As we draw near to Ramadan, we will face the annual controversy that Ramadan inevitably produces. Can you clarify the confusion about what day we start fasting and when is Eid?
Question 02/06/14
As we draw near to Ramadan, we will face the annual controversy that Ramadan inevitably produces. Can you clarify the confusion about what day we start fasting and when is Eid?
Answer By Ustadh Haroon Hanif
I begin with the name of Allah and may
eternal peace and blessings be upon or master Muhammad, his companions and all
those who follow him.
In approximately one month the great month
of Ramadan is upon us. We ask Allah, Most High, as His Messenger, prayers and
peace be upon him, would ask, to take us to Ramadan. The unparalleled divine
breezes that the believer finds in Ramadan are not to be found in any other
month. It is the greatest chance and the swiftest means of attaining proximity
to our Lord during the alternating seasons of the year.
However, as you mention in your question,
confusion and discord has become the norm for Muslims when inviting the noble
guest of Ramadan. Rather than the happiness that should envelop our hearts on
hearing of the arrival of the great guest, its arrival is met with confusion
and arguments. We ask Allah, Most High, to remove the confusion from our hearts
and to prevent these arguments from continuing. Remember that confusion is
removed by knowledge and argumentation is removed by prophetic character.
The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon
him, gave us clear instructions about how to recognise the beginning and the
end of the month of Ramadan in the following twohadith:
عَنْ
ابْنِ عُمَرَ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُمَا قَالَ سَمِعْتُ رَسُوْلَ اللهِ صلى الله عليه
وسلم يَقُوْلُ : إِذَا رَأَيْتُمُوْهُ فَصُوْمُوْهُ وَإِذَا رَأَيْتُمُوْهُ
فَأَفْطِرُوا فَإِنْ غُمَّ عَلَيْكُمْ فَاقْدُرُوا لَهُ
مُتَّفَقٌ
عَلَيْهِ
Ibn
‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, said: ‘I heard the Messenger of Allah,
prayers and peace be upon him, saying: “When you see it, fast and when you see
it, stop fasting. If it is overcast, estimate it.”’
Agreed
upon (Bukhari and Muslim)
عَنْ
أَبِيْ هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ قال قال رَسُوْلُ اللهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم:
صُوْمُوا لِرُؤْيَتِهِ وَأَفْطِرُوا لِرُؤْيَتِهِ فَإِنْ غُمَّ عَلَيْكُمْ فَأَكْمِلُوا
الْعِدَّةَ ثَلاثِيْنَ
رَوَاهُ
الْبُخَارِيُّ
Abu Hurayra, may Allah be pleased with
him, said: ‘The Messenger of Allah, prayers and peace be upon him, said: “Fast
on seeing it and stop fasting on seeing it. If it is overcast, complete the
number as thirty.”’
Bukhari narrated it
There
are a number of points that are understood from these hadith including the
following:
·
If anyone sights[1]
the new moon, all are required to fast. It was as though the Prophet, prayers
and peace be upon him, was saying: ‘If the sighting has happened between you,
you must all fast.’ Hence, if a sighting has taken place anywhere, having been verified
and having met the criteria, all are required to fast. This understanding,
which is based on considering all places where the moon can be sighted (ittihad
al-matal’i) is how the Hanafi, Maliki and Hanbali scholars have understood
the hadith. In fact, the Hanafis state that people in Eastern lands are
required to fast based on sighting in Western lands.
There are some contemporary scholars who take this viewpoint but then
qualify it with the possibility of sighting, i.e. a claimed sighting is only
accepted if it could possibly have been sighted.
The Shafi scholars however understand the hadith differently and only
require a region to fast based on a sighting within that region (ikhtilaf
al-matal’i). Hence, there can be more than one beginning and end day for
Ramadan. They consider the hadith to be addressed to a specific group of people
and not to all. This understanding has been transmitted from the great
companion Abdullah b. ‘Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him.
·
The hadith clearly states
that a sighting must take place. Hence, calculating when the new month begins
is not an acceptable way of determining the start of Ramadan. This is clear
from the words of the hadith where the wording is ‘on seeing it.’
We conclude that there are two
sound ways of determining the beginning and end of the month, global sighting
and regional sighting.
We must also add that arguing
about these matters is prohibited. The companions differed over these matters
but with prophetic character. Thus, we should not condemn and act surprised
when there is more than one beginning and end day for Ramadan. We must learn to
tolerate these differences which are based on knowledge and we must also be
intolerant to the arguments that break out every year.
We end by asking Allah, Most
High, to bless our Ramadan and grant us to taste of the tremendous character of
His Messenger who possessed perfect character.
Haroon Hanif
[1]
The exact numbers who are needed to sight the new moon depends on a number of
factors, the details of which are to be found in books of fiqh.