Sahur.

Anas (may Allah swt be pleased with him) quoted that the Prophet s.a.w (peace and blessings be upon him) as saying, “Make sure to have your sahur meal, for sahur is blessed” (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)

Amr ibn Al-Aas quoted that the Prophet s.a.w (peace and blessings be upon him) as saying, “the difference between our fasting and that People of the Book is the sahur meal” (Muslim)

Some people find the task of waking up for sahur  (the meal Muslims have before they begin fasting at the start of dawn) is troublesome. Many refuse to lose sleep over it.  I admit that I was one of those people during my younger days. However, after marriage and especially now as my son has started fasting as well, the family would make it a point to wake up for sahur. (Alhamdullilah, managed to wake up without fail since the beginning of Ramadan this year)

I know that eating that early in the morning means making a lot of adjustment to your entire body system. But what I do is that I equate sahur similar to having breakfast, no doubt a bit early than the normal time the family usually have breakfast on a normal day. We all know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. You need all the energy and nutrients you can get to jump start your day. I’m sure you all know how your day is (on a normal day) if you missed out on breakfast. Kind of hard to be focused on anything or to get any job done.

I don’t know what goes on in the household of others during sahur. But for us, sahur is indeed a simple affair. As we equate sahur to breakfast, it’s basically breakfast menu for the family. It could be scrambled eggs and sausages with toast or just plain cereal. Over the years, we’ve discovered that having rice does not go down well with us. We tend to feel bloated afterwards. But then, different people have different preferences.

Well, having to go without food and water for 12- 14 hours in a day for the whole month of Ramadan is no small feat. Therefore, the body needs all that it can get before the fasting begins. Sahur is very important for the body to undertake the task of fasting throughout the day.

On a normal given day, people tend to wake up late, way late that sometimes you missed the timing for Subuh prayers. (It happens to me also. Guilty!) If you make it a point to wake up for Sahur, you will definitely not miss your Subuh prayers. Use whatever remaining time after Sahur and before Subuh prayers for reciting the Quran, “berzikir” (*), etc, Insya-Allah, you will be rewarded much more amply especially in the month of Ramadan.

Seven days of fasting completed. (Alhamdullilah) 3 weeks more to go.

“Selamat Berpuasa” dan “Selamat Bersahur”.

(*) Zikir, according to the book Fiqh-Us-Sunnah by Sheik Sayyed As Sabeeq, mentions that, "All words of praise and glory to Allah, extolling His Perfect Attributes of Power and Majesty, Beauty and Sublimeness, whether one utters them by tongue or says them silently in one's heart, are known as Zikr or remembrance of Allah


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