'We discussed amongst ourselves Lailat-ul-Qadr. I came to Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (Allah be pleased with him) who was a friend of mine and said to him: Would you not go with us to the garden of date trees? He went out with a cloak over him. I said to him: Did you hear the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) making mention of Lailat-ul-Qadr? He said: Yes, (and added) we were observing i'tikaf with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) in the middle ten days of Ramadan, and came out on the morning of the twentieth and the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) addressed us and said: I was shown Lailat-ul-Qadr, but I forgot (the exact night) or I was caused to forget it, so seek it in the last ten odd (nights), and I was shown that I was prostrating in water and clay. So he who wanted to observe i'tikaf with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) should return (to the place of i'tikaf). He (Abu Sa'id al-Khudri) said: And we returned and did not find any patch of cloud in the sky. Then the cloud gathered and there was (so heavy) a downpour that the roof of the mosque which was made of the branches of date-palms began to drip. Then there was prayer and I saw the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) prostrating in water and clay till I saw the traces of clay on his forehead.

I thu asked Ubayy b. Ka'b (Allah be pleased with him): Your brother (in faith) Ibn Mas'ud says: He who stands (for the night prayer) throughout the year would find Lailat-ul-Qadr, whereupon he said: May Allah have mercy upon him; (he said these words) with the intention that people might not rely only (on one night), whereas he knew that it (Lailat-ul-Qadr) is in the month of Ramadan and it is the twenty-seventh night. He then took oath (without making any exception, i. e. without saying In sha Allah) that it was the twenty-seventh night. I said to him: Abu Mundhir, on what ground do you say that? Thereupon he said: By the indication or by the sign which the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) gave us, and that is that on that day (the sun) would rise without having any ray in it.

When there comes the month of Ramadan, the gates of mercy are opened, and the gates of Hell are locked and the devils are chained,

If (the sky) is cloudy for you, then calculate thirty days (for the month of Ramadan).

The month of Ramadan may consist of twenty-nine days. So do not fast till you have sighted it (the new moon) and do not break fast, till you have sighted it (the new moon of Shawwal), and if the sky is cloudy for you, then calculate.

The month (of Ramadan) may consist of twenty nine days; so when you see the new moon observe fast and when you see (the new moon again at the commencement of the month of Shawwal) then break It, and if the sky is cloudy for you, then calculate it (and complete thirty days).

The month is thus and thus and thus (i. e. pointing with his fingers thrice), and he held back his thumb at the third time (in order to show that it can also consist of twenty-nine days).

The month (of Ramadan) may consist of twenty nine days, and Shu'ba (one of the narrators) (gave a practical demonstration how the Holy prophet (ﷺ) explained to them) by unfolding his hands thrice and folding his thumb at the third turn. 'Uqba (one of the narrators in this chain of transmitters) said: I think that he said that the month consists of thirty days and unfolded his palm three times.

We are an unlettered people who can neither write nor count. The month is thus, and thus. folding his thumb when he said it the third time.

Apostle of Allah, you took an oath that you would not come to us for a month, whereupon he said: The month may also consist of twenty-nine days.

When did you see it? I said: We saw it on the night of Friday. He said: (Did) you see it yourself? I said: Yes, and the people also saw it and they fasted and Mu'awiya also fasted, whereupon he said: But we saw it on Saturday night. So we will continue to fast till we complete thirty (fasts) or we see it (the new moon of Shawwal). I said: Is the sighting of the moon by Mu'awiya not valid for you? He said: No; this is how the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) has commanded us. Yahya b. Yahya was in doubt (whether the word used in the narration by Kuraib) was Naktafi or Taktafi.

A hadith like this has been transmitted on the authority of 'A'isha (Allah be pleased with her).

This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Sulaiman Taimi with the same chain of transmitters and, at the end, it was said that the first Adhan was meant to awaken those who were in slumber amongst them and in order to make them turn who stand in (prayer) among them (towards food at the commencement of the fast). Jarir (one of the narrators) said that the Messenger (ﷺ) did not say like this but he said like it (true dawn) that the streaks of (true dawn ) are horizontal and not vertical.

Musa b. 'Ali has narrated this hadith through the same chain of transmitters.

This hadith has been transmitted on the authority of Qatada too.

We were with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) on a journey during the month of Ramadan. When the sun had sunk he said: So and so, get down (from your ride) and prepare the meal of parched barley for us. He said: Messenger of Allah, still (there is light of) day. He (the Holy Prophet) said: Get down and prepare meal of parched barley for us. So he got down and prepared the meal of parched barley and offered him, and the apostle of Allah (ﷺ) drank that (liquid meal). He then told with the gesture of his hand that when the sun sank from that side and the night appeared from that side, then the observer of the fast should break it.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade (his Companions) from observing fast uninterruptedly. One of the Muslims said: Messenger of Allah, you yourself observe Saum Wisal, whereupon the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: Who among you is like me? I spend night (in a state) that my Allah feeds me and provides me drink. When they (the Companions of the Holy Prophet) did not agree in abandoning the uninterrupted fast, then the Prophet (ﷺ) also observed this fast with them for a day, and then for a day. They then saw the new moon and he (the Holy Prophet) said: If the appearance of the new moon were delayed. I would have observed more (fasts) with you (and he did it) by way of warning to them as they had not agreed to refrain (from observing Saum Wisal)

Did you perceive us during the night? Upon this he said: Yes, it was this (realisation) that induced me to do that which I did. He (the narrator) said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) began to observe Saum Wisal at the end of the month (of Ramadan), and some persons among his Companions began to observe this uninter- rupted fast, whereupon the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: What about such persons who observe uninterrupted fasts? You are not like me. By Allah. if the month were lengthened for me, I would have observed Saum Wisal, so that those who act with an exaggeration would (have been obliged) to abandon their exaggeration.

The Apostle of Allah (ﷺ) forbade them (his Companions) to observe Saum Wisal out of mercy for them. They said: You (Holy Prophet) yourself observe it. Upon this he said: I am not like you. My Lord feeds me and provides me drink.

'A'isha (Allah be pleased with her) said that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) kissed one of his wives while he was fasting, and then she ('A'isha) smiled (as she narrated).