ﷺ informed his ummah that when night advances from the direction of the east and day recedes from the west—that is, when the sun has set—the fasting person has entered the time of breaking fast. He should not postpone it; indeed, he would be censured for doing so. Prompt ifṭār fulfills the Lawgiver’s command, actualizes obedience, distinguishes the time of worship from other times, and grants the soul its share of the lawful enjoyments of life.

Points derived from the hadith

1. It is recommended to break the fast as soon as sunset is established.
2. For ifṭār to be lawful, night must truly have begun in tandem with the withdrawal of daylight. Mere darkness appearing from the east while the sun is still visible does not count as nightfall; genuine night comes only when its onset accompanies the retreat of day, and the two occur together.
3. The phrase “the fasting person has broken his fast” can be understood in two ways:
   a. It may mean that, in the legal sense, his fast has ended simply because the time for ifṭār has arrived, even if he has not yet eaten or drunk. Reports urging haste would then be encouraging a physical ifṭār so that the outward act matches the legal reality.
   b. Or it may mean that he has entered the period of ifṭār, just as one says “anjada” of a person who has reached Najd and “at-hama” of someone who has reached Tihāmah. In this case the command to hasten ifṭār retains its literal sense, and this reading is preferable. It is reinforced by al-Bukhārī’s wording: “then the time for ifṭār has become permissible.”
4. The ruling on continuous fasting (wisāl) follows from these two interpretations. If we take the first—that the fast has legally ended—then wisāl is invalid, because it cannot