How is the beginning of Ramadan determined?
1. Completing 30 days of Sha‘ban, or
2. Sighting the crescent moon after sunset on the 29th day of Sha‘ban.
It is Sunnah to search for the moon, and it is obligatory to follow the official authorities responsible for announcing it.
What is the ruling on a woman who learns of her divorce or her husband's death after her *ʿiddah* has ended? And does the *ʿiddah* of a woman who abandoned mourning (*iḥdād*) for the whole period of the *ʿiddah*, or part of it, still end, even though she knew that abandoning it is forbidden?**
All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah.
The waiting period of a widow who is not pregnant is four months and ten days, based on the saying of Allah Almighty (which means): “And those of you who die and leave wives behind, they shall wait concerning themselves for four months and ten days” [al-Baqarah/234]. If she is pregnant, her ʿiddah ends with the delivery of her child. The ʿiddah is calculated by lunar months and begins from the date of death.
If her ʿiddah ends before she learns of her husband’s death, or of his divorcing her, she does not observe the ʿiddah upon learning of it, because her ʿiddah has already ended.
It is stated in al-Bayān fī Madhhab al-Imām al-Shāfiʿī (Vol.11/p.41), one of the books of the Shāfiʿī school: “If a man divorces his wife, or dies while he is absent from her, her ʿiddah is from the time of the divorce or from the time of death. If she does not know of the divorce or the death until her ʿiddah period has ended, then her ʿiddah has ended. If she learns of it before the end of the ʿiddah period, she completes her ʿiddah counting from the time of the divorce or death.”
As for a woman who abandoned mourning throughout the ʿiddah while knowing that it is forbidden, she is sinful, although her ʿiddah has nonetheless ended. And Allah Almighty knows best.
What is the ruling on a person in a state of major impurity (junub) walking or eating before performing the ritual bath?
It is from the Sunnah for a Muslim to hasten to perform the ritual bath for major impurity. However, if he delays it, he does not sin provided he does not miss the prayer. It is permissible for the junub to walk, eat, drink, and sleep. It is recommended for him to perform ablution before these actions to reduce the state of impurity, although the best is for him to perform the ritual bath. And Allah the Almighty knows best.
What is the ruling on reciting the takbīr from Sūrat aḍ-Ḍuḥā to Sūrat an-Nās upon completing the recitation of the Qur'an (khatm)?
All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
It is recommended to recite the takbīr from the beginning of Sūrat aḍ-Ḍuḥā through to the end of Sūrat an-Nās, and this is the recitation practice of the people of Makkah.
It is stated in Nihāyat az-Zayn (p. 65): "It is sunnah to begin each sūrah with the basmalah, since it constitutes a verse of it. It is also sunnah to say, before each sūrah — from aḍ-Ḍuḥā to the end of the Qur'an — 'Lā ilāha illallāh, wallāhu akbar' (There is no god but Allah, and Allah is the Greatest), based on what has been narrated regarding Imam ash-Shāfi‘ī (raḍiyallāhu ‘anh), who heard a man reciting this takbīr in prayer, and said to him: 'You have done well, and you have hit upon the sunnah.'"
And Allah, the Exalted, knows best.
