13/2. Chapter:
Sahih Muslim 1080p — Midmonth Caution
The obligation to fast Ramadan when the crescent is sighted, and to break the fast when the crescent is sighted, and that if it is cloudy at the beginning or end of the month, then the month should be completed as thirty days.
Hadith About Knowing the Middle of the Month
Sahih Muslim : 1080p
Sahih MuslimHadith Number 1080p
حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو كَامِلٍ الْجَحْدَرِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الْوَاحِدِ بْنُ زِيَادٍ، حَدَّثَنَا الْحَسَنُ بْنُ عُبَيْدِ، اللَّهِ عَنْ سَعْدِ بْنِ عُبَيْدَةَ، قَالَ سَمِعَ ابْنُ عُمَرَ، - رضى الله عنهما - رَجُلاً يَقُولُ اللَّيْلَةَ لَيْلَةُ النِّصْفِ فَقَالَ لَهُ مَا يُدْرِيكَ أَنَّ اللَّيْلَةَ النِّصْفُ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ " الشَّهْرُ هَكَذَا وَهَكَذَا " . وَأَشَارَ بِأَصَابِعِهِ الْعَشْرِ مَرَّتَيْنِ " وَهَكَذَا " . فِي الثَّالِثَةِ وَأَشَارَ بِأَصَابِعِهِ كُلِّهَا وَحَبَسَ أَوْ خَنَسَ إِبْهَامَهُ " .
Sa'd b. 'Ubaida Narrated from:
Ibn'Umar (Allah be pleased with both of them) heard a person saying: This night is the midnight (of the month). Upon this he said to him: How do you know that it is the midnight (of the month), for I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: The month is thus and thus (and he pointed with his ten fingers twice) and thus (i. e. at the third time he pointed with all his fingers but withdrew or folded his thumb)?
Reference : Sahih Muslim 1080pIn-book reference : Book 13, Hadith 19USC-MSA web (English) reference : Book 6, Hadith 2377
Summary of Sahih Muslim Hadith 1080p
This narration shows Ibn Umar hearing someone say, “This night is the midnight of the month.” Ibn Umar asked how he knew that, then cited the saying of Allah's Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم about the month being shown by fingers, with one thumb held back on the third time. The point is careful speech about time. If the month can be twenty-nine days, a person should not speak with surety about the exact middle without a sound basis. This month 29 days hadith is not about guessing dates for personal claims. It teaches that the lunar month may not match a neat thirty-day assumption. The wording stays focused on the count and the caution that comes from it.
What we learn from this hadith
- Do not speak with certainty about the middle of the month without basis.
- A month may be twenty-nine days.
- The Prophet's صلى الله عليه وسلم teaching guided Ibn Umar's correction.
