Tashih Hadith Iftar al-Saim qabl Safrihi baad al-Fajr
- Author died
- 1420 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat al-Maʿārif
Taṣḥīḥ Ḥadīth Ifṭār al-Ṣāʾim qabl Safarihi baʿd al-Fajr (Validating the Hadith on the Fasting Person Breaking Fast Before Travel After Dawn) is a legal and hadith-critical treatise by the hadith scholar Muhammad Nasir al-Din al-Albani (d. 1420 AH / 1999 CE) examining the permissibility of breaking the Ramadan fast prior to departing on a journey .
Background and Composition
The work originated from a fatwa published in the Damascus-based journal Majallat al-Tamaddun al-Islami concerning travel distances and the timing of breaking the fast in Ramadan . Al-Albani authored a critical note asserting that a traveler is permitted to break the fast prior to departing once prepared for travel . Following this, Abdullah al-Harari—conveyed through Hamdi al-Juwayjani—submitted a rejoinder arguing that the report supporting this practice was weak . Al-Albani responded by defending the authenticity of the report in three consecutive articles in Majallat al-Tamaddun al-Islami (issues 25–36, 1379 AH), and subsequently compiled the exchange into an independent treatise, completed in Damascus on the eve of the Day of Arafah in 1379 AH .
Content and Methodology
The central focus of the treatise is the hadith of Anas ibn Malik recorded in Jami' al-Tirmidhi via Muhammad ibn Ka'b, which states that Anas had his mount saddled and donned his travel clothing in Ramadan, then called for food and ate; when asked if this was a Sunnah, he replied, "A Sunnah," and then mounted .
Al-Albani analyzes the chains of transmission, arguing for the reliability of its narrators and defending the report against the critique of al-Harari . To corroborate the ruling, he cites:
- Quranic textual support from the verse: فَمَن كَانَ مَرِيضًا أَوْ عَلَىٰ سَفَرٍ فَعِدَّةٌ مِّنْ أَيَّامٍ أُخَرَ ("So whoever of you is ill or on a journey, then an equal number of other days"), referencing al-Qurtubi's commentary that the wording encompasses one who has readied oneself for travel before departing .
- Supporting traditions (shawahid) and early practice, including narrations attributed to Umar ibn al-Khattab, Abu Musa al-Ash'ari, Ibn Umar, Ibn Abbas, and Abu Basrah al-Ghifari .
- General legal principles, emphasizing the principle of ease: يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ بِكُمُ الْيُسْرَ وَلَا يُرِيدُ بِكُمُ الْعُسْرَ ("Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship") .
Al-Albani argues that opposition to the narration was largely driven by school partisanship (ta'assub madhhabi) contrary to established hadith principles .
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