What is the sign of the dawn's appearance? Is it the firing of the cannon?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : A person is in the Haram, and he knows nothing about the human being, and he was delayed regarding the human being until the end of the abatement, so a person next to him said to him, "You are delayed regarding the human being, and the human being is obligatory at the firing of the cannon." I hope for confirmation, may Allah benefit you.
The Shaykh : Here in Makkah, the firing of the cannon is to urge people to end their suhur, and it is not a sign that the dawn has appeared. Rather, the sign of the dawn's appearance is the adhan of the mu'adhdhin. If the mu'adhdhin calls the adhan, it is obligatory to abstain outwardly. As for the cannon, it is not obligatory to abstain upon it, because Allah the Exalted says:[Al-Baqarah 2:187] Therefore, it is not obligatory for a person to abstain from eating and drinking until the dawn becomes clear. For this reason, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Sahih Muslim 1092b for it is not called until the dawn appears. This was established in Sahih al-Bukhari.
On this occasion, I would like to point out a common issue among the Arabs. They say that if a person eats and drinks for suhur and then intends to fast, it is not permissible for him to eat after that, even if the dawn has not appeared. This is not correct. If you eat and drink and intend to fast and consider yourself finished, but the dawn has not appeared, you may eat and drink until the dawn appears.
The Shaykh : Here in Makkah, the firing of the cannon is to urge people to end their suhur, and it is not a sign that the dawn has appeared. Rather, the sign of the dawn's appearance is the adhan of the mu'adhdhin. If the mu'adhdhin calls the adhan, it is obligatory to abstain outwardly. As for the cannon, it is not obligatory to abstain upon it, because Allah the Exalted says:
And eat and drink until the white thread of dawn becomes distinct to you from the black thread
وَكُلُوا وَاشْرَبُوا حَتَّىٰ يَتَبَيَّنَ لَكُمُ الْخَيْطُ الْأَبْيَضُ مِنَ الْخَيْطِ الْأَسْوَدِ مِنَ الْفَجْرِBilal announces Adhan during the night, so you eat and drink, till you hear the Adhan of Ibn Umm Maktum.
إِنَّ بِلاَلاً يُؤَذِّنُ بِلَيْلٍ فَكُلُوا وَاشْرَبُوا حَتَّى تَسْمَعُوا أَذَانَ ابْنِ أُمِّ مَكْتُومٍOn this occasion, I would like to point out a common issue among the Arabs. They say that if a person eats and drinks for suhur and then intends to fast, it is not permissible for him to eat after that, even if the dawn has not appeared. This is not correct. If you eat and drink and intend to fast and consider yourself finished, but the dawn has not appeared, you may eat and drink until the dawn appears.
Source
دروس وفتاوى المسجد الحرام لعام 1402هـ - 10 — binothaimeen.net (49:30)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.