What is the legal consequence when a husband says, 'You are divorced if you see the crescent moon of Ramadan'?
Chapter on Explicit Divorce and Others
Al-Mughni
Book of Divorce
Primary text
If a husband stipulates divorce upon the sighting of the Ramadan crescent, the wife is divorced upon the general sighting by the people at the beginning of the month. This is the view of Al-Shafi'i. The evidence is that the sighting of the crescent in religious usage (*'urf al-Shar'*), refers to establishing knowledge of the beginning of the month. This is supported by the Prophetic statement: "When you see the crescent, fast, and when you see it, break the fast." This signifies the sighting by some such that knowledge is obtained, and the speaker's term refers to this established religious usage, similar to saying, "If you pray, you are divorced," which refers to the prescribed prayer, not merely supplication.
Supporting text
Abu Hanifa maintains that divorce only occurs if the wife sees it herself, equating it to making the condition contingent upon the sighting by Zayd, as the condition was tied to her personal sight. However, this analogy is rejected because the sighting of the crescent has an established religious context which supersedes the literal, private sighting, unlike the sighting of Zayd which lacks such a context.