Hadithcore
Sahih al-Bukhari, 621
sahih

Narrated `Abdullah bin Mas`ud:

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "The Adhan pronounced by Bilal should not stop you from taking Suhur, for he pronounces the Adhan at night, so that the one offering the late night prayer (Tahajjud) from among you might hurry up and the sleeping from among you might wake up. It does not mean that dawn or morning has started." Then he (the Prophet) pointed with his fingers and raised them up (towards the sky) and then lowered them (towards the earth) like this (Ibn Mas`ud imitated the gesture of the Prophet). Az-Zuhri gestured with his two index fingers which he put on each other and then stretched them to the right and left. These gestures illustrate the way real dawn appears. It spreads left and right horizontally. The dawn that appears in the high sky and lowers down is not the real dawn) .

حَدَّثَنَا أَحْمَدُ بْنُ يُونُسَ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا زُهَيْرٌ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا سُلَيْمَانُ التَّيْمِيُّ، عَنْ أَبِي عُثْمَانَ النَّهْدِيِّ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ مَسْعُودٍ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ ‏

‏ لاَ يَمْنَعَنَّ أَحَدَكُمْ ـ أَوْ أَحَدًا مِنْكُمْ ـ أَذَانُ بِلاَلٍ مِنْ سَحُورِهِ، فَإِنَّهُ يُؤَذِّنُ ـ أَوْ يُنَادِي ـ بِلَيْلٍ، لِيَرْجِعَ قَائِمَكُمْ وَلِيُنَبِّهَ نَائِمَكُمْ، وَلَيْسَ أَنْ يَقُولَ الْفَجْرُ أَوِ الصُّبْحُ ‏

‏‏.‏ وَقَالَ بِأَصَابِعِهِ وَرَفَعَهَا إِلَى فَوْقُ وَطَأْطَأَ إِلَى أَسْفَلُ حَتَّى يَقُولَ هَكَذَا‏.‏ وَقَالَ زُهَيْرٌ بِسَبَّابَتَيْهِ إِحْدَاهُمَا فَوْقَ الأُخْرَى ثُمَّ مَدَّهَا عَنْ يَمِينِهِ وَشِمَالِهِ‏.‏

References2 variants
In-Book Reference
Book 10, Hadith 19
USC-MSA web (English) reference
Vol. 1, Book 11, Hadith 595 (deprecated numbering scheme)
Sharh · explanationclick to expand
The practice of the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) was to have two adhans for Fajr prayer. The first was an adhan given at night, allowing enough time before the time for the prayer began so that one who was sleeping could wake up, and one who was praying qiyam could rest, and one who wanted to fast could eat sahur. The second was an adhan given when the time for Fajr began; this is the time when people stop eating and drinking, and begin the fast. This hadith confirms that, as the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) explained, the adhan that Bilal ibn Rabah (may Allah be pleased with him) gave for Fajr prayer was given before the time for the prayer began, so this adhan should not make anyone stop eating sahur. The word sahur refers to what is eaten, and suhur refers to the action of eating food before the time of Fajr begins, for the one who intends to fast. The reason why he should not stop eating sahur when hearing the adhan of Bilal was that he only gave the adhan at night, before the time for the prayer had begun, in order to alert the one who was praying qiyam al-layl that dawn was approaching, so that he could go back and sleep a little, and thus be able to get up refreshed to pray Fajr, or so that the one who needed to eat sahur could get up and eat sahur, and so that the one who was asleep could get up and get ready to pray. The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) explained the difference between the false dawn and the true dawn. The false dawn is of no significance, so the one who wants to fast should not stop eating when he sees it, and the people should not pray Fajr when they see it. The way in which it may be recognized is that it is a vertical line of light that appears in the sky; hence the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) gestured with his fingers, moving them up and down, to explain with this gesture that the vertical light that appears from top to bottom of the sky is not dawn. Rather the true dawn is that which, when people see it, means that the one who wants to fast should stop eating, and it marks the beginning of the time for prayer. This is the light that appears along the horizon, and is explained in the hadith by the words “until it is like this”, meaning: until the dawn appears like this, referring to the width of the sky. Zuhayr ibn Mu‘awiyah al-Ju‘fi [one of the narrators of the hadith] described the gesture of the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) by gesturing with his forefingers, holding one above the other, then pulling them apart, right and left, to demonstrate that the true dawn is the light that appears along the horizon in the east, extending south and north. This hadith indicates that further clarification may be done with gestures in order to make clear what is being taught. It highlights the difference between the true dawn and the false dawn. It indicates that the time for Fajr prayer begins and the time for suhur ends after the true dawn has broken..
Related hadiths5
Compare isnād across 5 related chains →