Does a meal before sleeping, before midnight, count as suhur?

A question about does a meal before sleeping, before midnight, count as suhur?, in which Jordan's General Iftaa Department answered that suhur is food eaten after midnight, and that the nearer it is to dawn the better, as long as one does not fear dawn has broken. ¹

The questioner asked whether a meal eaten before going to sleep, before midnight, counts as suhur. ¹

The Department answered that suhur is food eaten after midnight so that a Muslim is strengthened for the fast, and that the nearer it is to dawn the better. ¹ It relied on a hadith reported by Ahmad that the community remains in good as long as it hastens breaking the fast and delays suhur, and said that delaying it gives more strength for worship. ¹ It said this holds as long as one does not fear that dawn has broken; if one is unsure whether night remains, it is better to leave suhur, relying on a hadith reported by al-Tirmidhi about leaving what causes doubt for what does not. ¹

Jordan's General Iftaa Department published this fatwa on aliftaa.jo as no. 4223, dated 12 February 2026. ¹ The museum records this text as a historical document attributed to the body or scholar that issued it; it issues no ruling of its own.