What is the time for abstaining from food and drink and breaking the fast, and how can the harms be avoided in order to hasten the iftar for some of the brothers.

The questioner : The sun has set.

The Shaykh : The sun has set. Where are the dates, Yunes? We hastened based on seeing the sun, but it hasn't come yet. I would like to take this opportunity to remind our brothers who reside in this honored land overlooking the setting of the sun, and perhaps also the dawn and the rising of the sun, to observe the Shari'ah timing, and not to observe the astronomical timing. It is now exactly six o'clock, so we can say that the time for iftar has arrived with the setting of the sun and it is exactly six o'clock. Wait for the adhan now. A quarter of an hour will pass, and you may hear it, or you may not hear it until after the quarter...
Abu Layla : This day is the twenty-ninth of Ramadan...
Al-Halabi : Our Shaykh, perhaps someone is saying now that there is a mountain in front of us, and behind it, meaning for the one on top of the mountain, there are floors and houses here. For the one on top of the mountain, the sun has not yet set for them. What do we say?

The Shaykh : Yes, and what do those who are a thousand kilometers away do?
Al-Halabi: It is the same thing.

The Shaykh : The same thing, and as you know, the earth is spherical...

The questioner : But there are two conditions, O Shaykh, which are that the night comes from here...

The Shaykh : Yes, you are right, but as they say, the matter has many complexities. Today, a person called me in the morning around eight o'clock, and my wife answered and said, "Please, questions after the 'Isha' prayer." He said, "First, I am calling from America, and second, it is not possible for me to call at the time you are referring to. So, excuse me, and I have a question." I said, "I said eight o'clock, to be precise, before that." He said, "The time is now dawn for us. For us, the dawn has passed hours ago. Because of the difference in horizons and the spherical nature of the earth, the further a person goes west, the later it becomes, and the further he goes east, the earlier it becomes. Therefore, every land has its own horizon, its east and its west. Here you can visualize and understand well that hadith which came in the two Sahihs, which the people of cities do not find it easy to understand practically. That is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): Now look, here is brighter than here, here is brighter than here. That is because the day recedes from here, and the night approaches from here. So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) set the time for iftar for the fasting person, whether this is in Ramadan or not, and the time for Maghrib with the setting of the sun, and by the convergence of three images or attributes, which is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): Also, the light, the light of the day, recedes and departs from here, and the sun has set, so the fasting person has broken his fast. Here a doubt arises, especially in some cities. They say caution is good. We say caution is not waswasah (whispers of doubt), and not intentionally violating the Shari'ah. The Shari'ah came on the tongue of him (peace and blessings be upon him) with his authentic and clear saying: It came in a hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) was on a journey. When the sun set, he ordered one of his Companions to call the adhan and to prepare the iftar.

Another questioner : Peace be upon you all.

The Shaykh : And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. Then a man there said: "O Messenger of Allah, the day [is still there]." He said: "Go down and prepare the iftar." So the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) broke his fast merely when the sun set, until the narrator said: "If one of us had ridden his camel, he would have seen the sun," meaning if he had risen a little, he would have seen the sun. So here, caution is against the Shari'ah, contrary to the Shari'ah. The important thing is that the Muslim must be certain of the setting of the sun in one way or another. The strongest of these ways is visual observation, and after that, the authentic report from one who saw the sun. But now, there is nothing of that at all except astronomical timing. And this astronomical timing, like the astronomical sighting of the crescent, both contradict the Islamic Shari'ah. Just as it is not permissible to enter or establish the crescent of Ramadan by astronomical science except by visual observation, so it is not permissible to establish the iftar or any of the five times except by this visual observation. That is the ruling of Allah, and those are the limits of Allah, so do not transgress them. And in the name of Allah.