Fasting and the time of dawn and sunset
Question
What is the time of dawn and sunset with regards to fasting?
Answer
According to the majority of scholars, a person must make up his fast if he eats after dawn if he is under the presumption that dawn has not entered or eats before sunset thinking the sun has set and finds out later that he was mistaken. Presumptions, which prove to be erroneous, are of no legal significance.
In al-Sunan al-Kubra, al-Bayhaqi reported through Shu'aib ibn 'Amr ibn Sulaym al-Ansari who said, "My father and I broke our fast in the home of Suhaib al-Khayr in Ramadan on a drizzling cloudy day. Suddenly the sun appeared, so Suhaib said: God fed us. Complete your fast until sunset and make up a day in its place.' "