Chapter: What to Say Upon Sighting the New Moon
1228 – Talhah ibn ʿUbayd Allah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that whenever the Prophet ﷺ saw the new crescent he would say: “O Allah, bring it over us with security and faith, safety and Islam. My Lord and your Lord is Allah—a crescent of right guidance and goodness.” Related by al-Tirmidhi, who graded the report hasan (sound).
[Explanation]
The author, al-Nawawi—may Allah have mercy on him—states in Riyad al-Salihin under the heading “The prohibition of anticipating Ramadan by fasting after the middle of Shaʿban.” He then cites several narrations—may Allah have mercy on him—among them the hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) in which the Prophet ﷺ forbade a person to precede Ramadan by fasting one or two days, except for someone who has a regular practice. For instance, if a person’s routine is to fast on Mondays and a Monday falls one or two days before Ramadan, that is unobjectionable; or if his habit is to fast the “white days” but he can only manage the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth by fasting one or two days before Ramadan, that too is permissible. The prohibition therefore targets the individual who wishes to be overly cautious about the start of Ramadan, saying, “I will fast a day or two beforehand just in case.” Such caution has no basis. Hence the Prophet ﷺ said, “Fast when you see it and break the fast when you see it,” meaning the crescent. If a covering—clouds, rain, or the like—prevents sighting, then complete thirty days, i.e. the full month of Shaʿban.
The scholars—may Allah have mercy on them—differed over whether this prohibition denotes impermissibility or mere dislike. The stronger view is that it denotes impermissibility, especially concerning the “day of doubt,” for ʿAmmar ibn Yasir (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “Whoever fasts the day of doubt has disobeyed Abu al-Qasim ﷺ.”
Accordingly, it is not lawful for a person to fast one or two days before Ramadan unless he has a habitual practice, nor may he fast the day of doubt—the thirtieth of Shaʿban when clouds or rain entirely prevent crescent sighting—because the Messenger ﷺ said, “Fast when you see it and break the fast when you see it.”
As for the hadith prohibiting fasting after the middle of Shaʿban, although al-Tirmidhi deemed it hasan sahih, it is weak; Imam Ahmad declared it anomalous because it conflicts with Abu Hurayrah’s report that the Prophet ﷺ said, “Do not fast one or two days before Ramadan,” which by implication allows fasting three, four, or even ten days before the month.
Even were the hadith authentic, its prohibition would signal reprehensibility rather than outright unlawfulness, as some scholars—may Allah have mercy on them—have maintained.
Except for one who is accustomed to fasting: such a person may fast even after the middle of Shaʿban. Thus fasting falls into three categories:
1 – From after the middle of Shaʿban up to the twenty-eighth: disliked unless one has a habit of fasting—yet this rests on the hadith’s authenticity, and since Imam Ahmad did not authenticate it, there is then no dislike.
2 – One or two days before Ramadan: forbidden unless it coincides with one’s regular practice.
3 – The day of doubt: absolutely forbidden. Do not fast the day of doubt, for the Prophet ﷺ forbade it.
As noted, the prohibition concerns one who intends to count that day as part of Ramadan. Whoever merely wishes to observe a voluntary fast is also prevented, as a safeguard, lest onlookers think he is observing it out of caution for Ramadan—and such caution is impermissible. “Fast when you see it and break the fast when you see it.” And Allah alone grants success.