❖ Question:
Is it permissible to fast only 28 days during the month of Ramadan?
❖ Answer:
According to authentic Hadiths of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, a lunar month can never be less than 29 days. Therefore, if after fasting 28 days, reliable Sharʿī evidence confirms the arrival of Shawwāl, it becomes clear that the first day of Ramadan was missed.
Thus, it is obligatory to make up that missed fast, because a lunar month can only be 29 or 30 days, not less.
— Shaykh Ibn Bāz (رحمه الله)
❖ Related Question:
If we start fasting in Saudi Arabia, then travel to our home country in East Asia where the month is a day behind, do we then fast 31 days?
❖ Answer:
If a person begins fasting in Saudi Arabia and then continues the rest of Ramadan in another country (like in East Asia), they should break their fast with the people of that country, even if this results in fasting more than 30 days.
This is based on the Hadith of the Prophet ﷺ:
"Fasting is the day you all fast, and Eid al-Fitr is the day you all break your fast."
— Ṣaḥīḥ Sunan Abī Dāwūd (2038, 2324), Sunan at-Tirmidhī (561, 701), Sunan Ibn Mājah (1347, 1660), Ṣaḥīḥ al-Jāmiʿ (3869), Irwā’ al-Ghalīl (905), Silsilah al-Aḥādīth aṣ-Ṣaḥīḥah (224)
However, if 29 complete days have not yet been observed, then completing the month is necessary, because a lunar month is never less than 29 days.
— Shaykh Ibn Bāz (رحمه الله)
Is it permissible to fast only 28 days during the month of Ramadan?
❖ Answer:
According to authentic Hadiths of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, a lunar month can never be less than 29 days. Therefore, if after fasting 28 days, reliable Sharʿī evidence confirms the arrival of Shawwāl, it becomes clear that the first day of Ramadan was missed.
Thus, it is obligatory to make up that missed fast, because a lunar month can only be 29 or 30 days, not less.
— Shaykh Ibn Bāz (رحمه الله)
❖ Related Question:
If we start fasting in Saudi Arabia, then travel to our home country in East Asia where the month is a day behind, do we then fast 31 days?
❖ Answer:
If a person begins fasting in Saudi Arabia and then continues the rest of Ramadan in another country (like in East Asia), they should break their fast with the people of that country, even if this results in fasting more than 30 days.
This is based on the Hadith of the Prophet ﷺ:
"Fasting is the day you all fast, and Eid al-Fitr is the day you all break your fast."
— Ṣaḥīḥ Sunan Abī Dāwūd (2038, 2324), Sunan at-Tirmidhī (561, 701), Sunan Ibn Mājah (1347, 1660), Ṣaḥīḥ al-Jāmiʿ (3869), Irwā’ al-Ghalīl (905), Silsilah al-Aḥādīth aṣ-Ṣaḥīḥah (224)
However, if 29 complete days have not yet been observed, then completing the month is necessary, because a lunar month is never less than 29 days.
— Shaykh Ibn Bāz (رحمه الله)
