Day 3: There is Blessing in Sahoor (Pre-dawn meal)

Anas ibn Maalik (may Allah be pleased with him) said:

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:

تَسَحَّرُوا فَإِنَّ فِي السَّحُورِ بَرَكَةً

“Eat suhoor (pre-dawn meal), for in suhoor there is blessing.”

(Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 1923; Muslim, 1095)

Blessings of suhoor

There is a great deal of blessing in suhoor which includes benefits both in this world and in the Hereafter. These blessings include the following:

1. It gives strength for worship and helps one to obey Allaah during the day by praying, reading Qur’aan and remembering Allaah (dhikr). One who is hungry may become lazy in worship just as he may become lazy in his daily work, this is something that is well known.
2. Suhoor wards off the bad attitude that may be provoked by hunger, so the one who eats suhoor will be in a good mood and will interact well with others.
3. The one who eats suhoor will be encouraged to fast more, because fasting is less difficult for the one who eats suhoor, so he will be encouraged to fast and it will not be so difficult for him.
4. Eating suhoor is following the Sunnah, so if the person who eats suhoor has the intention of obeying the command of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and following his example, then his suhoor is an act of worship, so he will be rewarded for it accordingly. If he intends thereby to gain physical strength for fasting and praying qiyaam, he will be rewarded according to that.
5. The person who eats suhoor gets up at the end of the night to remember Allaah, make du’aa’ and pray, for that is when prayers are answered and it is the time when Allaah and angels send blessings upon those who eat suhoor, because of the hadeeth of Abu Sa’eed (may Allaah be pleased with him) which will be quoted below.
6. By eating suhoor one differs from the people of the Book. The Muslim is required to avoid imitating them. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The difference between our fasting and the fasting of the people of the Book is eating suhoor.”
7. Another blessing of suhoor is praying Fajr in congregation, at the proper time. Hence you see that there are more worshippers praying Fajr in Ramadaan than in other months, because they have gotten up for suhoor.

The fasting person should be keen to eat suhoor and he should not miss it because he feels too sleepy or for any other reason. He should be easy going when he is woken for suhoor and in a good mood, happy to be following the command of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and keen to attain its goodness and barakah (blessing), because our Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) affirmed the importance of suhoor and enjoined it, and explained that it is the symbol of the Muslims’ fasting that differentiates their fasting from that of the people of the Book, and he told us not to omit suhoor.

Suhoor may be done by means of the least amount of food or drink that a person consumes, it does not have to be any specific kind of food.