Sūrah Aṭ-Ṭāriq The Nightly Star: Tafsīr al-Qurṭubī Qurʾānic Rulings and Law

DetailInformationClassificationSignificance

SurahAṭ-ṬāriqMeccanCelestial signs and the certainty of divine witness

Key Fiqh IssueRu'yat al-hilāl new moon sighting to establish Ramaḍān: witness number requirementsOne witness (majority) / Two witnesses (Mālikī for Ramaḍān end)Determines when Ramaḍān begins and ends

School ComparisonḤanafī: one reliable witness for Ramaḍān beginning; Mālikī: two witnesses for beginning; Shāfiʿī: one witness for beginning, two for end; Ḥanbalī: one witness for beginningOne witness (majority for beginning)The strictest standard (two witnesses) applies to ending Ramaḍān

Uṣūl PrincipleAl-ithbāt bi-l-ruʾyah proof by sighting as the Islamic calendar determination methodPrimary methodCelestial observation is the Qurʾānic and prophetic method for calendar determination

Al-Qurṭubī derives from this surah's oath by the nightly star (aṭ-ṭāriq) and the Qurʾān's repeated celestial imagery the legal framework for Islamic calendar determination based on celestial observation. The prophetic instruction "fast when you see it [the new moon] and break the fast when you see it" grounds the legal debate on how many witnesses are needed to validate the new moon sighting for Ramaḍān.

The majority (Ḥanafī, Shāfiʿī, Ḥanbalī) accept one reliable Muslim witness for the beginning of Ramaḍān, based on the prophetic acceptance of Ibn ʿUmar's single witness account. The Mālikī school requires two witnesses for the beginning (treating it as a legal matter requiring the standard two-witness evidentiary threshold). For the ending of Ramaḍān (establishing Shawwāl), all schools require two witnesses the obligation of fasting continues until clearly established otherwise, and the stricter standard applies.

وَالسَّمَاءِ وَالطَّارِقِ Wa-l-samāʾi wa-l-ṭāriq Meaning: "By the sky and the nightly visitor" Al-Qurṭubī: celestial bodies as divine oaths establish their significance; the nightly star's appearance is a sign (āyah); al-Qurṭubī uses this to connect the Qurʾānic valuation of celestial signs to the legal framework of hilāl sighting as the Islamic calendar method.

إِن كُلُّ نَفْسٍ لَّمَّا عَلَيْهَا حَافِظٌ In kullu nafsin lammā ʿalayhā ḥāfiẓ Meaning: "Every soul has over it a protector" Al-Qurṭubī: divine guardianship over all individuals grounds the legal framework of reliable witness (ʿadālah); the single witness who testifies to the hilāl sighting must be of established reliability their testimony is accepted because their character is established, not merely their claim.

Beginning of Ramaḍān: one reliable witness (Ḥanafī, Shāfiʿī, Ḥanbalī); two witnesses (Mālikī) the most significant practical disagreement in Islamic calendar determination.
End of Ramaḍān (beginning of Shawwāl): two witnesses required by all schools the stricter standard applies because fasting obligation continues unless clearly established otherwise.
The prophetic method (ru'yat al-hilāl physical moon sighting) is the established Islamic method; modern astronomical calculation is a supplement discussed by contemporary scholars.
The witness must be a reliable (ʿadl) Muslim character verification (tazkiyah) of the witness is required before accepting the testimony.
Local vs. global sighting: the schools differ on whether a moon sighting in one location is binding for all Muslims majority hold it applies locally; minority hold it applies universally once established.

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