Fasting (Kitab Al-Siyam)

Kuraib reported: Umm al-Fadl bint al-Harith sent me to Muawiyah in Syria. I arrived, took care of her business, and the month of Ramadan began while I was there. We saw the crescent on Thursday night. I returned to Medina toward the end of the month, and Ibn Abbas asked me about the crescent. He said, "When did you see it?" I said, "We saw it on Thursday night." He asked, "You saw it yourself?" I said, "Yes, and the people saw it too; they fasted, and Muawiyah fasted." He said, "But we saw it on Friday night, and we will continue fasting until we complete thirty days or see the crescent." I asked, "Is Muawiyahs sighting and fasting not enough for you?" He replied, "No. This is how the Messenger of Allah commanded us."

Al-Hasan said concerning a man in one of the cities who fasted on Monday, after two men testified that they had seen the crescent on Saturday night: Neither the man nor the people of his city need make up that day unless they learn that the people of another Muslim city fasted on Sunday; in that case, they should make it up.

Silah reported: We were with Ammar on a day when there was doubt about the new moon. A goat was brought, and some of the people stepped aside. Ammar said, "Whoever fasts on this day has disobeyed Abu al-Qasim (the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him)."

Abu Hurayrah reported that the Prophet said, "Do not precede Ramadan by fasting one or two days, except when it is a fast that a person regularly observes; then let him fast that day."

Umm Salamah reported that the Prophet did not fast an entire month in any year except Shaaban, which he joined to Ramadan.

Abdulaziz ibn Muhammad said: Abbad ibn Kathir came to Medina and joined al-Alaas gathering. He took him by the hand, stood him up, and said, "O Allah, this man narrates from his father, from Abu Hurayrah, that the Messenger of Allah said, When the middle of Shaaban has passed, do not fast." Al-Ala said, "O Allah, my father did narrate this to me from Abu Hurayrah, from the Prophet." Abu Dawud said: Al-Thawri, Shibl ibn al-Ala, Abu Umays, and Zuhayr ibn Muhammad also narrated it from al-Ala. Abu Dawud said: Abd al-Rahman did not narrate this report. I asked Ahmad why, and he said, "Because he believed that the Prophet joined Shaaban to Ramadan, whereas this report from the Prophet says the opposite." Abu Dawud said: I do not consider it contradictory, and no one besides al-Ala narrated it from his father.

Husayn ibn al-Harith al-Jadali of the Jadilah branch of Qays reported: The governor of Mecca delivered a sermon and said, "The Messenger of Allah instructed us to perform the rites upon sighting the crescent. If we do not see it, but two upright witnesses testify, we perform the rites on the basis of their testimony." I asked Husayn who the governor of Mecca was. He said, "I do not know." Later he met me and said, "It was al-Harith ibn Hatib, the brother of Muhammad ibn Hatib." The governor then said, "Among you is someone more knowledgeable about Allah and His Messenger than I am, who witnessed this instruction from the Messenger of Allah." He pointed to a man. Husayn said: I asked an elder beside me who the governor had pointed to. He said, "That is Abdullah ibn Umar." He was right; Abdullah knew better than the governor and said, "This is what the Messenger of Allah commanded us."

A Companion of the Prophet reported: The people disagreed on the last day of Ramadan. Two Bedouins came and swore before the Messenger of Allah that they had seen the crescent the previous evening. The Messenger of Allah ordered the people to end their fast. Khalaf added in his version: and to go out the next morning to their prayer ground.

Ibn Abbas reported: A Bedouin came to the Prophet and said, "I have seen the crescent." Al-Hasan specifies in his version that he meant the Ramadan crescent. The Prophet asked, "Do you testify that there is no god but Allah?" He said, "Yes." He asked, "Do you testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah?" He said, "Yes." The man also testified that he had seen the crescent. The Prophet said, "Bilal, announce to the people that they must fast tomorrow."

Ikrimah reported: On one occasion, people were uncertain about the Ramadan crescent and considered neither performing the night prayer nor fasting. A Bedouin came from al-Harrah and testified that he had seen the crescent. He was brought before the Prophet, who asked, "Do you testify that there is no god but Allah and that I am the Messenger of Allah?" He said, "Yes," and testified that he had seen the crescent. The Prophet instructed Bilal to announce to the people that they should perform the night prayer and fast. Abu Dawud said: A group narrated this from Simak, from Ikrimah, as a mursal report, and no one mentioned the night prayer except Hammad ibn Salamah.

Ibn Umar reported: The people were looking for the crescent, and I informed the Messenger of Allah that I had seen it. He fasted and instructed the people to fast.

Amr ibn al-As reported that the Messenger of Allah said, "The distinction between our fast and the fast of the People of the Book is the pre-dawn meal."

Al-Irbad ibn Sariyah reported: The Messenger of Allah invited me to the pre-dawn meal during Ramadan and said, "Come to the blessed meal."

Abu Hurayrah reported that the Prophet said, "How excellent is the believers pre-dawn meal of dates."

Samurah ibn Jundub reported that the Messenger of Allah said, "Let neither Bilals call to prayer nor the whiteness appearing vertically on the horizon prevent you from eating your pre-dawn meal, until it spreads horizontally."

Abdullah ibn Masud reported that the Messenger of Allah said, "Let none of you be prevented from his pre-dawn meal by Bilals call to prayer. He calls, or announces, so that those praying may return and those sleeping may wake. Dawn is not the light that appears like this." Musaddad said: Yahya brought his palms together to demonstrate it, then spread the index fingers apart.

Talq ibn Ali reported that the Messenger of Allah said, "Eat and drink; do not let the bright light rising vertically deceive you. Eat and drink until the reddish light spreads horizontally." Abu Dawud said: This report was transmitted only by the people of Yamamah.

Adi ibn Hatim reported: When the verse, "until the white thread becomes distinct to you from the black thread," was revealed, I took a white cord and a black cord and placed them beneath my pillow. I looked at them but could not distinguish the two. I told the Messenger of Allah, and he laughed and said, "Your pillow is wide and long; what is meant is night and day." Uthman version says, "the darkness of night and the whiteness of day."

Abu Hurayrah reported that the Messenger of Allah said, "If one of you hears the call to prayer while holding a vessel, let him not put it down until he has taken what he needs from it."

Umar reported that the Prophet said, "When night comes from this side and day departs from that side, and the sun has set," as Musaddad added, "the fasting person has reached the time to break the fast."