— “Then reckon it, and complete the count to thirty.” Shurayḥ said: the first directive is addressed to those whom Allah has privileged with this knowledge, whereas the second is addressed to the general public.

• Points derived from the ḥadith:

1. Fasting the month of Ramadan becomes obligatory once the sighting of its crescent is confirmed, and breaking the fast becomes obligatory once the sighting of the Shawwāl crescent is confirmed.
2. It is recommended to publicize the beginning and end of Ramadan by the widest and quickest means available.
3. The ruling of when to fast and when to break the fast is tied to actually sighting the crescent: one must not begin fasting without a sighting, nor break the fast without a straightforward sighting—even if aided by observatories or optical devices that magnify what is seen, for such aided observation is still considered direct visual sighting.
4. If clouds, dust, or anything similar prevent the crescent from being seen at sunset on the night of the thirtieth of Shaʿbān, then Shaʿbān is completed as thirty days and that day is not fasted; rather, according to the stronger opinion, people rise the next morning not fasting. The default and certain state is that Shaʿbān is still in effect, and its ending is doubtful. One abandons certainty only for equal certainty; doubts and mere possibilities are never given precedence over what is certain.
5. Visual sighting is the sole Sharʿī basis for the rulings of fasting and breaking the fast; astronomical calculations are of no consequence and may never be relied upon under any circumstance. Shaykh al-Islām said: “There is no doubt, as established by the sound Sunnah and the reports of the Companions, that it is impermissible to rely on astronomical computation. Whoever depends on it is not only astray in matters of Sharīʿah and an innovator in religion, but also mistaken in reason and in the science of calculation, for astronomers themselves know that sighting cannot be pinned down by any calculation: it varies with the elevation or low-lying nature of a place and other such factors.”