is the month whose crescent is obscured. This applies both when beginning its fast and when ending it.
Even more explicit is his statement: “The month is twenty-nine days, so do not begin fasting until you sight the crescent. If it is obscured from you, complete the count” (1). Its wording refers to the beginning of the month, while its meaning also extends to the end. It is therefore impermissible to disregard what its wording indicates and consider only what it implies.
He also said: “The month is thirty days, and the month is twenty-nine days. If the crescent is obscured from you, count thirty days” (2).
He said: “Do not fast before Ramadan. Begin fasting upon sighting the crescent, and end the fast upon sighting it. If cloud or haze (3) obscures it, complete thirty days” (4).
He said: “Do not begin the month’s fast until you sight the crescent or complete the count. Then fast (5) until you sight the crescent or complete the count” (6).
(1) Reported by al-Bukhārī (1907) and Muslim (1080/4–7 and 9), from Ibn ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with them both).
(2) Reported with this wording by Ibn Hibbān (3451), from Ibn ʿUmar. The underlying report appears in al-Bukhārī and Muslim, as indicated in the references for the preceding hadith.
(3) The printed edition reads “ghamāma (cloud)”; the adopted reading is from the manuscripts. Ghayāya denotes anything overhead that shades a person, such as a cloud, dust, shade, or the like.
(4) Reported by Abū Dāwūd (2327), al-Tirmidhī (688), and al-Nasāʾī (2130), from Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with them both). It was graded authentic by al-Tirmidhī, Ibn Hibbān (3590), and al-Hākim (1/424). See al-Talkhīs al-Habīr (2/197) and Sahīh Abī Dāwūd—al-Umm (7/94).
(5) K reads: “tasūmū (you fast).”
(6) Reported by Abū Dāwūd (2326) and al-Nasāʾī (2126), from Hudhayfa (may Allah be pleased with him). It was graded authentic by Ibn Khuzayma (1911) and Ibn Hibbān (3458). See Nasb al-Rāya (2/439) and al-Talkhīs al-Habīr (2/198).