If the setting of the sun is not known due to clouds, when do we break the fast?

The questioner : Regarding Ramadan in the coming years, it falls in the winter season. You know the weather conditions and such in winter; it is possible that the sun is obscured from our view, whether at dawn or at sunset. What is the criterion here?

The Shaykh : The criterion: this issue is similar to the previous one we mentioned, But sometimes, fast with your country. Be patient. I am reminding you that I am telling you this issue is like that one when every mu'adhdhin is performing his duty within the limits of the Shari'ah. In that case, if this mu'adhdhin makes a mistake, his mistake is forgiven. But he is going to have what shall we call, a nature or instinct, a special intuition that others do not share. For example, when the weather is foggy or cloudy or overcast or something similar, he will... As they say, we have in the Levant now, I remember something. We have the Great Mosque, the Umayyad Mosque. The mu'adhdhins would go up to the minaret, and a senior official, the head of the mu'adhdhins, would look at the weather and address them, saying to them, "Makkin," meaning do not call the adhan. Why? Because the weather is not good, meaning there are clouds...
Abu Malik: His statement is good.

The Shaykh : His statement is good, yes. "Makkin." So this Shari'ah-compliant mu'adhdhin will be cautious, meaning he will be careful in the matter. Then, whether he is correct or makes a mistake, his mistake, as you know, is rewarded. We are going around saying that we do not accept this reality that is explicitly contrary to the Shari'ah, without any debate. But if we have started applying the Shari'ah, but the one applying it makes a mistake, he is rewarded. But if he does not exercise ijtihad, as is our current reality regarding this unified adhan, then these are mistakes for which he is not rewarded; rather, all the burden is upon him. So, if there is fog or clouds, the mu'adhdhin should be cautious and call the adhan based on his ijtihad, and the matter is done.

The questioner : But the same Shari'ah-compliant mu'adhdhin does not exist now.

The Shaykh : Yes?

The questioner : The Shari'ah-compliant mu'adhdhin I mentioned earlier does not exist!

The Shaykh : I know.

The questioner : Do we rely on the adhan then?

The Shaykh : I am saying something regarding your statement that this mu'adhdhin does not exist. This is the thing you are asking about; I am in that reality. I am taking it now that there is always a difference between the Shari'ah adhan and the astronomical adhan of twenty-five minutes.

The questioner : In all years?

The Shaykh : No, this is always, absolutely. So when I see there is fog, there are clouds in the east, I wait. But when I hear the adhan, I say there are still twenty-five minutes left!
Abu Malik: So in this case, is it permissible to rely on the clock, O Shaykh?

The Shaykh : Of course, we all rely on the clock. But we do not want to let the clock cause us to lose the Shari'ah timing!
Abu Malik: O Shaykh, I want to speak on this topic first...

The Shaykh : How?

The questioner : These twenty-five minutes are considered relative to the house.The Shaykh .

The Shaykh: HouseThe Shaykh : Yes.
Abu Malik: So I say that perhaps some of the incidents that occurred to the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) point to this matter in travel, such as the incident in which was revealed. That was when the Companions were traveling, and it was a cloudy night. Then they exercised ijtihad. How did they know the dawn first, and how did they know the qiblah? They did not know the qiblah, but they exercised ijtihad. So when it became morning, they found that every person...

The Shaykh : Every person prayed in a different direction.
Abu Malik: This is one thing, and this perhaps points to the question you asked, O... As for the second thing, and commenting on how we find the seeing or Shari'ah-compliant mu'adhdhin, I say that how did all people in the past centuries know the times? There were no clocks. The intuition or sense for knowing the time existed in each of them. Today, this sense has disappeared and ended, so they came to rely on this machine that makes mistakes and hits the mark, and its correctness is less than its error. So, when we want to return people to the Shari'ah of Allah anew, as it was before, all we have to do is start with one person and say to him, "Come, learn." And there is no doubt that this one person exists, as evidenced by the fact that if you go to the villages and the desert, you find that the people there do not rely on the clock at all. They rely on custom and the bare visual observation that they have become accustomed to and inherited from their fathers and grandfathers. This inheritance exists. So how do we teach people if we do not find scholars who teach? And we say to them, "Come, learn." So we answer by taking one person from the desert and saying to him, "Come, teach the people." So this matter, O Shaykh, means...

The Shaykh : No, this is a matter of the fitrah of Allah with which He created people. I say, regarding my house, it is as Abu Sulayman said exactly. But I am now raising a question: if I am on the mountain and there is this difference, what will the difference be for the one in the valley?
Abu Malik: One and a half hours.

The Shaykh : And specifically, for the one in the Great Mosque, the Mosque of al-Husayn, when will it be? People, there is a very big difference between the Shari'ah time and the astronomical time.
Abu Malik: There was one, may Allah have mercy on him, named...The Shaykh : Mukhtar. He was a scholar of language.The Shaykh : Mukhtar al-Shinqiti.

The Shaykh : Al-Shinqiti.
Abu Malik: Yes, he was one of the great scholars of language in this country. So his mosque, do you know the Mosque of al-Salik? Of course, this is an old mosque, meaning it was built...

Another questioner : ... .
Abu Malik:The Shaykh : Mukhtar?

Another questioner: Yes.
Abu Malik: No, no, he was not. Yes, so this man, subhan Allah, he was from the people of the desert and knew. So the people would wait for the dawn. One person in the group, as if he were Ahmad al-Rashid, may Allah have mercy on him, who also passed away, would go to the window to see the dawn. He would say to him, "O Abu 'Umar, O Abu 'Umar, sit down, sit down." He would say to him, "Sit, the dawn will come to you while you are sitting!"

The Shaykh: Perfect.
Abu Malik: The dawn will come to you while you are sitting.

The Shaykh: Allahu Akbar.
Abu Malik: So in truth, these matters do not require one to say the dawn has appeared...

The Shaykh : Masha'Allah, masha'Allah. What did you call it?

Another questioner: Sarah.

The Shaykh: Sarah.

Another questioner : Like the wife of our master Ibrahim.

The Shaykh : Masha'Allah. I seek refuge for her in the perfect words of Allah from every Shaytan and harmful creature and the evil eye. Blessed is Allah, the best of creators. Masha'Allah, may Allah make her grow up well and please the eyes of her parents with her.
Abu Malik: I pray for the girls, so I say, O Allah, make her a righteous daughter, a righteous wife, and a righteous grandmother!

The Shaykh : Masha'Allah, masha'Allah. Badr, Badr, masha'Allah! La ilaha illa Allah, subhan al-Hadi.