam, I am able to adhere to the teachings supported by the Quran and Hadiths while also managing to bypass the cultural manifestations taught by Muslims born into their religion. Islam is multi-cultural and is a system that can be adopted in any environment at any point in time.

I can confidently say that if Allah had not breathed Islam into my soul, I would have never found Angela. Well, today, here I am: Angela, a Muslim American: the soul who persistently searched for her Creator and has found the Creator of all that is in the universe and beyond, in Islam.

Angela Collins

Blog post

I have found a nice post on http://tsunamiofblood.squarespace.com/journal/2006/8/29/news-flash-august-29-2006.html

I have included a comment that I'm copying here now:

Everything that the american administration is doing is worsening its situation vis-a-vis the Muslim world. And favoring Israel in all UN resolutions (among other things) is not helping at all. What are they expecting the Arab world to do? What are they expecting the palestinians to do? What are they expecting Iraqis to do? Just sit there and watch them destroy their lives? That won't happen, that will never happen.
Look at Iraq! Democracy they said...they have civil war now, how nice! Great job Mr. Bush, you destroyed one of the oldest and most prestigious civilizations ever. Or maybe was it intentional after all, to erase the whole civilization?Look at Israel...self-defence my a**. They can destroy whatever they want and nobody makes a move, they can emprison 10,000 people and no one makes a move, but everybody rushes when Hezbollah kidnaps two soldiers...not even civilians, while Israel kills civilians every day in the occupied territories. Yes, EVERY DAY.
Regular violations of lebanese airspace and nobody moves. But 2 soldiers are too much, right? they have to defend themselves and destroy all the bridges in Lebanon and 90% of the industry. How nice indeed.
Lebanon was being bombed and destroyed and nobody moved..and suddenly everybody wanted a UN resolution and a cease-fire. Did anyone every wonder why this sudden rush? I say because Israel was getting his a** kicked on the ground and couldn't handle it anymore. I have heard stories of Israeli soldiers screaming like women in fights with Hezbollah.
Cowards. Big deal pushing a button when they are in their american-made F16s. But down on the ground, their value is zero. With all their planes, helicopters, artillery and tanks, they couldn't advance more than 2 miles inside lebanese territory in some places. And for those who like the "strategic redeployment of troops" understand finally that it means "we are getting our a** kicked and have to retreat."