What is the ruling on fasting on Saturday if it coincides with the Day of Ashura or the Day of 'Arafah?

The Shaykh : If the fasting of the Day of 'Arafah coincides with Saturday, what does the one who follows the Sunnah and adheres to this authentic hadith do after understanding its meaning? We say, as the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: And fasting on the Day of 'Arafah, along with the known virtue in the Sunnah, is not obligatory. Likewise, if, for example, the Day of Ashura falls on a Saturday, the answer is the same. We have clarified this issue for some of those who hesitate to act upon this clear, authentic hadith by bringing up two matters. The first relates to his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: And I said with complete frankness that the one who breaks his fast on, for example, the Day of Ashura or the Day of 'Arafah because it coincides with Saturday does not leave it off out of laziness, negligence, or a desire to avoid the virtue mentioned in fasting on the Day of Ashura and the Day of 'Arafah. Rather, he leaves it off for the sake of Allah. If that is the case, then the one who breaks his fast on the Day of 'Arafah because it coincides with Saturday will have a greater reward with Allah (Mighty and Majestic)—in our estimation—than the one who fasts. This is because the one who broke his fast did so and left off his fasting for the command of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him); that is, his prohibition against fasting on Saturday except in what is obligatory upon us. As for the one who fasted, he fasted out of desire for the reward mentioned in the hadith. However, here we must point out an important jurisprudential and fundamental issue. Then comes the second matter I referred to earlier: when two rulings or two authentic hadiths from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) conflict, one permitting something and the other prohibiting it or forbidding it, then among the rules of reconciliation in the science of hadith principles is that the prohibiting factor is given precedence over the permitting factor. Now, in the previous scenario, fasting on the Day of Ashura or the Day of 'Arafah coincides with Saturday, and we have been prohibited from fasting on Saturday as mentioned. In that case, we must apply the rule I mentioned earlier: giving precedence to the prohibiting factor over the permitting factor. It says: "Do not fast on Saturday except in the obligatory." The Day of Ashura and the Day of 'Arafah are not obligatory; they are permissible, indeed recommended. But when the prohibiting factor conflicts with the permitting factor, the prohibiting factor is given precedence. We clarified this for them with the hadith I alluded to first, which is the second matter, the first hadith: . The other matter, which is very important and may remove the confusion from some minds, is if Monday and Thursday coincide with a festival. All of us know, if Allah wills, that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) prohibited fasting on the day of the festival; 'Id al-Fitr or 'Id al-Adha. These are two days on which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) prohibited fasting, as stated in Sahih al-Bukhari and others. If it happens that the day of 'Id al-Fitr or 'Id al-Adha is a Monday or a Thursday, which one is given precedence? The answer, by the consensus of the attending scholars and doctors, was that the prohibition is given precedence here over the virtue of fasting on Monday and Thursday. We asked them under which rule your answer—which is correct—falls when you gave precedence to the prohibition of fasting on the day of the festival over the virtue of fasting on Monday and Thursday. Did you not give precedence to the prohibiting factor over the permitting factor? They acknowledged that. So we said to them, what is the difference then between Saturday coinciding with the Day of 'Arafah or the Day of Ashura? There is no difference between this scenario and the scenario where we all agreed to give precedence to the prohibiting factor over the permitting factor. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited fasting on the two days of the festival and encouraged fasting on Monday and Thursday. If fasting on the day of the festival coincides with a Thursday or a Monday, what did we do here? As I said earlier, we gave precedence to the prohibiting factor over the permitting factor. And another thing I may not have mentioned in that session, and Allah (Mighty and Majestic) inspired me to mention it now, is that fasting on Monday and Thursday is a general command; that is, whenever Monday comes around with the weekly cycle, and likewise Thursday, it is recommended for the Muslim to fast them. So this is like a general text that the Muslim should fast every Thursday, as established from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and every Monday. When the prohibition comes, it is from the category of an exception for the few from the many. This is among the methods by which scholars reconcile hadiths that sometimes appear to conflict. Therefore, the original ruling is the encouragement to fast on Monday and Thursday. When this original ruling conflicts with an incidental prohibition—here Saturday occurs, and there the day of the festival occurs—we give precedence to the incidental over the original to reconcile the texts. For this reason, I say that there is absolutely no problem in applying this hadith in its generality. This is a position held by some of the scholars who have passed away, as narrated by Abu Ja'far al-Tahawi in his book Sharh Ma'ani al-Athar.
The Shaykh : Therefore, the Muslim should not hesitate after such an explanation, nor should he fail to hasten to cease from what Allah has prohibited through the tongue of His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), relying on the general rule and the specific virtue that came in some of the virtuous days. However, this conflicts with a specific prohibition. So this prohibition is given precedence first because it is specific, and the specific overrides the general. And because it is a prohibiting factor, and the prohibiting factor is given precedence over the permitting factor. And before that, as we mentioned to you at the beginning of this answer: . Therefore, the heart will not be at ease, and the chest will not be open, for those who interpreted the hadith prohibiting fasting on Saturday as intended in isolation, such that if another day is added to it, it becomes permissible for two reasons. One of them can be inferred and discovered from the previous speech, which is that the prohibiting factor is given precedence over the permitting factor. The second thing is that this restriction means a correction, or let us say, more gently, that it is like a correction of the exception of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) without a strong, binding proof: "Do not fast on Saturday except in what is obligatory upon you, or unless it is combined with another day." I consider this a kind of correction. Of whom? Of the most eloquent of those who spoke in the Zayd dialect, who is the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). And even if the hadith If that is the case, is there any doubt that if the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had wanted this second exception—"unless it is combined with another day"—would he not have been more eloquent than to limit himself to saying "except in what is obligatory upon you"?