a single report; rather, the irregularity may surface in an entirely different report. An example is the narration found in the Sunan collections stating that the Prophet ﷺ forbade fasting once the month of Shaʿbān has reached its midpoint¹. The chain of this report is sound; yet another ḥadīth, authentically transmitted in the two Ṣaḥīḥs, relates that the Prophet ﷺ said, “Do not precede Ramadan by fasting a day or two, unless a man habitually keeps a fast, in which case let him maintain his routine.”² If we give precedence to this second ḥadīth in al-Bukhārī and Muslim, it clearly shows that fasting after the fifteenth of Shaʿbān is permissible, for the prohibition is restricted to the one or two days immediately before Ramadan. If, however, we act upon the first report, we would conclude that the ban begins from mid-Shaʿbān. Imām Aḥmad adopted the ḥadīth recorded in the two Ṣaḥīḥs—the prohibition of fasting one or two days before Ramadan—and declared the Sunan narration to be shādh, for it contradicts a report that carries greater authority: this one is in the two Ṣaḥīḥs, whereas that one is only in the Sunan.
Another illustration appears in Sunan Abū Dāwūd, where the Prophet ﷺ is reported to have said, “Do not fast on Saturday except for what has been made obligatory upon you.”³ Some scholars ruled this report irregular because it conflicts with the Prophet’s words to one of his wives. Finding her fasting on a Friday, he asked, “Did you fast yesterday?” She replied, “No.” He asked, “Will you fast tomorrow?” She said, “No.” He then said: