Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

How many Ramadans did the prophet(PBUH) observe(fasting)? How many in Makkah and how many in Madinah? How many consisted of 29 days?

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Answer:

How many ramadhan

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verse 185:

185 Ramadan is the (month) in which was sent down the Qur'an as a guide to mankind also clear (Signs) for guidance and judgment (between right and wrong). So everyone of you who is present during that month should spend it in fasting but if anyone is ill or on a journey the prescribed period (should be made up) by days later. Allah intends every facility for you He does not want to put you to difficulties. (He wants you) to complete the prescribed period and to glorify Him in that He has guided you; and perchance ye shall be grateful.

Your Question: How many Ramadans did the prophet(PBUH) observe(fasting)?

The above Verse of the Glorious Quran which made fasting obligatory for the believers was revealed in the 2^nd year after Hijrah or migration and the Prophet of Allah (saws) died in the 10^th year after Hijrah; thus the Prophet (saws) observed the obligatory fasts of Ramadan for a period 8 or 9 years.

Your Question: How many in Makkah and how many in Madinah?

Since Allah Subhanah made the fasts of Ramadan obligatory upon the Muslims only in the 2^nd year after the Hijrah of the Prophet (saws) from Makkah to Madinah, all the obligatory fasts of Ramadan were observed by the Prophet (saws) only in Madinah.

Your Question: How many consisted of 29 days?

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 3.131 Narrated by Abdullah bin Umar

Allah's Messenger (saws) said, "The (lunar) month (can be) 29 nights (i.e. days), and do not fast till you see the moon, and if the sky is overcast, then complete Sha'ban as thirty days."

Sunan of Abu-DawoodHadith 2312 Narrated byAbdullah ibn Umar

The Prophet (saws) said: ‘The (lunar) month consists of twenty-nine days, but do not fast till you sight it (the crescent of the moon) and do not break your fast till you sight it. If the weather is cloudy, calculate it thirty days.’

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 3.137 Narrated by Ibn Umar

The Prophet (saws) said, "We are an ‘Ummi’ (illiterate) nation; we neither write, nor know accounts. The (lunar) month is like this and this, i.e. sometimes of 29 days and sometimes of 30 days."

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 7.222 Narrated by Ibn Umar

The Prophet (saws, holding out his ten fingers thrice), said, "The month is thus and thus and thus," namely thirty days. Then (holding out his ten fingers twice and then nine fingers), he (saws) said, "It may be thus and thus and thus," namely twenty nine days. He (saws) meant sometimes thirty days and sometimes twenty nine days.

To the best of our knowledge there is no specific mention or record in the authentic and established traditions of how many amongst the 8 or 9 years which the Prophet (saws) observed the obligatory fasts in the month of Ramadan were 29 days and how many amongst them were 30 days. But there is an authentic narration from the noble friend and companion of the Prophet (saws), Hadrat Abdullah ibn Masud (r.a.) who said that during the lifetime of the Prophet (saws) they observed the fasts of Ramadan with the Prophet (saws) for 29 days more often than for 30 days.

Sunan of Abu-Dawood Hadith 2315 Narrated by Abdullah ibn Mas'ud

We kept fast for twenty-nine days along with the Prophet (saws) more often than we kept fast for thirty days.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan