he is obliged to fast, for he knows it is Ramadan and therefore its rulings apply to him. Ḥanbal, however, transmitted a different view: that he is not obliged to fast. This was also the choice of the Shaykh (Ibn Taymiyyah) and others, who said: “He should fast with the people and break his fast with the people.” This is the strongest opinion, because of the Prophet’s statement: “Your fast begins the day you fast, and your breaking of the fast is the day you break it” (reported by al-Tirmidhī, 802). The meaning is that both fasting and ending the fast are to be done with the community—the great majority. Likewise, were someone to sight the crescent of the Day of Sacrifice on his own, he would not stand at ʿArafah apart from the rest of the pilgrims.
- The ḥadith indicates that the acts of worship associated with ʿĪd al-Fiṭr, and those of ʿĪd al-Aḍḥā—prayer, slaughter, and the rites—are valid on the day the Muslims perform them, convinced they are correct. Even if it later becomes clear that there was an error in sighting the crescent, they incur neither blame nor sin; their worship is sound and accepted by Allah. This is a mercy and an easing from Allah for His servants, in recognition of the infallibility granted to this community, which will never unanimously agree upon error.
Nayl al-Maʾārib and other works state: “If the people—or most of them—err and stand at ʿArafah on the eighth or the tenth, their act still suffices, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, ‘Your breaking of the fast is the day you break it, and your sacrifice is the day you sacrifice’” (al-Tirmidhī, 802).
- From this we learn the obligation of Muslim unity: closing their ranks and uniting their word, so that they become a single community supporting their religion, exalting their Lord’s word, spreading His faith, and standing together against their enemy. The rulings of Islam recognize only collective decisions and grant no independent legal status to one who separates from the Muslim body; such a person counts for nothing, even if he is certain of his own correctness. Allah’s hand is with the congregation, and whoever strays, strays into the Fire; the lone sheep is the one the wolf devours. Islamic rulings therefore teach us unity and cohesion, and they forbid division and discord. Allah the Exalted says: “Hold fast, all of you together, to the rope of Allah, and do not be divided” (Āl ʿImrān 3:103).