Breaking the fast after seeing the moon before or after midday (zawal)

Question

Regarding this question: here, because of cloud, the new moon was not sighted on the 29th of Ramadan, but on the 30th, at about six or seven o’clock, a telephone call and a telegram came from another place, and at about ten o’clock the moon was also seen. Consequently some people broke their fast before the sighting of the new moon, relying only on the telegram and the telephone; some broke it after seeing the moon, but before midday (zawal)

Answer

News by telegraph and telephone is not Shari‘a testimony; therefore breaking the fast on its basis is not permissible. Seeing the moon at about 10 o’clock is likewise, according to the Zahir al-Madhhab (the manifest position of the school)

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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