The Shaykh's remarks on the differences among people regarding the timing of sunset.
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The Shaykh : This is the hadith we were discussing a moment ago while we were on our way in the car.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : May Allah reward you with good. I am satisfied; I have taken enough. We were discussing an issue that branches out from the difference in the times of sunset. A questioner asked me while we were on our way, "When will we break our fast?" We told him, "We do not know. We break our fast when we are called to do so, because the locations differ." I mentioned the dispute that arose there in Damascus among some of our relatives, our sons and grandsons. Each of these people lives in a different area, and the areas differ from one another, just as you mentioned now; here the difference is five minutes.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : I have an eight-minute difference here, and over there they say it is thirteen minutes. I mean, our sons and grandsons there in Damascus are scattered, each in a different town or neighborhood. They call for the breaking of the fast like this: for example, one looks at the clock and sees how much the difference is. For instance, this one breaks his fast thirteen minutes before the adhan, while the others are waiting. Then it is the second one's turn, and the difference is eight minutes, so he breaks his fast. The one with a five-minute difference breaks his fast. So it became a commotion and a very severe dispute. One of our relatives told me about this when he visited me about a week ago. He said to me, "What is your opinion?" I said to him, "There, all opinions are nullified, and the opinion of the one in authority is the one that counts."
The student : May Allah reward you with good...
The Shaykh : Here is the point.
The questioner : Our Shaykh, I saw it last night.
The student : Young men, if you are finished.
The questioner : I saw one day, when I was the imam, that the sun was still shining, meaning the disk was about to set, and the mu'adhdhin was calling the adhan according to the calendar.
The Shaykh : We saw this in al-Na'ur.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : We entered the mosque to pray Maghrib, and the loudspeaker was calling the adhan, but the sun had not yet set. I saw it with my own eyes.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : May Allah reward you with good. I am satisfied; I have taken enough. We were discussing an issue that branches out from the difference in the times of sunset. A questioner asked me while we were on our way, "When will we break our fast?" We told him, "We do not know. We break our fast when we are called to do so, because the locations differ." I mentioned the dispute that arose there in Damascus among some of our relatives, our sons and grandsons. Each of these people lives in a different area, and the areas differ from one another, just as you mentioned now; here the difference is five minutes.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : I have an eight-minute difference here, and over there they say it is thirteen minutes. I mean, our sons and grandsons there in Damascus are scattered, each in a different town or neighborhood. They call for the breaking of the fast like this: for example, one looks at the clock and sees how much the difference is. For instance, this one breaks his fast thirteen minutes before the adhan, while the others are waiting. Then it is the second one's turn, and the difference is eight minutes, so he breaks his fast. The one with a five-minute difference breaks his fast. So it became a commotion and a very severe dispute. One of our relatives told me about this when he visited me about a week ago. He said to me, "What is your opinion?" I said to him, "There, all opinions are nullified, and the opinion of the one in authority is the one that counts."
The student : May Allah reward you with good...
The Shaykh : Here is the point.
The questioner : Our Shaykh, I saw it last night.
The student : Young men, if you are finished.
The questioner : I saw one day, when I was the imam, that the sun was still shining, meaning the disk was about to set, and the mu'adhdhin was calling the adhan according to the calendar.
The Shaykh : We saw this in al-Na'ur.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : We entered the mosque to pray Maghrib, and the loudspeaker was calling the adhan, but the sun had not yet set. I saw it with my own eyes.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.