What is the ruling on the fasting of one who did not know that Ramadan had entered until after Fajr?

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The questioner : A man says: I slept on the night when the entry of the month of Ramadan is uncertain. I did not know that the month of Ramadan had entered. After I went out in the morning, I was informed that that day was a day of fasting. So I abstained from food and drink shortly after the Fajr prayer, near the rising of the sun. Is my fasting on that day valid, even though I did not have a prior intention before Fajr?

The Shaykh : Your fasting is valid because the intention follows knowledge, and you did not know that this day was from Ramadan.
And you are sleeping, and your intention is the intention of every Muslim: your intention is that if tomorrow is from Ramadan, you are fasting. As long as this is your intention, you have slept with a valid intention. And if it is conditional, know that conditioning rulings, intentions, and supplications, and what follows them, is a matter established by the Shari'ah. Conditioning legal rulings with conditions is established, and conditioning the established with conditions is established, and conditioning intentions is also like that. Conditioning legal rulings came with the example of the daughter of al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with her) who came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: O Messenger of Allah, I want to perform Hajj, and I am ill. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Perform Hajj and make the condition that

where You decree that I cannot proceed.)" And whatever condition you stipulate will be accepted by your Lord."

حَيْثُ تَحْبِسُنِي فَإِنَّ لَكِ عَلَى رَبِّكِ مَا اسْتَثْنَيْتِ

Sunan an-Nasa'i 2766Hasan (Darussalam)

This is conditioning a ruling. Conditioning a supplication: Allah the Exalted said in the verse of the mutual oath-swearing in an accusation of adultery:

then the witness of one of them [shall be] four testimonies [swearing] by Allah that indeed, he is of the truthful. ⁽⁷⁾ And the fifth [oath will be] that the curse of Allah be upon him if he should be among the liars. ⁽⁸⁾ But it will prevent punishment from her if

فَشَهَادَةُ أَحَدِهِمْ أَرْبَعُ شَهَادَاتٍ بِاللَّهِ إِنَّهُ لَمِنَ الصَّادِقِينَ وَالْخَامِسَةُ أَنَّ لَعْنَتَ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهِ إِن كَانَ مِنَ الْكَاذِبِينَ وَيَدْرَأُ عَنْهَا الْعَذَابَ أَن

[An-Nur 24:6-8]

Is it realized with a condition? And you also say: And

that the wrath of Allah be upon her if he was of the truthful.

أَنَّ غَضَبَ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهَا إِن كَانَ مِنَ الصَّادِقِينَ

[An-Nur 24:9]

So a supplication is valid to be conditioned by the Shari'ah, and legal rulings are valid to be conditioned by the Shari'ah, except if a text comes down with the opposite. Thus, the Muslim who slept before knowing that tomorrow is from Ramadan slept believing in himself and returning to the fact that if it is in Ramadan, he is fasting. So if he does not wake up until after the dawn has appeared, and it becomes clear to him that this day is from Ramadan, he is in a state of fasting, and his fasting is valid.

Source قناة «فضيلة الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين»، 10 - 13 - دروس وفتاوى المسجد الحرام للعام 1402 هـ - الدرس العاشر - الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين — youtube.com (55:43)

The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.

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