What is meant in the verse in which Allaah says “and eat and drink until the white thread (light) of dawn appears to you distinct from the black thread (darkness of night)”?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Allaah, may
He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):“It is
made lawful for you to have sexual relations with your wives on the night of
As‑Sawm (the fasts). They are Libaas [i.e. body-cover, or screen, or Sakan
(i.e. you enjoy the pleasure of living with them)] for you and you are the
same for them. Allaah knows that you used to deceive yourselves, so He
turned to you (accepted your repentance) and forgave you. So now have sexual
relations with them and seek that which Allaah has ordained for you
(offspring), and eat and drink until the white thread (light) of dawn
appears to you distinct from the black thread (darkness of night), then
complete your Sawm (fast) till the nightfall”[al-Baqarah 2:187]
What this
means is that Allaah has allowed those who are fasting to eat and drink at
night until he is certain that dawn has come. What is meant by the white
thread is the day, and the black thread is the night.Al-Haafiz
said: What the verse means is until the whiteness of day can be
distinguished from the blackness of night. This happens when the true dawn
appears.The words
“of dawn” serve to explain what is meant by “the white thread” and there is
no need to explain what is meant by the black thread because explaining the
one makes it clear what is meant by the other. End quote.Some of the
Sahaabah (may Allaah be pleased with them) understood the verse in a manner
other than what it means. They thought that what was meant was a thread in
the real sense. One of them would put two threads, one white and one black,
beneath his pillow or tie them to his foot, and he would carry on eating
until he could tell them apart. They misunderstood it because at first
Allaah revealed the verse without the words “of dawn”, then after a while
(some scholars say that it was after a year), Allaah revealed the verse with
the words “of dawn”. Then they realized that what was meant by the white
thread was the light of dawn (the day) and what was meant by the black
thread was night.Al-Bukhaari
(1917) and Muslim (1091) narrated that Sahl ibn Sa’d said: The verse “and
eat and drink until the white thread appears to you distinct from the black
thread” [al-Baqarah 2:187] was revealed, and the words “of dawn” were
not revealed. When people wanted to fast, one of them would tie a white
thread and a black thread to his foot, then he would carry on eating until
he could tell them apart when he looked at them. Then after that Allaah
revealed the words, “of dawn,”
then they realized that what was meant by that was night and day.The Sahaabah
interpreted the word thread according to its apparent meaning, as they
understood it, then when the words “of dawn” were revealed, they understood
what was meant.Al-Bukhaari
(1916) narrated that ‘Adiyy ibn Haatim (may Allaah be pleased with him)
said: “When the words ‘until the white thread (light) of dawn appears to
you distinct from the black thread (darkness of night)’ [al-Baqarah 2:187 –
interpretation of the meaning] were revealed, I took a black rope and a
white rope and put them beneath my pillow, and I started to look at them
during the night, but I could not see any distinction between them. The next
morning I went to the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) and told him about that. He said, ‘Rather that is the blackness of
the night and the whiteness of the day.’”According to
a report narrated by al-Bukhaari (4510) he said: “You must be huge.”
According to another report (4509) he said: “Your pillow must be very wide,
if the white thread and the black thread are beneath your pillow.” And
according to another report: (4510) “The back of your head must be very
wide.”The story of
‘Adiyy ibn Haatim occurred after Allaah had revealed the words “of dawn”,
i.e., after the hadeeth of Sahl quoted above. Some of the scholars explained
Adiyy’s mistake of misunderstanding the verse even though the words “of
dawn” had been revealed, by noting that the hadeeth of Sahl had not reached
‘Adiyy’, or that in the dialect of his people the words “white thread” and
“black thread” were not used to refer to day and night.Hence Ibn
Hibbaan commented on the hadeeth of ‘Adiyy by noting that “the language of
the Arabs varies,” and pointed out that in the language of ‘Adiyy, the
darkness of night and the light of day were not described as a black thread
and white thread. Al-Qurtubi said: The hadeeth of ‘Adiyy is later than the
hadeeth of Sahl. It is as if ‘Adiyy had not heard what was said in the
hadeeth of Sahl, rather he only heard the verse and understood it as it
sounded to him. End quote.Al-Haafiz
said: As for ‘Adiyy, it is as if in the language of his people they did not
refer to the dawn as a thread, or he forgot the words “of dawn” until the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) reminded him of
that.Al-Nawawi
said, following al-Qaadi ‘Iyaad: Rather the black and white threads were
interpreted according to their apparent meaning by some Bedouin who did not
have much knowledge, such as the men from whom Sahl narrated, and some of
those in whose dialect the dawn was not referred to as a thread, such as
‘Adiyy. End quote.With regard
to the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him), “The back of your head must be very wide,” some of them claimed that
what the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) meant by
that was that he was unintelligent. They claimed that if the back of the
head is wide, this is a sign of stupidity, and they wrote poetry about that.
But many of the scholars rejected this, such as al-Qurtubi, al-Qaadi ‘Iyaad
and al-Nawawi.Al-Qurtubi
said:Some people
interpreted this as a criticism of him for that misunderstanding. It is as
if they understood it as an accusation of ignorance and lack of
understanding, but it is not as they say. Rather he meant – and Allaah knows
best – if your pillow covers the two threads to which Allaah referred then
it must be wide indeed. Hence immediately after that he said: “Rather that
is the blackness of the night and the whiteness of the day.” It is as if he
said: How can they fit under your pillow? And the words “The back of your
head must be very wide” mean that the pillow which covers the night and day
cannot be rested upon except by a head that is very wide. End quote.Al-Qaadi
said: What this means is that if you put under your pillow the two threads
that Allaah meant, namely the night and day, and your pillow covered them,
then it must be very wide. This is what is meant in the other report
narrated in Saheeh al-Bukhaari – “The back of your head must be very
wide” – and in the other report: “You must be huge.”See: Fath
al-Baari, commentary on hadeeth no. 1917 and 1916’ Sharh
Muslim by al-Nawawi, hadeeth no. 1090, 1091Among the
rulings that are derived from this verse is the ruling that if a person is
unsure whether dawn has broken, he may carry on eating and drinking until he
is sure of it, because Allaah says “until the white thread (light) of
dawn appears to you distinct from the black thread”.‘Abd
al-Razzaaq narrated that Ibn ‘Abbaas said: Allaah has permitted you to eat
and drink so long as you are not sure. Al-Haafiz said: its isnaad is
saheeh.Ibn Abi
Shaybah narrated that Abu’l-Duha said: A man asked Ibn ‘Abbaas about sahoor
and Ibn ‘Abbaas said: Eat so long as you are uncertain, until you are no
longer uncertain. This is the view of the majority of scholars.Shaykh Ibn
‘Uthaymeen said in al-Sharh al-Mumti’ (6/247):If a person
is not fasting, and he is not sure whether dawn has broken, his fast is
valid, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):“So now
have sexual relations with them and seek that which Allaah has ordained for
you (offspring), and eat and drink until the white thread (light) of dawn
appears to you distinct from the black thread (darkness of night), then
complete your Sawm (fast) till the nightfall”[al-Baqarah 2:187]
The opposite
of certainty is uncertainty and doubt; so long as we are not certain, we may
eat and drink. This issue falls into five categories:1-
If he is certain that dawn has
not come, such as if dawn comes at five o’clock
and he eats and drinks at four-thirty, his fast is valid.2-
If he is certain that dawn has
come, such as if he eats at five-thirty, then his fast is invalid.3-
If he eats and he is unsure
whether dawn has come or not, but he thinks it most likely that it has not
come, then his fast is valid.4-
If he eats and drinks, and he
thinks it most likely that dawn has come, then his fast is valid.5-
If he eats and drinks and is
unsure, then his fast is valid. End quote.And Allaah knows
best.
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