May Allah prolong your life in obedience to Allah and keep you as a treasure for the Muslims, and may Allah reward you for your efforts. After that, we love you for the sake of Allah and ask you: Is there a narrated supplication?

The questioner : The questioner says: May Allah prolong your life in obedience to Allah and keep you as a treasure for the Muslims, and may Allah reward you for your efforts. After that, we love you for the sake of Allah and ask you: Is there a narrated supplication from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when breaking the fast, or before breaking the fast, or after it? When is that supplication made? Then, during the adhan (the call to prayer) for the Maghrib (sunset) prayer, does the fasting person follow the mu'adhdhin or continue with breaking his fast?

The Shaykh : I say to my brother, may Allah accept his supplication and write for him the like of it, and may Allah (Mighty and Majestic), who loves us for His sake, love him. I ask Allah for myself and for you in this night and in this place to make us among His loved ones who follow His Shari'ah (Islamic sacred law), because the true measure of loving Allah is following the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Allah the Exalted said: Some of the Salaf (the earliest generations) call this verse the verse of the trial, meaning the verse of the test. A group claimed that they loved Allah, so it was said to them: This is so-and-so. Say: If you love Allah, then follow me, and Allah will love you. Likewise, we say to the one who claims to love the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him): If you love the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), then follow him and do not innovate in his religion what is not from it. When you follow the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), we know the truth of your claim in loving Allah and His Messenger. I say that breaking the fast, or the supplication when breaking the fast, is a place where supplication is answered, because it is at the end of the worship, and because a person is usually at his weakest in terms of the self when breaking his fast. The weaker a person's self is and the softer his heart, the closer he is to turning back and facing Allah (Mighty and Majestic). The narrated supplication is: Also from it is the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when he broke his fast: These two hadiths, although there is weakness in them, some scholars of knowledge graded them as good. In any case, if you supplicate with that or with anything else that comes to your mind when breaking the fast, it is a place where supplication is answered. As for responding to the mu'adhdhin while you are breaking your fast, yes, it is prescribed (mashru'), because his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): includes every state of states, except what evidence indicates is an exception. What evidence indicates as an exception is if a person is praying and hears the mu'adhdhin, then he does not respond to the mu'adhdhin, because there is occupation in the prayer, as came in the hadith. However, Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) says that a person responds to the mu'adhdhin even if he is in prayer, because of the generality of the hadith, and because responding to the mu'adhdhin is a prescribed (mashru') remembrance from the prayer, so it does not invalidate it. And because if a person sneezes while he is praying, he says Alhamdulillah (praise be to Allah) and does not say it? He says Alhamdulillah. And if he is told of a child or his son's success while he is praying, he says Alhamdulillah. Meaning, if his son succeeds, is it not a blessing?

The questioner : A blessing.

The Shaykh : If his son succeeds, it is a blessing, and not a blessing? He praises Allah for it. Okay, let us repeat the question a second time. I heard a man congratulate you while you are praying with a child, or with your son's success, or with something that benefits you in your religion and your world. Do you say Alhamdulillah or not? Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) was succeeded by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to lead the people in prayer, so the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) arrived. Abu Bakr wanted to step back so that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would step forward, but the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) prevented him. So Abu Bakr raised his hands while he was praying and said Alhamdulillah. Abu Bakr praised his Lord for this blessing, which was that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) kept him to be in front of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). But consequently, Abu Bakr was delayed. When he finished the prayer, he said: (may Allah be pleased with him). The result is that if a person is told of a blessing, there is no harm in saying Alhamdulillah while he is praying. And if a sting from Shaytan (Satan) strikes you and the door of whispers is opened to you, you seek refuge in Allah from it, and you are praying, yes, and you are praying. If we take from this a rule, which is that every...