Wa Alaykum as-Salam,
Some quotes for everyone:
Al-Ulwan said in his Sharh of at-Tirmithi 1/102 after stating in one transmission of Imam Ahmad that the sighting of the crescent of one town necessitates fasting for the other that: this transmission was further specified on authority of Imam Ahmad that the sighting of the crescent of one town suffices for the people of another without obligation, and this is the most famous opinion in the school of Imam Ahmad.
Imam Muhammad bin Muhammad al-Mukhtar ash-Shanqiti said in Sharh Zad al-Mustaqni 14/100: As for if we say- ‘Indeed the sighting of the crescent for one town is the sighting for another’, then surely that would be the reason for the controversy.
Abu Muhammad al-Kittani says in his treatise regarding those who rely on the narration of Kurayb 1/2 that the opinion ‘for each town is its own sighting of the crescent’: Was attributed by Ibn Abd al-Barr to Ibn Abbas, Ikrimah his freed slave, al-Qasim bin Muhammad bin Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, Salim bin Abd Allah bin Umar, Ibn al-Mubarak, and Ishaq bin Rahwayh. And it was attributed to Imam Malik with what was transmitted by his companions in al-Madinah, among them al-Mughirah, Ibn Dinar, and Ibn al-Majishun. Also he states on the same page that: Al-Mawardi related this in one route to ash-Shafi’ee without giving preference to one opinion over the other.
An-Nawawi said in Sharh Sahih Muslim 4/60: And the correct view according to our companions is that the sighting of the crescent is not applied in general to everyone, rather it is specific to whoever is at the distance of which the prayer is shortened (or less).
At-Tirmithi said in his Sunan 1/6: To act upon the narration (of Kurayb) according to the People of Knowledge is that for every townsfolk is their sighting of the crescent.
It is interesting to also note that al-Qirafi of the Malikis also favored the view that ‘for every town is its sighting’ even though the majority of the Malikiyyah might have held otherwise.
I agree with ash-Shanqiti on this point though- to try and force everyone to have one Eid or to begin and end fasting on one day is what causes the controversy, especially without a central Muslim authority.
What the quotes should show is that there are differing transmissions from Imam Malik and Imam Ahmad on the matter, so I don’t think it is fair to attribute the famously held opinion of the schools to the two Imams in absolute terms. To be honest though I’m not sure how the Tarjeeh was made on the matter within the schools, and to some it may be something that is certain.
Edit:
Ibn Hajar said in Fath al-Bari 4/23:
(The sighting of the moon in one town suffices for another) is the majority opinion among the Malikiyyah, however Ibn Abd al-Barr related a contradictory consensus and he said that they agreed that the sighting of the crescent in distant cities is not taken into consideration, such as between Khurasan and al-Andalus…
So really that just leaves the Hanafis among whom there is not a difference of opinion from their major early and later scholars…
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