and Asmā’, the two daughters of Abū Bakr (1)? And how could Sālim ibn ‘Abd Allāh, Mujāhid, Tāwūs, Abū ‘Uthmān al-Nahdī, Mutarrif ibn al-Shikhkhīr, Maymūn ibn Mihrān, and Bakr ibn ‘Abd Allāh al-Muzanī have acted contrary to it (2)? And how could Ahmad ibn Hanbal, the imam of the people of hadith and the Sunnah, have acted contrary to it (3)? We shall provide you with their statements, complete with chains of transmission.
As for ‘Umar, al-Walīd ibn Muslim said: Ibn (4) Thawbān informed me, from his father, from Makhūl, that ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb would fast if the sky was cloudy that night, saying: “This is not fasting in advance; rather, it is taking care to observe the fast correctly” (5).
As for the report from ‘Alī, al-Shāfi‘ī said (6): ‘Abd al-‘Azīz ibn Muhammad al-Darāwardī informed us, from Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Amr ibn ‘Uthmān, from his mother Fātima bint Husayn, that ‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib said: “I would rather fast a day of Sha‘bān than (7)
(1) The sources of these reports will be cited later.
(2) Abū ‘Uthmān al-Nahdī’s report is recorded by Ibn Abī Shayba (9601). For the remaining reports, see Ibn al-Jawzī, Dar’ al-Lawm wa-l-Daym, p. 52.
(3) This will follow shortly.
(4) “Ibn” (son of) is omitted from the printed edition.
(5) Recorded by Ibn al-Jawzī in Dar’ al-Lawm wa-l-Daym, p. 52. Its chain of transmission has two defects: ‘Abd al-Rahmān ibn Thābit ibn Thawbān’s reliability is disputed, and scholars criticized certain hadiths he narrated from his father, from Makhūl; secondly, Makhūl did not live early enough to have met ‘Umar—may Allah be pleased with him. Al-‘Irāqī identified the latter as a defect in the report. See Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb (6:150) and Tarh al-Tathrīb (4:110).
(6) In al-Umm (2:232), and through its author, al-Dāraqutnī (2205) and al-Bayhaqī in al-Sunan al-Kubrā (4:212) and Ma‘rifat al-Sunan wa-l-Āthār (6:244). The chain of transmission is disconnected, since Fātima did not live early enough to have met her grandfather ‘Alī—may Allah be pleased with him.
(7) “Min” (than) is absent from ص, ج, ك, ع, م, and مب. The retained reading is from ق.