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Offline Reader Questions

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Salaam alaikum brother,

According to the Quran, if we are to break our fast at nightfall, this would mean we do this after maghrib prayer?

Thanks & Regards

Offline Joseph Islam

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Re: When is the Best Time To Open the Fast According to the Quran?
« Reply #1 on: July 26, 2012, 11:49:38 PM »
Salamun Alaikum,

Please see the following article below which discusses from a Quranic perspective, a possible period / time to define the start of 'layl' (night).


FASTING IS PRESCRIBED UNTIL NIGHT NOT SUNSET
http://quransmessage.com/articles/fasting%20till%20night%20FM3.htm


Please also note my views on 'layl' which were recently given on a Facebook page which I am replicating here for relevance.

Thank you to all those that asked. (PM / Email etc)

Yes, indeed it is my humble view from a Quran's perspective that 'night' (layl) does not necessarily refer to 'Isha' or 'TOTAL darkness' which the Quran has used other expressions for such as 'al-layli muzliman' (10:27) or 'ghasaq al-layl' (17:78). 'Night' (layl) is a GRADUAL occurrence (22:61, 31:29, 74:33-34) which starts and leads to total darkness, but is not necessarily synonymous with the very point at which sunset occurs.

To describe the period of sunset, other expressions are known to the Quran such as maghrib al'shams 18:86 and duluk e-shams 17:78 etc. These are not the expressions used in 2:187 or anything similar. Therefore, in my humble opinion, the onset of night (layl) is a short period after sunset.

As with the end of Sehri (start of fasting) which is based on an observers 'perception' and not intended to be an exact science "until the white thread of dawn appear to you distinct from its black thread" (2:187), I always find verse 6:76 a great indicator and arguably a good perception of the onset of 'night' when the earliest stars / planets become clearly visible in the sky. This is generally a short period after sunset but well before total darkness / isha.

006.076
When the night (Arabic: al-laylu) covered over him, He saw a star (Arabic: kawkab'an): He said: "This is my Lord." But when it set, He said: "I love not those that set."



I hope that helps, God willing.

Regards,
Joseph
'During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act' 
George Orwell