the option between feeding the poor and fasting, while recommending fasting. Allah, Exalted is He, also says, “So whoever of you witnesses the month, let him fast it; and whoever is ill or on a journey—then an equal number of other days” (al-Baqarah 185). This verse makes fasting obligatory in real time for everyone who is healthy and resident, and obligatory as make-up days for the sick and the traveller. Because it was revealed after the former verse, it abrogates it, as confirmed by the report of Salamah b. al-Akwaʿ recorded in the two Ṣaḥīḥs (1) and elsewhere.

3 – If the chronological order of the two texts is unknown, one follows the stronger of the two, provided a factor of preference exists. An example is the Prophet’s ﷺ statement, “Whoever touches his private part must perform wudu” (2), alongside his being asked about a man who touches his private part—does he have to perform wudu? He replied, “No; it is merely a part of you” (3). The first report is preferred because it is more cautious, is supported by more transmission routes with sounder narrators, and because it departs from the default state, thereby conveying additional knowledge.