Circulated Ahaadeeth about encouraging night meal and drinking before meal are inauthentic
Fatwa No: 297610

Question

id like to know if theres any such hadith which says that we should not skip night meals as it weakens body? and another which says about drinking water that if drunk before meal its shifa, something i dont remember if drunk between meals and disease if drunk after meals? ppl circulate these saying its hadith but without giving any refrence so please answer with refrence

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.

As far as we know, there is no Hadeeth which obligates or encourages eating the night meal. The only Hadeeth related to this is that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, encouraged the fasting person to eat the pre-dawn meal (Sahoor) as explained in Fatwa 238045. Also, as far as we know, there is no Hadeeth indicating the prohibition of drinking water during eating or encouraging drinking before eating. Please refer to Fatwa 90852.

We would like to warn our dear Muslim brothers against rushing to circulate reports and attributing them to the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, before verifying their authenticity. Stern warnings have been made against making false statements about the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. Abu Qataadah said, “I heard the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, say, "Beware of giving many accounts about me. Whoever attributes something to me, let him speak truthfully and honestly. Whoever says something about me which I did not say, let him assume his seat in the Fire."" [Ahmad, Ibn Maajah and Al-Haakim in Al-Mustadrak - Al-Albaani graded it Hasan (good)]

You should know that the basic principle pertaining to attributing reports to the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is that it is necessary to investigate the sources and chains of narration to make sure that they are authentic. In addition, the opinions of Hadeeth scholars on such reports should be reviewed. As for simply mentioning a Hadeeth and attributing it to the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, as is prevalent in what is published on social networks and other communication channels, a Hadeeth is not verified in such a way.

Allaah Knows best.

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