Iftar: at Sunset or at the Adhan?

Question

Is sunset the condition for breaking the fast (iftar), or is the adhan the condition — given that a red lamp has been set up on a bamboo pole fifty feet high, on seeing which people break their fast?

Answer

For breaking the fast it is necessary that the day has ended and the night has begun, and this happens with the setting of the sun: [ar]ثُمَّ أَتِمُّوا۟ ٱلصِّيَامَ إِلَى ٱلَّيْلِ[/ar] “Then complete the fast until the night” (the verse) (Surah al-Baqara, 2:187). An adhan before sunset is not valid.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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