part of Ramadan, the more fitting view is that his fast also suffices. This is like someone who unknowingly holds a deposit belonging to another man and gives it to him as a gift, then discovers that it was his by right. He need not give it to him a second time; rather, he says, “What you received was something of yours that I was holding.” Allah knows the true nature of all things.

The report transmitted from Ahmad—that the people follow the imam in his intention—rests on the principle that fasting and breaking the fast depend on what people know, as related in the Sunan collections from the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), who said:

“Your day of fasting is the day you fast, your day of breaking the fast is the day you break the fast, and your day of sacrifice is the day you offer sacrifices.”

People have differed over the term “crescent”: does it denote what rises in the sky even if no one sees it, or is it not called a crescent until people announce its appearance and know of it? There are two views on this in the school of Ahmad and elsewhere. On this rests the disagreement over whether a day when the sky is completely overcast—or a cloudy day generally—is a day of doubt. There are three views on this in the school of Ahmad and elsewhere.

The first is that it is not a day of doubt; rather, doubt arises when sighting the crescent is possible. This is the view of many followers of al-Shāfiʿī and others.

The second is that it is a day of doubt, because the crescent may have risen.