Risala fi Ruyat Hilal Dhi al-Hijja
- Author died
- 795 AH
- Editions
- Al-Fārūq al-Ḥadīthah lil-Ṭibā‘ah wal-Nashr
Risala fi Ruyat Hilal Dhi al-Hijja (Treatise on the Sighting of the Crescent of Dhu al-Hijja) is a legal treatise by the Hanbali jurist and traditionist Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali (d. 795 AH / 1393 CE) addressing the legal rulings governing astronomical uncertainty and disputed crescent sightings for the Islamic month of Dhu al-Hijja .
Background and Cause of Composition
The author composed the treatise in response to a specific incident that occurred in the year 784 AH (1382 CE) . In that year, the crescent moon of Dhu al-Hijja was obscured by overcast conditions, prompting the community to complete the thirty-day count of Dhu al-Qada . Subsequently, reports circulated that certain individuals had sighted the new crescent, but their testimony was not officially accepted or heard by the judicial authority (qadi) .
This unadmitted testimony generated widespread confusion among the public: some people hesitated to fast on what was officially the ninth of Dhu al-Hijja (the Day of Arafah), claiming it was actually the tenth (the Day of Sacrifice, Yawm al-Nahr) based on the rejected sightings, and reports indicated that some even performed animal sacrifices on that day . In response to the ensuing public disorder, Ibn Rajab authored this treatise to elucidate the governing legal rulings .
Content and Legal Themes
The work discusses whether a day of doubt (yawm al-shakk) should be fasted and details the positions transmitted from the Prophet's Companions, the Successors, and the founding jurists . Ibn Rajab delineates cases where doubt arises from mere contextual indicators or from the testimony of individuals whose witnessing is legally inadmissible—such as an isolated single witness whose testimony cannot establish the month—and reviews historical disagreements, citing early authorities such as Ibrahim al-Nakhai . The treatise also addresses related topics involving disputed sightings for Ramadan and Shawwal, affirming the legal validity of communal worship when honest errors occur regarding the entry or exit of lunar months .
Titles and Transmission
The author did not explicitly assign an independent title at the beginning of the text . Consequently, the work has been referenced under several descriptive titles in biographical and manuscript records:
- Qaidat Ghamm Hilal Dhi al-Hijja (or Qaidah fi Ruyat Hilal Dhi al-Hijja), the designation given by Ibn Abd al-Hadi in al-Jawhar al-Munaddad .
- Risala fi Fatwa Hilal Dhi al-Hijja .
- Ahkam al-Ikhtilaf fi Ruyat Hilal Dhi al-Hijja, chosen by modern editor Abd Allah ibn Abd al-Aziz al-Jibrin .
Manuscript copies of the treatise are preserved at King Saud University in Riyadh (under MS 1817 and MS 56/16) and the Dar al-Ifta Library in Riyadh (MS 527/86) . The treatise has been printed both independently and within compiled anthologies of Ibn Rajab's treatises (Majmu' Rasail Ibn Rajab) .
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