The Ruling on Staying Up Late in Ramadan and Not Being Scrupulous Regarding Forbidden Things

Question:
The first message in this episode is from one of our brother listeners. The sender is: Rashid ibn Abdullah al-Khatran. Our brother describes some of the conditions of Muslims in Ramadan, specifically. He says: Some of them stay up until midnight, then they eat and sleep. When the Fajr adhan is called, they wake up, drink water, and perhaps drink something forbidden, and then they head to prayer. The situation is the same regarding iftar; he breaks his fast with some permissible things, and perhaps mixes them with some forbidden things. He asks the Shaykh to please point out Muslims to the best state that a Muslim should be in? May Allah reward you with good.

Answer:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, and may Allah send prayers and peace upon His Messenger, upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow his guidance. As for what follows:
So there is no doubt that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is not pleased for His servants to consume what He has forbidden them. In fact, He has forbidden them certain things and prohibited them from consuming them, and He has permitted them other things and commanded them to consume them. So it is obligatory for the believer to fear Allah in what he does and what he leaves, as it is prescribed for him to seek out what is prescribed in his fasting and his standing in prayer, and in all his movements and stillness.
It is the Sunnah for the believer to fill it with obedience to Allah and to guard his times by competing in good and hastening to acts of obedience, such as prayer, charity, reciting the Qur'an, glorifying Allah, saying the tahlil, saying the tahmid, saying the takbir, seeking forgiveness, visiting the sick, and calling to good, enjoining good and forbidding evil, and the like of these avenues of good. This is how the believer should fill these noble times with obedience to Allah and competing in what pleases Him , and he should beware of what harms his fast through sins against Allah. For this reason, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: meaning: a covering, meaning: a shield and protection from the Fire, meaning: for the one who protected this fasting and guarded it. For this reason, in the other wording: And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: .
This clarifies for us that the intent is to guard the limbs from the prohibitions of Allah, such as backbiting, talebearing, lying, false oaths, false claims, and cursing and insulting... and other such misguided words. And likewise, the forbidden actions, such as theft, betrayal, and unlawful sexual intercourse... and other such things that Allah has forbidden. So he guards his limbs, night and day, from everything Allah has forbidden, and he employs them in the obedience of Allah and His Messenger constantly... constantly...
It is prescribed for him to hasten to break his fast when the sun sets, due to his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: , and his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying that Allah the Exalted says: .
And the Sunnah is to break the fast with what is permissible, not with what is forbidden, such as dates and water and all that Allah has permitted. The best is with dates, or fresh dates if fresh dates are available. If they are not available, then dates. If they are not available, then water. And let him be extremely cautious not to break his fast with what Allah has forbidden, such as intoxicants, or smoking, or qat. Let him be cautious of what Allah has forbidden. So let his iftar be with what Allah has permitted and what is prescribed of good food and good drink. As for breaking his fast with what Allah has forbidden, such as intoxicants, narcotics, smoking, and qat; this is something from which one must be cautious, and he should not conclude his fasting with these filthies.
And likewise, regarding suhur, the Sunnah is to delay suhur. One does not eat suhur in the middle of the night. The Sunnah is to delay in suhur; following the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), for he used to eat suhur at the end of the night, near the adhan, (peace and blessings be upon him).
In the two Sahihs, from Zayd ibn Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) he said: "We ate suhur with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in Ramadan. So Anas was asked: How much was there between the adhan and the suhur? He said: The length of fifty verses." And in another wording: "How much was there between the suhur and the prayer? He said: The length of fifty verses." And the meaning is between the adhan, which is the entry of the time of prayer, and the suhur, meaning: between the suhur, meaning: eating suhur, the length of fifty verses. And this is approximately five minutes or ten minutes. This indicates that delaying is better, and it is stronger for the fasting person and more energetic for him in his work during the day.
So the Sunnah is to hasten to break the fast after the setting of the sun and to delay in suhur. For this reason, in some narrations from Sahl (may Allah be pleased with him) ibn Sa'd: This is how it was narrated as marfu' from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: It is agreed upon on its authenticity.
And suhur (with a dammah) is eating suhur, which is eating at the end of the night. And suhur (with a fathah) is what is eaten, it is called suhur, of dates or other food. And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Narrated by Muslim in the Sahih. This clarifies for us that the distinction between the fasting of Muslims and the fasting of the Jews and the Christians is the meal of suhur. So the meaning is that leaving that would be in it imitating the Jews and the Christians.
So the one who eats suhur in the middle of the night has contradicted the Sunnah and imitated the People of the Book. So it is not fitting for the believer to do that. Rather, it is obligatory for him to seek out what Allah has prescribed, and what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was upon in everything, and to stay away from what contradicts that. Then his sleep after that may be a means to his sleeping through the prayer - the Fajr prayer - and then when he gets up at the adhan, he may eat after the adhan or drink after the adhan, and he exposes his fast to invalidity; because he may have drunk after the dawn had appeared, so his fast would be invalid. So it is obligatory that he be cautious and that his eating be before the dawn appears, and he should not be lenient in these matters.
And the correct view is: that the one who ate after the dawn, then it became clear to him that he ate during the day, that he makes it up. This is the relied-upon position and this is the stronger position. And likewise, if he broke his fast before the setting of the sun, then he knew that he broke his fast before the setting of the sun, he must make it up because he broke a part of the day without right. So the result is that it is recommended for the believer that his suhur, meaning: eating, be at the end of the night before the dawn, so that he is energetic, he goes out to prayer and prays with the Muslims and he is energetic, and he does not expose his fast to eating after the morning, and he does not expose his prayer to being missed and lost in its time or with the congregation. And with that, if he eats at the end of the night, he imitates the action of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and he is safe from imitating the People of the Book. We ask Allah for all of you success and guidance.

The presenter: O Allah, amen. May Allah reward you with good. The reality, O Shaykh, as I mentioned, this message is that the life of people is turned upside down in Ramadan. The night becomes day, and the markets remain full of people until the dawn. And during the day, the streets are almost empty of passersby. And this puts people in a completely changed life, until when Ramadan ends, a period passes for them until they adapt to the new ordinary life. The Shaykh must give guidance. How should people be in Ramadan so that their life remains continuous?

The Shaykh: The Sunnah in Ramadan in the first twenty days is to sleep and get up and pray what is easy, and sleep. As for staying up late, there is no basis for it. It is not recommended to stay up late. It is recommended to sleep what is easy so that he is strengthened by it for what is in the day, and for his needs, and for his job and his work. And it is not recommended to stay up late. Rather, what is prescribed is to sleep some in the first twenty days and get up.
As for the last ten days, the Sunnah in them is to keep the night alive for the one who is able, with worship, with recitation and prayer, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to do. Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said: "The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to, when the ten days entered, tighten his waistband, keep the night alive, and wake up his family." (Tighten his waistband) means: he prepared for worship. This is the best in the last ten days, keeping the night alive with worship, with recitation, with prayer, with dhikr.
As for the first twenty days, the Sunnah in them is to sleep and rise as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did, and by this things are set right, and by this the believer is energized for work during the day, and his life becomes similar to his previous life, unlike if he stays up at night, for then he is likely to be exhausted during the day; because the human being is weak and needs sleep, as Allah the Exalted said: [al-Nisa: 28]. And Allah is the Helper. Yes.

The presenter: May Allah reward you with good.