The ruling on fasting the days of the first ten of Dhul Hijjah
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His Eminence the Shaykh: Did the fasting of the entire ten days of Dhul Hijjah come from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him)?
What came from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is more eloquent than fasting them, for he encouraged fasting them by saying (peace and blessings be upon him): "There are no days in which righteous deeds are more beloved to Allah than these ten days,They said: nor jihad in the cause of Allah?He said: nor jihad in the cause of Allah; except for a man who goes out with his person and his wealth and returns with nothing." And it is known that fasting is among the best of righteous deeds,Even to the point that Allah the Exalted said in the Qudsi hadith: "Every deed of the son of Adam is for him, and one good deed is rewarded ten times up to seven hundred times, except for fasting, for it is for Me and I shall reward it." So it falls under the generality of his saying: "There are no days in which righteous deeds are...
) etc.
As for his own practice, two hadiths have come regarding it: The hadith of A'ishah, and the hadith of Hafdah,As for the hadith of A'ishah, she said: "I never saw the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) fast the ten days at all" ,And as for the hadith of Hafdah, she says: "The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not leave off fasting them" And when two hadiths conflict, one affirming and the other denying, the affirming one takes precedence over the denying one,For this reason, Imam Ahmad said: The hadith of Hafdah is affirming and the hadith of A'ishah is denying, and the affirming one takes precedence over the denying one.
And I want to give you a rule: If the Sunnah comes in wording, take what the wording indicates; as for the practice, it is not a condition that we know that the Messenger did it or that the Companions did it,And if we were to say: We do not act upon evidence unless we know that the Companions acted upon it, for many acts of worship would be lost to us; but before us is the wording, which is a sufficient proof that has reached us, and we must act upon its meaning, whether we know that people acted upon it in the past or not.
What came from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is more eloquent than fasting them, for he encouraged fasting them by saying (peace and blessings be upon him): "There are no days in which righteous deeds are more beloved to Allah than these ten days,They said: nor jihad in the cause of Allah?He said: nor jihad in the cause of Allah; except for a man who goes out with his person and his wealth and returns with nothing." And it is known that fasting is among the best of righteous deeds,Even to the point that Allah the Exalted said in the Qudsi hadith: "Every deed of the son of Adam is for him, and one good deed is rewarded ten times up to seven hundred times, except for fasting, for it is for Me and I shall reward it." So it falls under the generality of his saying: "There are no days in which righteous deeds are...
) etc.
As for his own practice, two hadiths have come regarding it: The hadith of A'ishah, and the hadith of Hafdah,As for the hadith of A'ishah, she said: "I never saw the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) fast the ten days at all" ,And as for the hadith of Hafdah, she says: "The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not leave off fasting them" And when two hadiths conflict, one affirming and the other denying, the affirming one takes precedence over the denying one,For this reason, Imam Ahmad said: The hadith of Hafdah is affirming and the hadith of A'ishah is denying, and the affirming one takes precedence over the denying one.
And I want to give you a rule: If the Sunnah comes in wording, take what the wording indicates; as for the practice, it is not a condition that we know that the Messenger did it or that the Companions did it,And if we were to say: We do not act upon evidence unless we know that the Companions acted upon it, for many acts of worship would be lost to us; but before us is the wording, which is a sufficient proof that has reached us, and we must act upon its meaning, whether we know that people acted upon it in the past or not.