Caution: Translations of Quran and Ḥadīth may lead to possible misapplications and misinterpretations. This site is intended for students of sacred knowledge that are proficient in comprehending classical Arabic and have a strong foundation in Islamic sciences. Also note that religious injunctions rely on several aspects beyond what one may glean through reading individual aḥādīth.
ahmad:5137ʿAbd al-Raḥman > Sufyān And ʾIsḥāq / al-Azraq > Sufyān > al-Aswad b. Qays > Saʿīd b. ʿAmr > Ibn ʿUmar

[Machine] From the Prophet ﷺ he said, "Indeed, we are an unlettered nation. We do not write nor calculate the month like this and like that until he mentioned twenty-nine. Ishaq said, and he gestured with his hand three times and held his thumb on the third."  

أحمد:٥١٣٧حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ عَنْ سُفْيَانَ وَإِسْحَاقُ يَعْنِي الْأَزْرَقَ قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ عَنِ الْأَسْوَدِ بْنِ قَيْسٍ عَنْ سَعِيدِ بْنِ عَمْرٍو عَنِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ

عَنِ النَّبِيِّ ﷺ قَالَ إِنَّا أُمَّةٌ أُمِّيَّةٌ لَا نَكْتُبُ وَلَا نَحْسُبُ الشَّهْرُ هَكَذَا وَهَكَذَا حَتَّى ذَكَرَ تِسْعًا وَعِشْرِينَ قَالَ إِسْحَاقُ وَطَبَّقَ يَدَيْهِ ثَلَاثَ مَرَّاتٍ وَحَبَسَ إِبْهَامَهُ فِي الثَّالِثَةِ  


See similar narrations below:

Collected by Bukhārī, Nasāʾī, Abū Dāwūd, Nasāʾī's Kubrá, Suyūṭī
bukhari:1913Ādam > Shuʿbah > al-Aswad b. Qays > Saʿīd b. ʿAmr > Ibn ʿUmar

The Prophet ﷺ said, "We are an illiterate nation; we neither write, nor know accounts. The month is like this and this, i.e. sometimes of 29 days and sometimes of thirty days."  

البخاري:١٩١٣حَدَّثَنَا آدَمُ حَدَّثَنَا شُعْبَةُ حَدَّثَنَا الأَسْوَدُ بْنُ قَيْسٍ حَدَّثَنَا سَعِيدُ بْنُ عَمْرٍو أَنَّهُ سَمِعَ ابْنَ عُمَرَ ؓ

عَنِ النَّبِيِّ ﷺ أَنَّهُ قَالَ إِنَّا أُمَّةٌ أُمِّيَّةٌ لاَ نَكْتُبُ وَلاَ نَحْسُبُ الشَّهْرُ هَكَذَا وَهَكَذَا يَعْنِي مَرَّةً تِسْعَةً وَعِشْرِينَ وَمَرَّةً ثَلاَثِينَ  

nasai:2140Muḥammad b. al-Muthanná > ʿAbd al-Raḥman > Sufyān > al-Aswad b. Qays > Saʿīd b. ʿAmr > Ibn ʿUmar

"We are an unlettered Ummah, we do not use astronomical counting or computation. The month is like this, and this, and this," he did three times, showing it as twenty-nine.  

النسائي:٢١٤٠أَخْبَرَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ الْمُثَنَّى قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ عَنْ سُفْيَانَ عَنِ الأَسْوَدِ بْنِ قَيْسٍ عَنْ سَعِيدِ بْنِ عَمْرٍو عَنِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ

عَنِ النَّبِيِّ ﷺ قَالَ إِنَّا أُمَّةٌ أُمِّيَّةٌ لاَ نَكْتُبُ وَلاَ نَحْسِبُ الشَّهْرُ هَكَذَا وَهَكَذَا وَهَكَذَا ثَلاَثًا حَتَّى ذَكَرَ تِسْعًا وَعِشْرِينَ  

abudawud:2319Sulaymān b. Ḥarb > Shuʿbah > al-Aswad b. Qays > Saʿīd b. ʿAmr / Ibn Saʿīd b. al-ʿĀṣ > Ibn ʿUmar

The Prophet ﷺ said: The month consists of twenty-nine days, but do not fast till you sight it (the moon) and do not break your fast till you sight it. If the weather is cloudy, calculate it thirty days. When the twenty-ninth of Sha'ban came, Ibn Umar would send someone (who tried) to sight the moon for him. If it was sighted, then well and good; in case it was not sighted, and there was no cloud and dust before him (on the horizon), he would not keep fast the next day. If there appeared (on the horizon) before him cloud or dust, he would fast the following day. Ibn Umar would end his fasting alone with the people, and did not follow this calculation.  

أبو داود:٢٣١٩حَدَّثَنَا سُلَيْمَانُ بْنُ حَرْبٍ حَدَّثَنَا شُعْبَةُ عَنِ الأَسْوَدِ بْنِ قَيْسٍ عَنْ سَعِيدِ بْنِ عَمْرٍو يَعْنِي ابْنَ سَعِيدِ بْنِ الْعَاصِ عَنِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ قَالَ

قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ إِنَّا أُمَّةٌ أُمِّيَّةٌ لاَ نَكْتُبُ وَلاَ نَحْسُبُ الشَّهْرُ هَكَذَا وَ هَكَذَا وَهَكَذَا وَخَنَسَ سُلَيْمَانُ أُصْبَعَهُ فِي الثَّالِثَةِ يَعْنِي تِسْعًا وَعِشْرِينَ وَثَلاَثِينَ  

nasai-kubra:2461Muḥammad b. al-Muthanná > ʿAbd al-Raḥman > Sufyān > al-Aswad b. Qays > Saʿīd b. ʿAmr > Ibn ʿUmar

"We are an unlettered Ummah, we do not use astronomical counting or computation. The month is like this, and this, and this," he did three times, showing it as twenty-nine. (Using translation from Nasāʾī 2140)   

الكبرى للنسائي:٢٤٦١أَخْبَرَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ الْمُثَنَّى قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ عَنْ سُفْيَانَ عَنِ الْأَسْوَدِ بْنِ قَيْسٍ عَنْ سَعِيدِ بْنِ عَمْرٍو عَنِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ

عَنِ النَّبِيِّ ﷺ «إِنَّا أُمَّةٌ أُمِّيِّةٌ لَا نَكْتُبُ وَلَا نَحْسُبُ الشَّهْرُ كَذَا وَكَذَا» ثَلَاثًا حَتَّى ذَكَرَ تِسْعًا وَعِشْرِينَ  

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السيوطي:٧٤٦٨a

"إِنَّا أمَّةٌ أمِّيَّةٌ، لا نَكْتب ولا نَحْسُبُ الشهر هكذا وهكذا وهكذا؛ وعقد الإِبهام في الثالثة والشَّهرُ هكذا وهكذا وهكذا. يعنى مرةً تسعةً وعشرين، ومرةً ثلاثين".  

[خ] البخاري [م] مسلم [د] أبو داود [ن] النسائي عن ابن عمر