Ruling on eating the pre-dawn meal after the morning adhan

✅ Answer: Please pay attention to the following narrations:

1 عن الحلبي عن أَبِي عبداللَّه أَنَّهُ سُئِلَ عَنْ رَجُلٍ تَسَحَّرَ ثُمَّ خَرَجَ مِنْ بَيْتِهِ و قَدْ طَلَعَ الْفَجْرُ و تَبَيَّنَ قال يُتِمُّ صَوْمَهُ ذَلكَ ثُمَّ لْيَقْضِه

📚 Tahdhib, Vol. 4, p. 269

It was asked of Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) about a person who eats the pre-dawn meal and then leaves the house while dawn has broken and become light. The Imam said: 'He completes that day's fast and later makes up for it!'

2 عن سماعة بن مهران قال: سَأَلْتُهُ عَنْ رَجُلٍ أَكَلَ و شَرِبَ بَعْدَ مَا طَلَعَ الْفَجْرُ في شَهْرِ رَمَضَانَ فَقَالَ إِنْ كَانَ قَامَ فَنَظَرَ فَلَمْ يَرَ الْفَجْرَ فَأَكَلَ ثُمَّ عَادَ فَرَأَى الْفَجْرَ فَلْيُتِمَّ صَوْمَهُ و لَا إِعَادَةَ عَلَيْهِ و إِنْ كَانَ قَامَ فَأَكَلَ وَ شَرِبَ ثُمَّ نَظَرَ إِلَى الْفَجْرِ فَرَأَى أَنَّهُ قَدْ طَلَعَ الْفَجْرُ فَلْيُتِمَّ صَوْمَهُ وَ يَقْضِي يَوْماً آخَرَ لِأَنَّهُ بَدَأَ بِالْأَكْلِ قَبْلَ النَّظَرِ فَعَلَيْهِ الْإِعَادَة

📚 Al-Kafi, Vol. 4, p. 96

Sam'ah said: I asked the Imam (peace be upon him) about a person who eats and drinks in the month of Ramadan after dawn. The Imam said: 'If he gets up and looks and does not see the dawn (i.e., the light of the morning), so he eats, and then he returns and sees that dawn has broken, he must complete his fast, and it is not on him to make it up. And if he got up and ate and drank and then came and looked at the dawn and saw that dawn had broken, he must complete that day's fast and make up one day because he started eating before looking and checking for the dawn, so it is on him to make it up!'

3 علي بن أبي حمزة عن أَبِي إِبْرَاهِيمَ قال: سَأَلْتُهُ عَنْ رَجُلٍ شَرِبَ بَعْدَ ما طَلَعَ الْفَجْرُ و هُوَ لَا يَعْلَمُ فِي شَهْرِ رَمَضَانَ قال يَصُومُ يَوْمَهُ ذَلكَ و يَقْضِي يَوْماً آخَر

📚 Al-Kafi, Vol. 4, p. 97

Ali ibn Abi Hamza said: I asked Imam Kadhim (peace be upon him) about a person who drinks something in the month of Ramadan after dawn while he did not know (that dawn had broken). The Imam said: 'He fasts that day and makes up for one other day!'

4 عن مُعَاوِیَةَ بْنِ عمار قَالَ: قُلْتُ لِأَبِی عَبْداللَّه آمُرُ الْجَارِیَةَ أَنْ تَنْظُرَ طَلَعَ الْفَجْرُ أَمْ لَا فَتَقُولُ لَمْ یَطْلُعْ فَآکُلُ ثُمَّ أَنْظُرُهُ فَأَجِدُهُ قَدْ طَلَعَ حِینَ نَظَرَتْ قَالَ تُتِمُّ یَوْمَکَ ثُمَّ تَقْضِیهِ أَمَا إِنَّکَ لَوْ کُنْتَ أَنْتَ الَّذِی نَظَرْتَ مَا کَانَ عَلَیْکَ قَضَاؤُهُ.

📚 Al-Kafi, Vol. 4, p. 97

Mu'awiya ibn Ammar said: I said to Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): 'I order my maidservant to see if dawn has broken or not, and she says: 'It has not broken!' So I eat, and then I look and realize that dawn had broken at the time the maidservant looked!' The Imam said: 'You must complete the fast of that day and then make up for it. Know that if you had looked yourself, it would not have been on you to make it up!'

✅ Based on the above narrations and others, if a person in the month of Ramadan does not know that dawn has broken and eats something, there are two situations with different rulings for him:

1 If he comes and looks at the dawn and sees that it has not broken and goes to eat and drink, and then he comes back and sees that dawn has broken and he has unknowingly eaten something after dawn, he must fast that day and complete it, and there is no need to make up for that day.

2 But if he starts eating and drinking without looking at the dawn, and then he comes and sees that dawn has broken and he has also eaten something after dawn, he must complete the fast of that day, and for the reason that he started eating before looking at the dawn and his eating also occurred after dawn, one day of making up for the fast is on him!

✅ Also, according to Hadith 4, if we order someone else to check for the dawn and he says it has not broken, and then we realize that dawn had broken and our eating occurred after dawn, we must complete the fast of that day and also make up for it.

✅ All of the above situations relate to the month of Ramadan and a state in which a person thinks that dawn has not yet broken and begins to eat and drink while dawn has already broken and his eating and drinking occurred after dawn.

اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَی مُحَمَّدٍ وَ آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ

وَ عَجِّلْ لِوَلِیِّکَ الْفَرَجَ وَ الْعَافِیَةَ وَ النَّصْرَ