If a Muslim is eating and the Fajr adhan is called, what is the ruling on his fast, and does he have to make it up?

'Aid 'Abassi: If a Muslim is eating and the adhan is called for him, what is the ruling on his fast? Does he have to make it up? That is the question.

The Shaykh : The Qur'anic text is explicit on this, namely the saying of Allah the Exalted: The verse is explicit in permitting the person who is eating the pre-dawn meal to continue with his food and drink until the dawn becomes clear, meaning until he is certain of the rising of the true dawn. And for a wisdom in what is mentioned in it, our Lord, Mighty and Majestic, said: Because clarifying a thing is being certain of it. The reality is that there are many questions regarding the fact that the mu'adhdhins in this country call the adhan with the rising of the true dawn. We were in 'Umrah this Ramadan in Makkah and Madinah, and we saw them delay the adhan, the adhan of the true dawn, by about half an hour. And we do not know of a difference there in terms of longitude lines that leads to this difference between their dawn and our dawn. Our observation there reminded us of what we hear from some of our cultured, knowledgeable brothers in Jordan, who assert that the adhan in Jordan, generally speaking, not only in Ramadan, is called about a third of an hour before the true dawn. Then some of these Jordanian brothers came here and contacted some of our brothers, and they also observed the rising of the dawn here in Damascus, specifically. It became clear to them—and I do not say "clarified" because after I clarified what became clear to them—it became clear to them that the matter here is like the matter there. Therefore, it was in my mind that we hold a special session with some of our brothers to study this issue for us here in Damascus.
That is, do they call the second adhan, not the first adhan? Do they call the second adhan, by which food is prohibited and prayer becomes permissible, at the exact time, or do they advance it before the time, as they do in the innovation of the first adhan? They call it the adhan of imsak, but in reality, from the Shari'ah perspective, it is the adhan for food and drink, not the adhan of imsak. They call it the adhan of imsak, and it has even been recorded in what they call the imsakiyyah, so it became obligatory for every fasting person to abstain from his food and drink as soon as he hears the first adhan, which is, by Shari'ah, the adhan for food and drink. This is evidenced by the hadith of al-Bukhari and Muslim from a group of the Companions that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: So he (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded regarding the adhan for food and drink that a person should continue with it, even after the adhan of Bilal, because Bilal says he calls the adhan so that the sleeper may rise and the person eating the pre-dawn meal may eat. The first adhan is for the purpose of alerting that it is now the time for food and drink. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: And it was mentioned in this hadith that the time between their two adhans was the length of reciting fifty verses, meaning the time between the two adhans is a very short time, and it is not the distance that takes about a quarter of an hour today, between the so-called adhan of imsak and the adhan of Fajr. Therefore, it is possible that some of the timekeepers who set the astronomical timing also noticed a second precaution, other than the precaution of the adhan of imsak; they noticed a second precaution in timing the second adhan and advanced it so that the true dawn would not enter, in their claim. And some of them are still eating, so they break their fast. If this is the case, it indicates great ignorance, because there are two matters, each of which is an act of worship and obedience. Just as it is not permissible for the person eating the pre-dawn meal to continue with food and drink until the entry of the true dawn, so it is not permissible for a person to pray before the true dawn. Each of them is an act of worship. In conclusion, regarding this second adhan, it is necessary in reality to verify that it is called at the time. And we have very great doubts about the matters we mentioned. Nevertheless, there is a clear dispensation and concession in the authentic hadith. If we assume that this second adhan is called by the mu'adhdhins at the correct time of the true dawn, this noble concession applies, where he (may Allah's prayer and peace be upon him) said: meaning the second one. As for the first one: As for the second adhan, until you take your need: So in this is a concession that the fasting person may continue with food until he takes his need, not what makes him relax, not what he sits to think about or to crack seeds, for example, on the pretext that: No, this is not something he has a need for; this is a matter of relaxation. The hadith is explicit: The one who is eating or drinking from it:
'Ayd 'Abassi: ... .

The Shaykh : Last question.
'Aid 'Abassi: Okay.