How is the entry of the month established?
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A great deal has been said in the last two days about the Day of 'Ashura and which day it will fall on.So some said: Yesterday, Wednesday, was the ninth day, and today, Thursday, is the tenth.And some said: Wednesday was the eighth day and Thursday is the ninth. We heard that after the Fajr prayer yesterday, Wednesday, you informed the worshippers in the mosque: that today is the ninth day, which is Wednesday. What is the accuracy of these statements? And what should one do if he did not fast on Wednesday, if it was the ninth day? And what do you advise Muslims regarding this day?
As for my advice to Muslims regarding this day, I say: This is a day for which fasting is prescribed, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) encouraged it when he said: "I hope that Allah will expiate the sins of the year before it."
As for establishing the date of 'Ashura, I will give you a rule based on the Shari'ah from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded us that if we do not see the crescent moon on the night of the thirtieth, we must complete the month as thirty days.So he said in Ramadan: "Fast when you see it, and break your fast when you see it. If it is obscured from you, then complete the count of thirty." This is a rule for all months, but the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned Ramadan because it is the month in which people are keen to look for the crescent moon.
And based on that, we say: When will Dhul-Hijjah be thirty days this year? Tuesday the thirtieth. Did we see it on the night of Tuesday? Did we see the crescent of Muharram?Answer: If we see it and it is established by the testimony of two people, then its entry is obligatory. If only one person sees it, or if no one sees it, then it is obligatory for us to complete Dhul-Hijjah as thirty days. If we complete Dhul-Hijjah as thirty days, then the first day of the month will be this Wednesday, making Wednesday the eighth, Thursday the ninth, and Friday the tenth. This is what aligns with the Shari'ah rules.
And as for the one who told you that I said to the people: [Regarding] the Fajr of Wednesday, [saying] that today is the ninth, [he] lied. We did not speak, and praise be to Allah that Allah prevented us from speaking yesterday in the afternoon.And otherwise I would say: So that I might inform the people so as not to mislead them, because I told them in the sermon: The tenth is Friday.So I said: So that I might alert them, but praise be to Allah that Allah restrained my tongue and I said nothing; because the people spoke much about me.Meaning one person said: He said: Shaykh Abdullah al-Sa'd narrated to me from Shaykh Ibn Qa'ud, and both are known and trustworthy, from the Council of Judges: that yesterday was the ninth.
Then another came and they said: We heard on the radio from the Council of Judges that the month entered on Tuesday.
But what I also heard, and it is in a sound chain: That one of the judges asked Shaykh Saleh al-Luhaydan, the head of the Supreme Council of Judges?And he said: That it was not established with us except by the testimony of one person.
And the testimony of one person does not establish the entry of the month except in Ramadan. So praise be to Allah, a fatwa just came out from Shaykh Abdul Aziz ibn Baz, the Mufti of the Kingdom: that Friday is the tenth day. The matter is easy. The one who fasted on Wednesday as the ninth and Thursday as the tenth should fast tomorrow as the tenth, and he will have three days.
Also, do not believe everything that is reported from the scholars, for things may be reported from the scholars that make one's hair turn white, which have no basis.
Who reported, O Shaykh, the statement of Shaykh Abdullah al-Sa'd? As for Abdullah al-Sa'd, one of the students, who is a trustworthy man, narrated to me from Abdullah al-Sa'd from Abdullah ibn Qa'ud from the Council of Judges. Also, (Khalid al-Muzayni), one of our university students, a teaching assistant, narrated to me directly from the Council of Judges: that yesterday was the ninth and today is the tenth.
And what appears to me, and Allah knows best: That those in the council heard that one witness testified and they analogized this to the month of Ramadan, so they said thirty.
In any case: Praise be to Allah, the matter is broad, and nothing has been invalidated. With you tomorrow, you fast, and it will be the tenth.
I mentioned a hadith from the Messenger [of Allah] that if we do not see it, we complete thirty. But some people were satisfied with something else: after the calendar, thirty Dhul-Hijjah according to the sighting is considered thirty-one in the calendar; because the calendar was ahead of us by one day.
And praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon his family and all his Companions, and until we meet again.
As for my advice to Muslims regarding this day, I say: This is a day for which fasting is prescribed, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) encouraged it when he said: "I hope that Allah will expiate the sins of the year before it."
As for establishing the date of 'Ashura, I will give you a rule based on the Shari'ah from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded us that if we do not see the crescent moon on the night of the thirtieth, we must complete the month as thirty days.So he said in Ramadan: "Fast when you see it, and break your fast when you see it. If it is obscured from you, then complete the count of thirty." This is a rule for all months, but the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned Ramadan because it is the month in which people are keen to look for the crescent moon.
And based on that, we say: When will Dhul-Hijjah be thirty days this year? Tuesday the thirtieth. Did we see it on the night of Tuesday? Did we see the crescent of Muharram?Answer: If we see it and it is established by the testimony of two people, then its entry is obligatory. If only one person sees it, or if no one sees it, then it is obligatory for us to complete Dhul-Hijjah as thirty days. If we complete Dhul-Hijjah as thirty days, then the first day of the month will be this Wednesday, making Wednesday the eighth, Thursday the ninth, and Friday the tenth. This is what aligns with the Shari'ah rules.
And as for the one who told you that I said to the people: [Regarding] the Fajr of Wednesday, [saying] that today is the ninth, [he] lied. We did not speak, and praise be to Allah that Allah prevented us from speaking yesterday in the afternoon.And otherwise I would say: So that I might inform the people so as not to mislead them, because I told them in the sermon: The tenth is Friday.So I said: So that I might alert them, but praise be to Allah that Allah restrained my tongue and I said nothing; because the people spoke much about me.Meaning one person said: He said: Shaykh Abdullah al-Sa'd narrated to me from Shaykh Ibn Qa'ud, and both are known and trustworthy, from the Council of Judges: that yesterday was the ninth.
Then another came and they said: We heard on the radio from the Council of Judges that the month entered on Tuesday.
But what I also heard, and it is in a sound chain: That one of the judges asked Shaykh Saleh al-Luhaydan, the head of the Supreme Council of Judges?And he said: That it was not established with us except by the testimony of one person.
And the testimony of one person does not establish the entry of the month except in Ramadan. So praise be to Allah, a fatwa just came out from Shaykh Abdul Aziz ibn Baz, the Mufti of the Kingdom: that Friday is the tenth day. The matter is easy. The one who fasted on Wednesday as the ninth and Thursday as the tenth should fast tomorrow as the tenth, and he will have three days.
Also, do not believe everything that is reported from the scholars, for things may be reported from the scholars that make one's hair turn white, which have no basis.
Who reported, O Shaykh, the statement of Shaykh Abdullah al-Sa'd? As for Abdullah al-Sa'd, one of the students, who is a trustworthy man, narrated to me from Abdullah al-Sa'd from Abdullah ibn Qa'ud from the Council of Judges. Also, (Khalid al-Muzayni), one of our university students, a teaching assistant, narrated to me directly from the Council of Judges: that yesterday was the ninth and today is the tenth.
And what appears to me, and Allah knows best: That those in the council heard that one witness testified and they analogized this to the month of Ramadan, so they said thirty.
In any case: Praise be to Allah, the matter is broad, and nothing has been invalidated. With you tomorrow, you fast, and it will be the tenth.
I mentioned a hadith from the Messenger [of Allah] that if we do not see it, we complete thirty. But some people were satisfied with something else: after the calendar, thirty Dhul-Hijjah according to the sighting is considered thirty-one in the calendar; because the calendar was ahead of us by one day.
And praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon his family and all his Companions, and until we meet again.