❖ Question:
If the news of moon-sighting is received at midday, what should one do?
Source: Fatāwā Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri
✿ Answer:
When a reliable and authentic report of the moon-sighting is received, one must immediately break the fast, even if the news is confirmed shortly before Maghrib.
❀ Ḥadīth Evidence:
Abū ʿUmayr bin Anas رضي الله عنه reported from his uncles, who were Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ:
لَمْ يُتَرَاءَ لَنَا هِلَالُ شَوَّالٍ فَأَصْبَحْنَا صِيَامًا، ثُمَّ جَاءَ رَكْبٌ آخِرَ النَّهَارِ فَشَهِدُوا عِنْدَ رَسُولِ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ أَنَّهُمْ رَأَوُا الْهِلَالَ بِالْأَمْسِ، فَأَمَرَ رَسُولُ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ أَنْ يُفْطِرُوا مِنْ يَوْمِهِمْ ذَلِكَ وَأَنْ يَخْرُجُوا لِعِيدِهِمْ مِنَ الْغَدِ
"We did not sight the crescent of Shawwāl, so we started the day fasting. Then later in the day, a caravan arrived and testified before the Messenger of Allah ﷺ that they had seen the crescent the previous evening. So the Messenger of Allah ﷺ commanded them to break their fast that day and to go out for ʿEid the next day."
(Musnad Aḥmad: 5/86; Sunan Abī Dāwūd: 1157; Sunan al-Nasā’ī: 1558; Sunan Ibn Mājah: 1653 – sanad ṣaḥīḥ)
Conclusion:① If authentic moon-sighting news reaches at any time of the day, the fast must be broken immediately.
② The following day is observed as ʿEid al-Fiṭr.
