Aḥādīth

Abū Hurayra (RA) reported that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said: “Whenever you sight the new moon (of the month of Ramaḍān) observe fast, and when you sight it (the new moon of Shawwāl) break it, and if the sky is cloudy for you, then observe fast for thirty days”.

Kurayb said: Umm al-Faḍl (RA), daughter of al-Ḥārith, sent me to Muʿāwiya (RA) in Syria. I arrived in Syria and did the needful for her. It was there in Syria that the month of Ramaḍān commenced. I saw the new moon (of Ramaḍān) on Friday. I then came back to Madīna at the end of the month. ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās (RA) asked me (about the new moon of Ramaḍān) and said: When did you see it? I said: We saw it on Friday night. He said: (Did) you see it yourself? I said: Yes, and the people also saw it so they observed fast and Muʿāwiya (RA) also observed fast. Thereupon he said: But we saw it on Saturday night. So we shall continue to observe the fast until we complete thirty (fasts) or we see it (the new moon of Shawwāl). I said: Is the sighting of the moon by Muʿāwiya (RA) not valid for you? He said: No; this is how the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ has commanded us. Yaḥyā ibn Yaḥyā was in doubt (whether the word used in the narration by Kurayb) was Naktafī or Taktafī.

Abū Hurayra (RA) reported that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said: “Observe fast on sighting it (the new moon) and break (fast) on sighting it (the new moon), but if the sky is cloudy for you, then complete the number (of thirty)”.

Abū Hurayra (RA) reported that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said: “Observe fast on sighting it (the new moon) and break it on sighting it. But if (due to clouds) the actual position of the month is concealed from you, you should then count thirty (days)”.

Abū Hurayra (RA) reported that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said: “Whenever you sight the new moon (of the month of Ramaḍān) observe fast, and when you sight it (the new moon of Shawwāl) break it, and if the sky is cloudy for you, then observe fast for thirty days”.

Abū al-Bakhtarī reported: We went out to perform ʿUmra and when we encamped in the valley of Nakhlah, we tried to see the new moon. Some of the people said: It was three nights old, and others (said) that it was two nights old. We then met Ibn ʿAbbās (RA) and told him we had seen the new moon, but that some of the people said it was three nights old and others that it was two nights old. He asked on which night we had seen it; and when we told him we had seen it on such and such night, he said that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ had said: “Verily Allāh deferred it till the time it is seen, so it is to be reckoned from the night you saw it”.

al-Ḥakam ibn al-Aʿraj reported: I went to Ibn ʿAbbās (RA) and he was reclining using his mantle as a pillow near the fountain of Zamzam. I said to him: “Tell me about fasting on ʿĀshūrāʾ”. He said: “When you see the new moon of Muḥarram then count the (days) and observe fast on the 9th”. I said to him: “Is it how the Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ) observed the fast?” He said: “Yes”.

Anas ibn Mālik (RA) reported: We were along with ʿUmar (RA) between Makka and Madīna that we began to look for the new moon. And I was a man with sharp eye-sight, so I could see it, but none except me saw it. I began to say to ʿUmar (RA): “Don’t you see it?” But he would not see it. Thereupon ʿUmar (RA) said: “I would soon be able to see it (when it will shine more brightly)”. I lay upon bed. He then made a mention of the people of Badr to us and said: “Allāh’s Messenger (ﷺ) showed us one day before (the actual battle) the place of death of the people (participating) in (the Battle) of Badr and he was saying: This would be the place of death of so and so tomorrow, if Allāh wills”. ʿUmar (RA) said: “By Him Who sent him with truth, they did not miss the places (of their death) which Allāh’s Messenger (ﷺ) had pointed for them”. Then they were all thrown in a well one after another. Allāh’s Messenger (ﷺ) then went to them and said: “O, so and so, the son of so and so; O so and so, the son of so and so, have you found correct what Allāh and His Messenger had promised you? I have, however, found absolutely true what Allāh had promised with me”. ʿUmar (RA) said: “Allāh’s Messenger, how are you talking with the bodies without soul in them”. Thereupon he said: “You cannot hear more distinctly than (their hearing) of what I say, but with this exception that they have not power to make any reply”.

ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar (RA) reported that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said: “A month has twenty-nine days in it. Do not start the fast or break it until you see the new moon. If the new moon is obscured from you, then work out (when it should be)”.

ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās (RA) reported that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ once mentioned Ramaḍān and said: “Do not start the fast or break it until you see the new moon. If the new moon is obscured from you, then complete a full thirty days”.

Abū ʿUmayr reported on the authority of some of his paternal uncles who were Companions (RA) of the Prophet ﷺ: “Some men came riding to the Prophet ﷺ and testified that they had sighted the new moon the previous day. He (the Holy Prophet), therefore, commanded the people to break the fast and to go out to their place of prayer in the morning”.

ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar (RA) reported that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said: “The month consists of twenty nine days, but do not fast till you sight it (the moon) and do not break your fast till you sight it. If the weather is cloudy, calculate it thirty days”.

ʿAbdullāh ibn Abī Qays reported: I heard ʿĀʾisha (RA), Umm al-Muʾminīn, say: The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ used to count the days in Shaʿbān in a manner he did not count any other month; then he fasted when he sighted the new moon of Ramaḍān; but if the weather was cloudy he counted thirty days and then fasted.

Ḥudhayfa (RA) reported that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said: “Do not fast (for Ramaḍān) before the coming of the month until you sight the moon or complete the number (of thirty days); then fast until you sight the moon or complete the number (of thirty days)”.

ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās (RA) reported that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said: “Do not fast one day or two days just before Ramaḍān except in the case of a man who has been in the habit or observing a fast (on that day); and do not fast until you sight it (the moon). Then fast until you sight it. If a cloud appears on that day (i.e. 29th of Ramaḍān) then complete the number thirty (days) and then end the fasting: a month consists of twenty-nine days”.