THE FIQH DEPARTMENT

In the Name of Allah, The Most Beneficent, The Most Merciful.
Although every Fiqh opinion is based on evidence, often times, the scholars differ in their views. This room for differences is a mercy from Allah, and as long as there is evidence to support an opinion, then we must respect scholars' views, even if we may not always agree.
The Prophet (SAW) said:
"Whoever performs Ijtihad and errs will receive one reward. Whoever performs Ijtihad and arrives at the correct answer gets double the reward"
(Bukhari) 
Fasting on the Day When it Might or Might Not be the First Day of Ramadan PDF Print E-mail
Fiqh: Islamic Jurisprudence - Ramadan
Written by Ibn Taymiyyah   

Fasting on the day when it might or might not be the first of Ramadan


Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, Allah have mercy upon him, was asked:
Is it obligatory (wajib) or not to fast on the cloudy day? Is this the “day of doubt” when fasting is forbidden, or not?


He answered:
About fasting on the day when cloud prevents any possible sighting of the hilal, the people of knowledge have a number of views that are found in the school of Ahmad and others:
1.
That it is forbidden to fast that day. This is the dominant (mashhur) position in the school of Malik, Shafi’i and Ahmad, in one of the two narrations from the latter. Some of his companions adopted this view, e.g. Abu l-Khitab, Ibn ‘Aqil, Abu l-Qasim b. Mandah of Isfahan, and others. Is this forbidden prohibition (tahrim) or strongly discouraged (tanzih)? There are two views on this.

2.
That it is obligatory (wajib) to fast that day, being the preference of the Qadi, Kharqi and other companions of Ahmad. It is said that this is the most well-known view narrated from Ahmad, but the established view on the authority of Ahmad, for the one who knows the texts and wording, is that he used to recommend fasting on the cloudy day, following Abdullah b. ‘Umar and other Companions. Abdullah b. ‘Umar did not obligate this on people, but used to do so out of caution, as did other Companions – this is narrated from ‘Umar, ‘Ali, Mu’awiyah, Abu Hurayrah, Ibn ‘Umar, ‘Aishah, Asma’ and others.

3.
That one has a choice to fast or not to fast that day. This is the position of Abu Hanifah and others, and it is the clearly-stated view of Ahmad. It is the position of many or most of the Companions and Followers. This is similar to the following cases:
a. when it is not possible to see the dawn, it is allowed to stop eating, and drinking (imsak). A person may stop, or may continue to eat until they are certain that dawn has appeared.
b. If a person is in doubt as to whether or not they have passed wind, they have the choice to renew their ablution or not.
c. Has a year passed over wealth such that zakat is obligatory, or not? (The person has the choice of paying the zakat, or waiting until they are certain that a year has passed.)
d. Is the obligatory amount of zakat 100 or 120? The person has the choice of either – the cautious view is to pay the higher amount.

 

Majmu' Al-Fatawa Vol. 5 of the Fiqh Section, pp. 98-113.