Eid and Ramadan on news by telegram, telephone and the like

Question

(1) If in some city or country there has been no sighting of the new moon (ru'yat al-hilal) of Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr, and news arrives from another city or country only by means of the electric wire (telegram), telegraph, telephone, radio and wireless, then is it necessary and wajib, according to the noble Shari'a in accordance with the Hanafi school, for the people of the city where the new moon was not sighted to fast or have others fast, to break the fast or have others break it? (2)

Answer

(1) News obtained by means of the devices mentioned is not a Shari'a proof (hujja) in the position of testimony, because knowledge of the qualities required in a witness is, in reality, difficult to obtain: [ar]لأن النغمة تشبه النغمة، والخط يشبه الخط، والخاتم يشبه الخاتم.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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