[Commentary]

The author—may Allah have mercy on him—opens this section of Riyāḍ al-Ṣāliḥīn with the chapter entitled: “The Merit of Hastening to Break the Fast, What to Break It With, and What to Say When Doing So.”

The discussion involves three points. The first concerns hastening to break the fast, on condition that one is certain the sun has set. The proof is the Prophet’s ﷺ statement in the ḥadīth of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb cited earlier: “When night advances from this side”—meaning the east—“and day withdraws from this side”—meaning the west—“and the sun has set, the fasting person has indeed broken his fast.”

Therefore, as soon as the disk of the sun disappears, a person should eat, even if some whiteness or afterglow remains on the horizon. Once the disk is gone, he should hasten to break his fast; this is both the Prophet’s ﷺ verbal and practical sunnah.

Evidence for his practice is found in the ḥadīth of ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her). ʿAṭiyyah and Masrūq asked her about two Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: one would delay breaking the fast and the Maghrib prayer, while the other would hasten both. “Which of the two is in the right?” they asked. She replied, “Who is the one who hastens?” They said, “Ibn Masʿūd (may Allah be pleased with him).” She answered, “That is exactly how the Prophet ﷺ used to do,” meaning that he would hasten to break the fast and perform the Maghrib prayer. This practical sunnah shows that breaking the fast promptly is superior.

His verbal sunnah is illustrated by the ḥadīth of Sahl ibn Saʿd in which the Prophet ﷺ said, “People will continue