Fasting in Ramadan has two beginnings and two endings: the start of the day of fasting and the start of the month of fasting and their respective ends. God would not have left the believers without guidance to show them how to define each of the two beginnings and the two endings. By His grace, He has given us such guidance.
As for the day of fasting, its beginning and end are clearly defined in the Qur’an. Thus, the beginning is at the point when "you can see the white streak of dawn against the darkness of the night." (2: 187) And the end is similarly defined: "Resume the fast till nightfall." (2: 187) Both are further explained in the Sunnah which God has given to His messenger so that he would be able to explain to them God’s revelations.
The beginning, according to the Hadith related by Al-Bukhari and Muslim on the authority of Adiy ibn Hatim ‘is but the darkness of the night and the brightness of the day.’ And in the Hadith related by Muslim on the authority of Samurah ibn Jundub: "Do not be misled away from your dawn meal by Bilal’s call to prayer or by the vertical whiteness on the horizon, until the whiteness spreads out." (As Hammad reported this Hadith, he made a gesture with his hands to indicate the complete spread of whiteness across the sky.) In another version of the same Hadith, the Prophet’s statement goes as follows: "Do not be misled by Bilal’s call or by this whiteness until dawn appears," or he might have said, "until dawn breaks." Another Hadith related by Imam Ahmad on the authority of Talq ibn Ali states: "Dawn is not that vertical whiteness on the horizon, but the reddish whiteness across the sky." Al-Tirmidhi reports this Hadith in a different version: "Eat and drink but do not be misled by the rising whiteness. Rather, continue to eat and drink until the reddish one spreads across." Having related this Hadith, Al-Tirmidhi goes on to say that it is reasonably authentic in this version. Scholars agree that a person intending to fast may continue to eat and drink until the reddish dawn has spread across the sky."
The ending of the fasting day is also explained by a Hadith reported by Umar ibn Al-Khattab, quoting the Prophet as saying: "When the night comes in from this side and the day begins to disappear from this side and the sun sets, a fasting person ends his fast." (Related by Al-Bukhari and Muslim).
As for the beginning and ending of the fasting month, these are well defined in absolutely authentic Hadiths, such as: "Fast when you have sighted the new moon, and end your fast when you have sighted it again. Should it be unsightable, complete the month of Shaaban to thirty days." "Do not begin your fast until you have sighted the new moon, and do not end your fast until you have sighted it again. Should it be unsightable, resort to estimation." There are several other authentic Hadiths in the same vein.
The verb ‘to sight’ has a general sense that admits more than one meaning. Hence, it is important for determining its intended meaning to have some added indication, which we find in the Qur’anic verse setting out the duty of fasting. In this verse we have the statement, ‘Eat and drink until you can see the white streak of dawn…’ (2: 187). What is translated here as ‘you can see’ is given in the original Arabic in a more emphatic sense which means ‘you can make certain of.’ Thus, certainty is required here, and there is no difference in its requirement for determining the beginning of the day of fasting or the beginning of the fasting month. Sighting with the naked eye may be an elusion or misleading. This is clearly indicated in the Qur’an: "They saw with their very eyes the others to be twice their own number." (3: 13) (This means that the unbelievers saw the Muslims to be twice their own number, when they were not so numerous.) Another Qur’anic verse states: "And so, when you met in battle, He made them appear as few in your eyes." (8: 44)
God Almighty requires people to do what is within their ability: "Remain, then, God-fearing as best you can." (64: 16) "God does not charge a soul with more than it can bear." (2: 286) If all they can do to ascertain the beginning of the month of fasting is to sight the new moon with their naked eyes, or to see the dawn with their eyes in order to determine the beginning of the day of fasting, then well and good: "God does not burden any human being with more than He has given him." (65: 7) However, when Muslims have acquired advanced knowledge and they have at their disposal means that provide them with far more accurate information, they may not continue to rely only on sighting with the naked eye. On the contrary, it is their duty to use more accurate methods so as to arrive at true and well verified knowledge.
By the grace of God, Muslims throughout the world have made the right decision in determining the beginning of the day of fasting, relying only on accurate calculation which admits a minute possibility of error within one hundred thousandth of a second. If a reliable and trustworthy person testifies that he saw the break of dawn spreading across the sky at a point of time before the time calculated and recorded in calendars, no one may accept his statement with regard to the timing of their prayer and fasting. On the contrary, it remains permissible for every one to continue to eat and drink until the time specified in the calendars. He himself may not offer his dawn, or Fajr, prayer until the time indicated in the calendar.
On the question of certainty, there is no distinction between ascertaining the beginning of the day of fasting or the start of the fasting month. If Muslims have no means other than relying on sighting with the naked eye, then well and good. This was true of the early Muslims who were largely unlettered, as described in an authentic Hadith related by Al-Bukhari on the authority of Ibn Umar quoting the Prophet as saying: "We are an unlettered community: we neither write nor calculate. A month is either this or this (indicating with his two hands 29 or 30 days)." Had God required them to resort to other means, they would have found that too difficult. But we realize that this ruling indicated in the Hadith is given with its causes. A cause is permanently related to its effect, in cases where it is present and in those where it is absent. Thus, if the Muslim community is no longer unlettered, and if a large proportion of its numbers become well educated, able to write and calculate, and people generally become able to ascertain the beginning of the month precisely, and if this becomes as reliable as eye sighting of the moon or even more, then it is imperative that they should resort to such certain methods. This means that they should rely only on astronomical calculation. They may go back to rely on the naked eye only when other means of certainty are unavailable to them, as in the case of some isolated group in the middle of the desert where they have no access to reliable news.
This question of ability is a highly relative one. If a person cannot sight the moon with his naked eye, because he is short-sighted, but he is able to sight it when he has his spectacles on, then he must wear his spectacles and try to sight the moon before he goes on to complete the previous month to 30 days. A person who cannot sight the new moon with his spectacles on, but can do so with the aid of a telescope, must resort to that device, if it is available to him. Otherwise, he cannot decide to complete 30 days. Astronomical calculation is a better way to arrive at more certain and accurate information than the use of a telescope. Sighting with a telescope remains short of certainty, because mistakes remain possible. Jets and other aeroplanes emit smoke which may reflect sunlight and may be mistakenly taken for the new moon. We will continue this discussion next week, God willing.