with Abū Baṣrah al-Ghifārī on a boat in al-Fusṭāṭ during Ramadan. When the vessel pushed off he had his morning meal set out and said, “Come and eat.” I said, “Do you not see the houses still in view?” He replied, “Are you turning away from the sunnah of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ?” and he began to eat.

This report cannot be used as proof for two reasons:

First: According to the soundest criterion, Abū Dāwūd’s silence about a narration he includes in his Sunan is not, in itself, sufficient to establish its authenticity. Each ḥadīth must still be examined, and that is the task of a ḥāfiẓ, for the science of ḥadīth requires reliable memorisation in order to distinguish between sound and weak reports, as al-Ḥākim explicitly states in Maʿrifat ʿUlūm al-Ḥadīth. The opponent’s claim that he personally possesses this qualification is nothing but an empty assertion.

Second: Even if the report were sound, it would still provide no evidence, for it does not state that he set out after dawn, boarded the ship, and then ate. It is quite possible that he left his home before daybreak, boarded the ship, and thus was allowed to eat—exactly as the majority hold: whoever departs before dawn may eat during that same day, whereas one who sets out after dawn is not permitted to break the fast that day.