Explanation of the Hadiths on Fasting from *Bulugh al-Maram*, the saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): "When you see it, fast"

The Shaykh : Imam Ibn Hajar cites a third hadith here, and these hadiths are closely interconnected. We mentioned that the first hadith encompasses the second and indicates the prohibition of fasting on the Day of Doubt, as it precedes Ramadan. Now he presents a hadith clarifying when Muslims are prescribed to fast Ramadan. He says: And from Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him and his father), he said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) say: meaning the crescent moon, . Agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim.
This is one of the authentic hadiths that al-Bukhari included in the first section, and his companion, Imam Muslim, also included it in his collection. It is an authentic hadith used as evidence, indicating that entering the month of Ramadan is not valid except by sighting the crescent moon, provided there is a possibility of sighting it. This is the first case. It is not permissible to enter or establish the month of Ramadan except by sighting its crescent.
The traditional question arises: What if there are clouds, dust, or something similar preventing people from seeing the crescent? In that case, the second ruling in this hadith applies, stating: . This phrase must be interpreted by other hadiths that explicitly state . This is the estimation mentioned in this hadith, which is not clear except by the explanation of other hadiths that explicitly state that if the crescent of Ramadan is obscured for us, we must complete the thirtieth day of Sha'ban, considering the thirty-first day as the first of Ramadan. There is another narration clarifying this phrase: . The author says: And al-Bukhari has, in the hadith of Abu Hurayrah: .

The questioner : What if it is obscured in Ramadan as well?

The Shaykh : This will be addressed later. So, entering the month of Ramadan is by sighting the crescent. If it is obscured, it is by completing the month of Sha'ban to thirty days. However, this requires an important matter, and I do not know if the authorities in the so-called Islamic states today in the Shari'ah courts observe this matter.
It is reported in *Sunan Abu Dawud* and others from the hadith of Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was more cautious about the month of Sha'ban than he was about the month of Ramadan. This means that the Messenger (peace be upon him) had a special concern for establishing the crescent of Sha'ban more than the crescent of Ramadan. This is because establishing the crescent of Ramadan, when it is obscured, is sometimes dependent on establishing the crescent of Sha'ban. Because he says: . So, how do we know that the day we are in is the thirtieth day of Sha'ban if we have not established the crescent of Sha'ban? Therefore, a group of Muslims should be concerned with establishing the crescent of Sha'ban just as they are concerned with establishing the crescent of Ramadan. Because if the crescent of Ramadan is obscured for us, we complete Sha'ban to thirty days, and this requires that we have established the first of Sha'ban so that we can say the thirtieth day is the completion of the month of Sha'ban, and tomorrow will be the first of the month of fasting, Ramadan.
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The questioner : In this excellent gathering.