In this connection it may be further noted that, though the taking of a morning meal is not made obligatory, yet special stress is laid on it, and it is said to be a source of blessing, because it enables a man the better to cope with the hardship of the fast. The Holy Prophet is reported to have said: “Take the morning meal, for there is blessing in the morning meal (suḥūr)” (Bu. 30:20). This meal was taken very near the break of dawn. One Companion relates that, after taking the morning meal, he hastened to the mosque so that he might be able to join the morning prayer. Another says that the interval between the finishing of the morning meal and the beginning of prayer in congregation was such that hardly fifty verses could be recited in it (Bu. 9:27). It is even recommended that the morning meal should be taken as near the break of dawn as possible (Ah. V, p. 147). In one ḥadīth it is stated that the adhān15 of Bilāl should not lead you to give up the morning meal, for, it is added, he utters the adhān while yet it is night, so that the man who is saying Tahajjud prayers may finish his prayers and the one who is sleeping may get up from his sleep (Bu. 10:13). And according to another, the morning meal was to be continued till Ibn Umm Maktūm gave the call to prayer, for he was a blind man and he did not give the call till (dawn became so clear and well established that) “people called out to him, the dawn has broken, the dawn has broken” (Bu. 10:11). And even if the adhān is called out when the dawn has fully appeared, and a man has a cup in his hand ready to drink, he need not put it away and may drink it up (Ad. 14:18).
As it is recommended in the case of the morning meal that it should be as late as possible, it is recommended that the breaking of the fast should be as early as possible. The Holy Prophet is reported to have said that when the sun is set, the fast should be broken (Bu. 30:45). And according to another ḥadīth: “People will have the good so long as they hasten in breaking the fast” (Bu. 30:45). Some wait to break the fast till they see the stars, thinking that the night does not set in till darkness is spread, but there is no authority for this.
A good deal of misunderstanding prevails on the question of niyyah
15 Call for morning prayers, signifying the break of dawn.