the people of a town to inform him whether they have sighted the crescent, and the man reports that they have begun fasting on the basis of a widespread sighting or because the crescent’s sighting was established before their judge, he must order the people to fast that day on the strength of this report, as a matter of accepting an individual’s report. If, however, the man brings him this information without having been sent, he must fast personally, but he may not order the people to fast until another witness testifies before him to the same effect, because this constitutes a judicial ruling, which requires the testimony of two witnesses.
Section
Fasting Ramadan becomes obligatory through one of five means: a person sights its crescent himself; the ruler informs him that its sighting has been established before him; an upright person conveys this information from the ruler, or reports that the people have sighted it widely; two upright witnesses inform him that they have sighted it; or a single upright witness informs him of its sighting in a place where there is no ruler who takes care to ascertain the crescent’s sighting. Likewise, if an upright person informs him that the inhabitants of a particular town fasted on a particular day on the basis of a widespread sighting or because its sighting was established before their judge, he must make up that day’s fast.
The reasoning is that when formal testimony is impracticable because judicial oversight is absent or neglected, the crescent’s sighting is established through a report, just as it is established through testimony before the ruler when a widespread sighting is not possible. This is also comparable to accepting the word of an upright muezzin who knows how to recognize dawn concerning its arrival, since formal testimony before the ruler is impracticable in this case, as he is not obliged to seek testimony concerning it. The reason he is obliged to seek it for the crescent but not for dawn is that the intention to fast may validly be formed before dawn, whereas the intention to fast the first day of Ramadan cannot validly be formed before knowing that its crescent has appeared. Neither the sun’s passing its zenith for the noon prayer nor its setting for breaking the fast is a counterexample to this reasoning, because he can delay until he is certain that the sun has passed its zenith or has set.
Section
If what the two have described concerns the crescent of Sha'bān, and the crescent of Ramadan is obscured, he completes thirty days of Sha'bān. Likewise, if it concerns the crescent of Rajab, and the crescents of Sha'bān and Ramadan are obscured, he completes thirty days for Rajab and thirty days for Sha'bān.