Explaining the ruling on fasting on Saturday as a voluntary act, and discussing the arguments of those who weakened the hadith: “Do not fast on Saturday except for what is obligatory upon you.”

The Shaykh : And from this problem, which must be raised now, and which may serve as the conclusion of this session, is the issue that the entire Muslim world, except for a few outsiders, and they are few, has fallen into: fasting on Saturday. What do you say, Shaykh...? No. [The Shaykh laughs!]

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : May Allah not make us among them. The Messenger (peace be upon him) said in explicit, authentic hadith: . The common people and the scholars fasted on Saturday, except as we mentioned earlier, except for the outsiders, and they are few. Why? Because they are following the general rule: Fasting on the Day of 'Arafah expiates the sins of the past year and the coming year. So this is the Day of 'Arafah. But people are heedless and unaware that there is a general and a specific, and an absolute and a restricted. Yes, they are scholars, but scholars are also heedless and unaware. So what do we say about those below them? They were surprised by Saturday being the Day of 'Arafah, so they all fasted. A sincere, trustworthy advisor was enabled for them, and he said to them: “O people, do not fast on this day, Saturday, because the Messenger (peace be upon him) said: .” And for the first time, you find some of the enthusiasts going to the books and seeking help from them. They look at what this statement is. They search and search, and they find what they imagine will help them in their error which they have lived with for ages. They find, for example, the hadith of Juwayriyah and the hadith of Abu Hurayrah, and both converge on the fact that it is not permissible to fast on Friday unless it is accompanied by a day before it or a day after it. A day after it means Saturday. So this hadith is explicit in that it permits the Muslim to fast on Saturday. So what about this hadith that you have spread among the people: ?
They returned to the books and found Imam Malik saying: “This is a lie.” They found Imam Abu Dawud saying: “This is abrogated.” They found Imam al-Nasa'i saying: “This is a confused hadith.” They found things similar to these statements. And as it is said: The drowning man clings to anything, even the threads of the moon. They need something to escape from this surprise they were faced with: .
Is there among these people anyone who is free from habit and free from desire, and who weighs these three statements? They are, as I say, in invalidity: “A lying hadith” is the most dangerous thing said. “A confused hadith” is slightly less than that. “An abrogated hadith” is an easy matter; because it authenticates the hadith, but it claims that it is abrogated.
“A lying hadith.” Did they research the books of Sunnah to know that this statement is a lie in its reality, and that its attribution to the Imam to whom it is attributed is an invalid attribution? Imam Malik says: “This hadith is a lie.” Where is the authentic narration? We are facing a hadith attributed to the Messenger (peace be upon him) with many chains. Three authentic chains have been established for us to the Companion Abdullah ibn Busr or his deaf sister, that the Messenger (peace be upon him) said this hadith. If this hadith were established from Malik with a chain as authentic as the sun in the fourth hour of the day that he said: “This hadith is a lie,” we would say: We do not accept this statement from Malik; because the authenticity of the hadith from the Messenger has been established. So we do not reject a hadith of the Messenger with the words of any of his followers, and he is Imam Malik. How is it permissible for us to reject an authentic hadith with such a word from Imam Malik? But those who have a desire in something, as we said earlier, the drowning man clings to anything, even the threads of the moon. He takes it as a proof. He says to you: How can you say this hadith when Imam Malik says: “Lie”? If he were among the scholars or among the people of knowledge, we would say to him: Come, we have chains in the books of Sunnah, “Sunan Abu Dawud,” “Sunan al-Tirmidhi,” and “Sunan al-Nasa'i” strengthened the hadith, and said: The hadith is confused. “Musnad Imam Ahmad,” “Al-Mustadrak of al-Hakim,” “Sahih Ibn Hibban,” and so on. These are all chains. Come, let us sit and study them so you see the outcome of the one who said: “This hadith is a lie.” So this statement is cast aside.
We come to the next statement: “This is a confused hadith.” What is a confused hadith according to the scholars? A weak hadith. What is its form? Its form is that it is narrated in different ways. Is it sufficient for a hadith to be called confused, and it is one of the categories of weak hadith? The answer is: No, not every confused hadith is a weak hadith. Rather, it is the hadith that came in confused ways and it is not possible to prefer one way over another. But if preference is possible, then the preferred way is treated specially. This treatment may result in the hadith being authentic, or it may not. And I give you a close example: If a hadith came from Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib with an authentic chain; from Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib, or al-Musayyib, and the most correct is al-Musayyib, from a man from Abu Hurayrah, and it came with another authentic chain, also from Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib from Abu Hurayrah; it is said: This is a confused hadith; because the narrator from Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib was confused. Sometimes he says: From Sa'id from Abu Hurayrah, and in this form the hadith appears authentic. And sometimes he said: From Sa'id from a man from Abu Hurayrah; so there is an unknown man in the chain. The hadith became confused by this, and it is a weak hadith. We say: Slowly, slowly, now study each of the two paths. If the chain of the one who said: From Sa'id from Abu Hurayrah is preferred over the chain of the one who said: From Sa'id from a man from Abu Hurayrah, by returning to the rules of hadith science, I say: This is the preferred one, and the hadith is authentic. And if the opposite is preferred for you, from Sa'id from a man from Abu Hurayrah, and you prefer that the hadith is weak; because there is an unknown man in it.
Our hadith is not like that. Our hadith is preferred to be a hadith established from three ways. And I explained that in “Irwaa' al-Ghalil” with a detail that I believe, in what I know and we do not claim to be above Allah, that no one has expanded in explaining the authenticity of this hadith as Allah (Mighty and Majestic) enabled me.
But now here is an issue that often confuses people. When the incident occurred in this year and this month, the masses of Muslims fasted on Saturday. So the majority of them argued with what they argue with. And their greatest proof is that the Messenger permitted fasting on Friday by fasting on Saturday. We say to them: O people, the issue has two forms, so be aware. The first form, which is the one that occurred: The masses of fasters, none of them fasted on Friday, but they fasted on Saturday for Ashura.

Those present : For 'Arafah.

The Shaykh : For 'Arafah. This form is treated on its own. The other form, there may be people who fasted Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. This is treated on its own. But the masses of fasters fasted on Saturday alone. For what? The Day of 'Arafah. We say to these people: You have opposed the authentic hadith and struck it in the chest. It says: , and you fasted for 'Arafah, and this is not from what is obligatory upon you. So it is not permissible for you to fast on this day. They will rise and sit and say: We have not heard any of the Shaykhs say this. We clarify the matter for them with the following detail:
I mentioned something to some of our brothers among the students of knowledge, and another thing also came to my mind. This is among the subtleties of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in what He decrees for His believing servants. The Day of 'Arafah was a Saturday, followed by Sunday, the first day of the festival, and then Monday, the second day of the festival, which is the first of the days of Tashriq. Did anyone fast on Sunday on the pretext that the Messenger used to fast on Sunday? No one? Did anyone fast on Monday on the pretext that the Messenger used to fast and encouraged fasting? The answer is: No one. Why do you think that is? And what is their argument in that? It is our argument exactly. Their argument is that the Messenger forbade fasting on the days of the festival. So Sunday is a day of the festival, and Monday is a day of the festival. What did all the scholars do in the past and in the present? They acted and stopped at the prohibition. They applied a jurisprudential rule that they refused to apply to us regarding fasting on the Day of 'Arafah. What is this rule? "The prohibitive text takes precedence over the permissive text." The prohibitive text is: , . So they acted according to the prohibitive text regarding the days of the festival and the days of Tashriq, but they did not act according to the prohibitive text regarding the Day of 'Arafah. Why is there this conflict and this contradiction? This is how we found our fathers! So now we are dealing with the issue of those who fasted only on Saturday, the Day of 'Arafah.
We come to those who may have fasted before Saturday, on Friday. One of them says: "Oh people." One of them came, poor fellow, with a book after we had left the mosque. He brought a book wanting to show me the hadith of Juwayriyah. I said to him: "My brother—may Allah bless you—there is no need for the book. This is a well-known matter. But I ask you: Does the hadith of Juwayriyah obligate you to fast on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday?" He said: "No." What does it benefit you? It benefits you by giving permission and allowance to fast on these days. So this is not an obligation. And the Messenger says: . He says—and this is a word I want to draw your attention to—He says: "Did you used to say what people do today?" I say: "Yes, but it became clear to me that I was wrong, and that I was being driven by the whip of the majority. The whip, not the voice. I was being driven by the whip of the majority. And I quoted a statement from the majority in *Sahih al-Targhib wa al-Tarhib*. Then Allah made my error clear to me, so I returned from my error to the truth. Is returning from an error an error or the truth?" The man was silent. I said to him: "Do you not know that our Imams, in many hundreds of issues, have more than one opinion in a single issue? He used to say such-and-such in the past. The greatest example is the school of Imam al-Shafi'i; an old school and a new school. Is Imam al-Shafi'i criticized for having an old school and a new school, or is he thanked for that? No doubt that those who know knowledge and its value first, and know the truth and returning to it second, thank Imam al-Shafi'i and those like him who return to the truth after having been wrong. So we follow their example. They are the people whose companion does not suffer. So if you said this statement, I have returned from it. So now discuss me with evidence. This is your evidence, a permission. And my evidence is a prohibitive, restraining text: .
Therefore, I hope you note that if you are tested with a discussion with some of these people, divide the discussion into two parts: one part with those who fast only on the Day of 'Arafah, on Saturday, and a part with those who fast before the Day of 'Arafah. The discussion with these latter people is clearer, and the argument against them is stronger. Because they collide with the hadith and strike it hard. Those have a doubt. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) permitted fasting on Saturday, correct. But they do not know that the prohibitive text takes precedence over the permissive text. Because this is a scientific, usuli rule that we make clear to them—this second group—by fasting on Sunday. Is it permissible? No. Is it permissible on Monday? No. Why? He forbade it, and he also forbade it, and the matter is ended.
This matter is sufficient, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. And we want to pray before we leave.

The questioner: ... What is it?

The Shaykh: Unless you give permission to the doctor, it will be a good sunnah, if you give permission to the doctor.

The questioner: It is a continuation of the previous question, meaning.

The Shaykh: I don't know, the one giving permission is here.
...