THE FASTING CHAPTER · 4 – THE TWENTY-NINE DAYS OF THE MONTH OF RAMADAN
From Ibn ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, it is narrated that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “We are a community who do not know how to read or write. We cannot write nor can we calculate. The month (he indicated with his fingers) is thus, thus, and thus.” The narrator, Sulayman ibn Has, bent his finger back on the third indication. Meaning, the month is twenty-nine or thirty days.
According to a narration from Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings upon him) said: “Do not fast until you see the month of Ramadan, and do not break your fast until you see the month of Shawwal. If clouds obscure [the moon], then determine the count of the month in which you are – or [the month of] Sha’ban – to be thirty days.”
Nafi said: When Sha’ban was twenty-nine days, Ibn ‘Umar would watch for the month. If he saw it, he would fast; and if he did not see it, but there were no intervening clouds or dust obscuring the view, he would refrain from fasting until morning. But if clouds or dust obscured his vision, he would fast until morning. Ibn ‘Umar would observe his fast along with the people, without adhering to this calculation.
It is narrated from Ya’qub (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said:
‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-Aziz wrote a letter to the people of Basra, stating: “News has reached us from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings upon him),” and then he wrote something similar to what Ibn ‘Umar narrated from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings upon him).
Ya’qub added: "If we see the new moon of Shaban in such and such a way, then, God willing, the fast will be observed in such and such a manner. However, if you see the new moon differently, before this, then the situation is different. (The fast is reckoned from the twenty-ninth of Sha’ban.)"
EXPLANATION:
Herein, it means that if we see the new moon of Shaban at the end of Rajab, the fast begins on such and such a day and lasts for so long. But if people see the Ramadhan new moon before the thirtieth of Sha’ban, then the fast is reckoned from the twenty-ninth of Sha’ban.
According to the narration of Ibn Mas’ud, may Allah be pleased with him, he said: It is more virtuous to fast (the month of) Ramadan for twenty-nine days with the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, than to fast it for thirty days with him.
Abdurrahman ibn Abi Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated from his father:
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “The months of Ramadan and Dhul-Hijjah are not deficient (in reward), even if they are few.”