Kitab al-Sawm: Crescent Sighting and Establishing Ramadan

1. The section on crescent sighting

This passage examines how the beginning of Ramadan becomes established. Ruʾyat al-hilal is sighting the new lunar crescent. Quduri separates three questions: when to look, what an individual who personally sees the crescent must do, and what evidence the authority accepts for a public determination.

The lesson follows the text’s two paths: a valid sighting or completion of the preceding month’s thirty days.

2. When the crescent should be sought

وينبغي للناس أن يلتمسوا الهلال في اليوم التاسع والعشرين من شعبان
Translation: People should look for the crescent on the twenty-ninth of Shaʿban.

A lunar month lasts 29 or 30 days. The search is therefore made as the twenty-ninth day of Shaʿban ends, to determine whether Ramadan has begun. Yaltamisū means to seek or look for.

Although the text refers to the twenty-ninth day, the relevant observation is at its sunset, the start of the night that would precede the first day of Ramadan.

3. After sunset on 29 Shaʿban

Suppose today is the twenty-ninth of Shaʿban. If the crescent is validly observed after sunset, the night begins the new month and the following daylight is the first day of Ramadan.

This does not retroactively change the daylight that has ended. The lunar date turns at sunset, while the fasting period on the following day starts at true dawn; Quduri explains fasting hours separately in the next passage.

4. Consequence of sighting

فإن رأوه صاموا
Translation: If they see it, they fast.

In raʾawhu, the pronoun refers to the crescent. Once the sighting is established through the prescribed means, the following day is observed as a Ramadan fast.

The plural ṣāmū sets out the general result; the later clauses distinguish a personal sighting from legally accepted testimony that establishes the month for the community.

5. When the crescent is obscured

وإن غم عليهم أكملوا عدة شعبان ثلاثين يوما ثم صاموا
Translation: If it is obscured from them, they complete Shaʿban as thirty days and then fast.

If cloud, dust, or another obstruction prevents observation, one does not declare Ramadan solely because the crescent might have appeared.

Ghumma ʿalayhim conveys concealment or obscuring. Quduri directs completion of the count: finish thirty days of Shaʿban rather than guessing that the new month has arrived.

6. Obstruction and absence of sighting

Cloud cover describes an impediment; not seeing the crescent is the observation outcome. Completing thirty days avoids basing the calendar on an unsupported presumption.

The distinction matters for the later testimony rule: an obstructed sky changes the kind of evidence that may suffice for confirming the Ramadan crescent.

7. Worked example: completing thirty days

Shaʿban has completed twenty-nine days. After sunset no legally sufficient sighting is established. The next daylight is the thirtieth of Shaʿban; the following night begins Ramadan, and the next day is Ramadan 1.

This example assumes no valid evidence establishing the crescent. A validly accepted report changes the outcome.

8. An individual who alone sees the crescent

ومن رأى هلال رمضان وحده صام
Translation: Whoever sees the Ramadan crescent alone must fast.

The passage now distinguishes personal sighting from the community’s formal establishment of Ramadan. Someone who actually sees the Ramadan crescent must fast according to Quduri, even before considering whether the sighting is accepted for the public.

This does not give that person authority to issue a binding announcement for everyone; personal obligation and communal determination are distinct.

9. Scenario: a solitary observer

One person clearly observes the crescent after sunset on 29 Shaʿban, with no one else present. Quduri first addresses that individual’s fast and then treats acceptance of testimony as a separate legal question.

The observation should be reported honestly to the appropriate authority. Private observation is not identical to a verified public announcement.

10. When the authority declines the testimony

وإن لم يقبل الإمام شهادته
Translation: Even if the imam does not accept his testimony.

Quduri adds that even if the imam does not accept the witness’s testimony, the individual who personally saw the crescent is still instructed to fast.

Rejection of testimony concerns whether a report establishes the month publicly; it does not automatically erase a person’s own direct knowledge of what they saw.

11. Personal conviction versus public decision

The fine distinction is between an individual’s duty and a communal determination. Quduri requires the observer to fast personally, while a public determination must satisfy the rules for accepting testimony.

The next clause accordingly tests whether the sky was obstructed or clear; neither rule can be substituted for the other.

12. What qualifies as an obscured sky

وإذا كان في السماء علة قبل الإمام شهادة الواحد العدل في رؤية الهلال
Translation: If there is an obstruction in the sky, the imam accepts the testimony of one upright person regarding sighting the crescent.

Here ʿillah means a visibility impediment—such as cloud or dust—not an illness. When the sky is obstructed, it is unsurprising that most observers fail to see a thin crescent.

That is why Quduri allows testimony from one upright witness in this specified setting. It is not a general rule that one unsupported assertion establishes every religious or legal fact.

13. One upright witness: the legal condition

Wāḥid denotes one person; ʿadl adds the requirement of upright, trustworthy testimony. The rule is not that any casual claim must automatically be accepted.

When visibility is obstructed, two witnesses are not a fixed prerequisite under this passage. The requirement of probity remains, and the authority examines the testimony.

14. Testimony is not casual rumor

Quduri uses shahādah (testimony), not a vague rumor. Testimony is a report submitted as a witness’s own observation to the responsible decision-maker.

An unattributed statement such as “someone says somebody saw the crescent” is not automatically equivalent to direct testimony. The source, quality, and acceptance of evidence matter.

15. Male and female witnesses; historical terminology

رجلا كان أو امرأة حرا كان أو عبدا
Translation: Whether male or female, free or enslaved.

Quduri explicitly allows an upright male or female witness for the obstructed-sky Ramadan ruling. Probity and admissible testimony are the operative criteria.

The words ḥurr and ʿabd refer to the free/slave distinction of the text’s historical legal setting. They are reproduced to explain the original wording, not as a recommendation for a contemporary institution of slavery.

16. Testimony of one upright woman

For Ramadan’s crescent, where the sky is obstructed and all other conditions hold, the testimony of one upright woman is included in Quduri’s rule. The text expressly lists both genders; an all-male-witness requirement would misstate this particular clause.

This concerns establishing the Ramadan crescent. Rules for Shawwal’s crescent appear later and must not be copied into this distinct legal setting.

17. The evidentiary standard under a clear sky

فإن لم يكن في السماء علة لم تقبل الشهادة حتى يراه جمع كثير
Translation: If the sky has no obstruction, testimony is not accepted until a large group has seen the crescent.

Under a clear sky with no material viewing impediment, Quduri does not treat an isolated sighting as sufficient for a public determination. Instead, a substantial group must have sighted the crescent.

This is an evidentiary distinction: a clear horizon allows broader observation, while obstruction explains why most people did not see the crescent. The strength of evidence required therefore differs.

18. A large group, not a fixed headcount

Jamʿ kathīr is a numerous group sufficient to meet the text’s evidentiary threshold. Quduri states no universal numerical quota—neither twenty nor fifty—in this sentence.

A quiz that claims a fixed minimum of ten witnesses under a clear sky would therefore add a number absent from the source. The point is the degree of corroboration and resulting confidence.

19. The knowledge produced by their report

يقع العلم بخبرهم
Translation: Whose report gives rise to reliable knowledge.

Quduri completes the condition with yaqaʿ al-ʿilm bi-khabarihim: the group’s report must yield sufficient reliable knowledge of the sighting. Numbers alone are not the whole point; credible collective evidence matters.

The closing words clarify what kind of group is intended under a clear sky: one whose report can establish the matter with the required assurance.

20. Comparing the two sky conditions

Obstructed sky: The imam may accept one upright witness, male or female, for Ramadan’s crescent.

Clear sky: A single report is not enough for public establishment; a large group whose report yields reliable knowledge is required.

Credibility matters in both cases. The difference concerns what degree of corroboration is appropriate to the visibility conditions.

21. Case study: cloudy evening

At sunset on 29 Shaʿban the horizon was cloudy. One upright witness reports a personal sighting, and the authority determines that the conditions for accepting testimony are met. Under Quduri’s rule, that one witness can suffice to establish the Ramadan crescent.

Without admissible evidence, completion of thirty days remains the operative course; an anonymous message does not itself equal an accepted sighting.

22. Case study: clear evening

The horizon is clear, and only one person claims a sighting despite many other observers. Quduri’s public evidentiary rule here calls for a substantial, credible group rather than accepting a single claim.

If the person genuinely saw the crescent, the separate rule about that person’s own fast still applies. This example illustrates why personal duty and a public announcement must not be conflated.

23. Logical sequence of the complete passage

The passage moves in a deliberate sequence: search at the end of Shaʿban 29; fast when Ramadan is properly established; otherwise complete thirty days. It then states the individual observer’s personal duty.

Finally, it divides the public testimony standard according to sky conditions: one upright witness under obstruction, or a large credible group under a clear sky. These are the central five rulings.

24. Where the next lesson begins

This bounded passage ends with the rules on witnessing Ramadan’s crescent. Quduri next turns to the fasting interval and acts affecting the fast.

ووقت الصوم من حين طلوع الفجر الثاني إلى غروب الشمس
Translation: The fasting interval runs from true dawn to sunset.

The detailed teaching of that next sentence belongs to Level 069.