And in view of what is established from Ibn ‘Umar, he must have heard both reports from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Alternatively, what he heard from him was:

“A month may have twenty-nine days and may have thirty,”

as explicitly reported, while the wording heard from Ibn ‘Umar:

“The month is only twenty-nine days,”

was narrated according to the meaning contained in the former report. This, however, is unlikely in Ibn ‘Umar’s case, for he did not narrate reports by meaning.

All three meanings have been reported from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace: his statement,

“The month is twenty-nine days,”

referred to a particular month; he is also reported to have said,

“It may be,”

and he is reported to have said,

“The month is only”.

Numerous reports from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, agree with the first interpretation of Ibn ‘Umar’s hadith. One example is what al-Bukhārī narrated through Ibn Jurayj, from Yahyā ibn ‘Abd Allāh ibn Sayfī, from ‘Ikrima ibn ‘Abd al-Rahmān, from Umm Salama:

“The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, swore to stay away from his wives for a month. When twenty-nine days had passed, he went to them in the morning or evening. He was told, ‘You swore not to come in for a month.’ He replied, ‘A month may have twenty-nine days.’”

This indicates that a month is reckoned complete on that basis without qualification, unless the oath was taken at the beginning of the month, which is contrary to the apparent meaning. If the oath was taken during the month, then this is explicit evidence concerning the disputed issue. Al-Bukhārī also narrated through Sulaymān ibn Bilāl