What Should One Break the Fast With? Breaking the Fast with Salt and Ginger

Question

Among us, people break their fast with salt and ginger, or with rice, ginger and salt, and regard this as the Shari'a — so much so that if they go somewhere and will have to break the fast on the road while returning, they tie up a little rice and salt with this in mind. A certain person has called this baseless and a bid'a (innovation in religion), and has said that it is best (afdal) to break the fast with dates, then with something sweet, then with water. Is what this person says correct or wrong?

Answer

To regard breaking the fast with salt, ginger or rice as a sunna or mustahabb, and to consider it a ruling of the Shari'a, is wrong and baseless. It is known from the Sunan of Abu Dawud and the Sunan of al-Tirmidhi that breaking the fast with dates is established by the Sunna, and if dates are not available, then with dried dates, and if these too are not available, then with…

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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