The Merits of Shaʿbān

ʿAlī b. Aḥmad—may Allāh have mercy on him—narrated to us, saying that Muḥammad b. Hārūn al-Ṣūfī narrated to him among others, from Abī Turāb ʿUbayd Allāh b. Mūsā al-Rūyānī, from ʿAbd al-ʿAẓīm b. ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥasanī, from Sahl b. Saʿd, who said: “I heard al-Riḍā عليه السلام saying: “Fasting is based on sighting (of the moon), and breaking the fast is also based on sighting. Whoever fasts before the sighting (of the moon), for the sake of the sighting, and breaks his fast before the sighting, for the sake of the sighting, is not from us (i.e., our sect).” Sahl said: “I asked him: “O’ son of the Messenger of Allāh صلى الله عليه وعلى آله, what do you say about fasting on a doubtful day?” He replied: “My father narrated to me, from my grandfather, from his forefathers عليهم السلام, who reported that Amīr al-Muʾminīn عليه السلام has stated: “Fasting a day in Shaʿbān is more beloved to me than breaking a fast in any day of the month of Ramaḍān.” The compiler of this book—Shaykh al-Ṣadūq—has said: “This is a strange narration, and I have not seen it with any other chain of transmission, nor have I heard it from anyone other than ʿAlī b. Aḥmad.”