What if someone eats after the dawn call to prayer?
2026-10-14
T192 · Ibn Taymiyyah
Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah
شيخ الإسلام أحمد بن تيمية
Original Q&A · Complete source question and answer
Complete original question and answer, 25/216–217. The first case concerns a call given before actual dawn; it is not permission to eat after a call known to coincide with dawn. The answer's disagreement over an honest timing mistake is retained.
النص العربي
السؤال الأصلي
وسئل عما إذا أكل بعد أذان الصبح في رمضان: ماذا يكون؟
الجواب
الحمد لله، أما إذا كان المؤذن يؤذن قبل طلوع الفجر كما كان بلال يؤذن قبل طلوع الفجر على عهد النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم، وكما يؤذن المؤذنون في دمشق وغيرها قبل طلوع الفجر فلا بأس بالأكل والشرب بعد ذلك بزمن يسير.
وإن شك: هل طلع الفجر أو لم يطلع؟ فله أن يأكل ويشرب حتي يتبين الطلوع، ولو علم بعد ذلك أنه أكل بعد طلوع الفجر، ففي وجوب القضاء نزاع.
والأظهر:أنه لا قضاء عليه، وهو الثابت عن عمر،وقال به طائفة من السلف والخلف، والقضاء هو المشهور في مذهب الفقهاء الأربعة. والله أعلم.
English translation
English translation prepared for SalafAlSalih.com from the cited Arabic source. It is not an official translation.
Original question
He was asked: What is the ruling if someone eats after the dawn call to prayer in Ramadan?
Answer
Praise be to Allah. If the caller gives the call before dawn, as Bilāl used to do during the Prophet's time, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and as callers in Damascus and elsewhere give it before dawn, there is no harm in eating and drinking for a short time afterwards.
If he is uncertain whether dawn has appeared, he may eat and drink until its appearance becomes clear. If he later learns that he ate after dawn, there is disagreement over whether he must make up the day.
The stronger view is that he does not have to make it up. This is established from ʿUmar and was held by a group of the earlier and later scholars. Requiring the day to be made up is the well-known position in the schools of the four jurists. Allah knows best.
Source and editorial notes
Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā 25/216–217
مجموع الفتاوى
Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā
Arabic checked against the cited source and adjacent question boundaries. Diacritics and display marks omitted; honorific glyphs expanded. Titles and scope notes are editorial.