Sunan Abi Dawud

Ibn ‘Umar reported the Apostle of Allaah(ﷺ) as saying “The month consists of twenty nine days, but do not fast till you sight it (the moon) and do not break your fast till you sight it. If the weather is cloudy, calculate it thirty days. When the twenty-ninth of Sha’ban came, Ibn ‘Umar would send someone (who tried) to sight the moon for him. If it was sighted then well and good, in case it was not sighted and there was no cloud and dust before him (on the horizon) he would not keep fast the next day. If there appeared (on the horizon) before him cloud or dust, he would fast the following day. Ibn ‘Umar would end his fasting alone with the people and did not follow this calculation.”

'Umar b. 'Abd al-'Aziz wrote (a letter) to the people of Basrah: It has reached us from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), like the tradition narrated by Ibn 'Umar from the Prophet (ﷺ). This version adds: The best calculation is that when we sight the moon of Sha'ban on such-and-such date, fasting will being on such-and-such dates, Allah willing, except they they sight the moon before that (date).

We kept fast for twenty-nine days along with the Prophet (ﷺ) more often than we kept fast for thirty days.

The Prophet (ﷺ) as saying: The two months of 'Id (festival), Ramadan and Dhu al-Hijjah, are not defective.

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: The end of Ramadan is on the day when you end it, and the 'Id (festival) of sacrifice is on the day when you sacrifice. The whole of Arafah is the place of staying, and the whole of Mina is the place of sacrifice, and all the roads of Mecca are the place of sacrifice, and the whole of Muzdalifah is the place of staying.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to count the days in Sha'ban in a manner he did not count any other month; then he fasted when he sighted the new moon of Ramadan; but if the weather was cloudy he counted thirty days and then fasted.

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: Do not fast (for Ramadan) before the coming of the month until you sight the moon or complete the number (of thirty days); then fast until you sight the moon or complete the number (of thirty days).

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: Do not fast one day or two days just before Ramadan except in the case of a man who has been in the habit or observing a fast (on that day); and do not fast until you sight it (the moon). Then fast until you sight it. If a cloud appears on that day (i.e. 29th of Ramadan) then complete the number thirty (days) and then end the fasting: a month consists of twenty-nine days.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) asked a man: Did you fast the last day of Sha'ban ? He replied: No. He said: If you did not observe a fast, you must fast for a day. One of the two narrators said: For two days.

AbulAzhar al-Mughirah ibn Farwah said: Mu'awiyah stood among the people at Dayr Mustahill lying at the gate of Hims. He said: O people, we sighted the moon on such-and-such day. We shall fast in advance. Anyone who likes to do so may do it. Malik ibn Hubayrah as-Saba'i stood up and asked: Mu'awiyah, did you hear the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say something (about this matter), or is this something on the basis of your opinion? He replied: I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: Fast the month (in the beginning) and in the last.

I heard Abu 'Amr al-Auza'i say: The word sirrahu means beginning of the month.

On the authority of Abu Mushir. He said: Sa'id, that is, Ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz said: The meaning of the word sirraha is "in the beginning of it (the month)"

That Umm al-Fadl, daughter of al-Harith, sent him to Mu'aqiyah in Syria. He said: I came to syria and performed her work. The moon of Ramadan appeared while I was in Syria. We sighted the moon on the night of Friday. When I came to Median towards the end of the month (of Ramadan), Ibn 'Abbas asked me about the moon. He said: When did you sight the moon ? I said: I sighted it on the night of Friday. He asked: Did you sight it yourself ? I said: Yes, and the people sighted it. They fasted and Mu'awiyah also fasted. He said: But we sighted it on the night of saturday. Since then we have been fasting until we complete thirty days or we sight it. Then I said: Are the sighting of the moon by Mu'awiyah and his fasts not sufficient for us? He replied: No. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) commanded us to do so.

That man and the people of his city should not fast as an atonement except that they know (for certain) that the people of a certain city of Muslims had fasted on Sunday. In that case they should keep fast as an atonement.

AbuIshaq reported on the authority of Silah: We were with Ammar on the day when the appearance of the moon was doubtful. (The meat of) goat was brought to him. Some people kept aloof from (eating) it. Ammar said: He who keeps fast on this day disobeys AbulQasim (i.e. the Prophet) (ﷺ).

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: Do not fast one day or two days just before Ramadan, except in the case of a man who has been in the habit of observing the particular fast, for he may fast on that day.

She never saw the Prophet (ﷺ) fasting the whole month except Sha'ban which he combined with Ramadan.

AbdulAziz ibn Muhammad said: Abbad ibn Kathir came to Medina and went to the assembly of al-Ala'. He caught hold of his hand and made him stand and said: O Allah, he narrates a tradition from his father on the authority of AbuHurayrah who reported the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: When the middle of Sha'ban comes, do not fast. Al-Ala' said: O Allah, my father narrated this tradition on the authority of AbuHurayrah from the Prophet (ﷺ)

Husayn ibn al-Harith al-Jadli from the tribe of Jadilah Qays said: The governor of Mecca delivered a speech and said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) took a pledge from us that we should perform the rites of hajj after sighting the moon. If we do not sight it and two reliable persons bear witness, we should perform the rites of hajj on the basis of their witness. I then asked al-Husayn ibn al-Harith: Who was the governor of Mecca? He replied: I do not know. He then met me later on and told me: He was al-Harith ibn Hatib, brother of Muhammad ibn Hatib. The governor then said: There is among you a man who is more acquainted with Allah and His Apostle than I. He witnessed this from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). He then pointed with his hand to a man. Al-Husayn said: I asked an old man beside me: Who is that man to whom the governor has alluded? He said: "This is Abdullah ibn Umar, and he spoke the truth. He was more acquainted with Allah than he. He (Abdullah ibn Umar) said: For this is what the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) commanded us (to do).

On the authority of a man from the Companions of the Prophet (ﷺ): People differed among themselves on the last day of Ramadan (about the appearance of the moon of Shawwal). Then two bedouins came and witnessed before the Prophet (ﷺ) swearing by Allah that they had sighted moon the previous evening. So the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) commanded the people to break the fast. The narrator Khalaf has added in his version: "and that they should proceed to the place of prayer (for 'Id)".