Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy onhim) was asked: When
should a person stop eating? Is it as they say: when the muezzin says
Laa ilaaha ill-Allaah? Whatis the ruling if he drinks deliberately
after the adhaan? Is he like the onewho drinks after 'Asr or can he
still fast? Some people say that Fajr is not like a lamp which shines
instantly and the matter is broad in scope. What is the ruling?
He replied: If the muezzin gives the call to prayer when the dawn has
come,then the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said:
"Eat and drink until Ibn Umm Maktoom gives the call to prayer, because
he does not give the call to prayer until dawn breaks." So if the
muezzin says: I have seen the dawn and I do not give the call to
prayer until I see the dawn, then it is obligatory for one to stop
eating and drinking from the moment he hears the adhaan, except in the
casein which a concession is allowed, which is if the vessel is in his
hand, in which case he may drink what he needs of it. But if the
adhaan is given according to a timetable, then the timetable in fact
is not connected to the actual times, rather it is based on
calculations -- the timetables that we have now for Umm al-Qura
[Makkah] or other cities are based on calculations, because they do
not look at the dawn or the sun or the meridianor the time when 'Asr
begins or the setting of the sun. End quote. Al-Liqa' al-Shahri, 1/214
To sum up: one should stop eating and drinking etc as soon as he hears
the adhaan, if he knows that the muezzin gives the call on time. But
if he is not sure about that, then he should limit it to drinking what
is in his hand, because it cannot be said that he may continue eating
and drinking until he is certainthat dawn has broken. In fact, he has
no means of ascertaining whether dawn has come because of lights and
electricity, and many people are unable to distinguish between the
true dawn and the false dawn.
And Allah knows best.
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