‘Ā’ishah said: “The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, took greater care to watch for the crescent of Sha‘bān than for any other month. He would then begin fasting upon sighting the crescent. If it was obscured from him, he would count thirty days for Sha‘bān and then begin fasting” (1). Al-Dāraqutnī and Ibn Hibbān graded this report authentic.
He said: “Begin fasting upon sighting the crescent, and end the fast upon sighting it. If it is obscured from you, count thirty days” (2).
He said: “Do not begin fasting until you sight it, and do not end the fast until you sight it (3). If it is obscured (4) from you, complete its count” (5).
He said: “Do not fast ahead of Ramadan” (6). In another wording: “Do not fast one or two days ahead of Ramadan, except for a man (7) who regularly observes a fast; let him observe that fast” (8).
(1) Reported by Ahmad (25161) and Abū Dāwūd (2325). It was graded authentic by Ibn Khuzayma (1910), Ibn Hibbān (3444), al-Dāraqutnī (2149), and al-Hākim (1/423).
(2) Reported by al-Bukhārī (1909) and Muslim (1081/19), from Abū Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him).
(3) “Wa-lā tuftirū hattā tarawhu (and do not end the fast until you sight it)” is absent from K.
(4) That is, cloud or dust haze prevented the crescent from being sighted.
(5) Reported by Muslim (1080/3), from Ibn ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with them both).
(6) Reported by al-Bukhārī (1914) and Muslim (1082/21), from Abū Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him).
(7) This is the reading in the manuscripts and the cited hadith sources. The printed edition reads “rajulan (a man, in the accusative).”
(8) Reported by Ahmad (7200, 8575), from Abū Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him), and graded authentic by Ibn Hibbān (3592).