Discussion of the hadith prohibiting fasting on Saturday.

Al-Hawini: ... Our Shaykh, regarding the issue of fasting on Saturday ... .

The Shaykh: So we begin your questions with the Khutbat al-Hajah (Sermon of Need), which our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) taught his Companions, and he used to say: إن الحمد لله، نحمده، ونستعينه، ونستغفره، ونعوذ بالله من شرور أنفسنا ومن سيئات أعمالنا، من يهده الله فلا مضلّ له، ومن يُضلل فلا هادي له. وأشهد أن لا اله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له، وأشهد أن محمدا عبده ورسوله. يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِ وَلا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلَّا وَأَنْتُمْ مُسْلِمُونَ ، يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اتَّقُوا رَبَّكُمُ الَّذِي خَلَقَكُمْ مِنْ نَفْسٍ وَاحِدَةٍ وَخَلَقَ مِنْهَا زَوْجَهَا وَبَثَّ مِنْهُمَا رِجَالاً كَثِيراً وَنِسَاءً وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ الَّذِي تَسَاءَلُونَ بِهِ وَالْأَرْحَامَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ عَلَيْكُمْ رَقِيباً ، يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَقُولُوا قَوْلاً سَدِيداً * يُصْلِحْ لَكُمْ أَعْمَالَكُمْ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ وَمَنْ يُطِعِ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ فَقَدْ فَازَ فَوْزاً عَظِيماً . All praise is for Allah, we praise Him, we seek His help, and we seek His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evils of our souls and from the badness of our deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides, there is no one who can misguide him, and whomsoever He misguides, there is no one who can guide him. And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone, with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger. O you who believe, fear Allah as He should be feared, and do not die except while you are Muslims. O mankind, fear your Lord who created you from one soul and created from it its mate, and dispersed from them many men and women. And fear Allah through whom you ask one another, and the ties of kinship. Indeed, Allah is ever a Witness over you. O you who believe, fear Allah and speak a just word. He will amend your deeds and forgive you your sins. And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has attained a great success.
As for what follows: We have mentioned on many occasions that one of the legitimate scholarly means for acquiring knowledge is answering questionsThe questioner : , as the Lord of the Worlds, Blessed and Exalted is He, said in the Noble Qur'an: . We hope that Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, will make us and you among the people of remembrance who understand the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), and who follow the path of the righteous Salaf (may Allah be pleased with them). And here you see that our brother Abu Ishaq, may Allah reward him with good, has gathered for us many issues that indicate our Muslim brothers in Egypt need them, and other Muslims in the lands of Islam may share in all of them, or most of them, or some of them. Therefore, I hope that Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, will grant me success in answering all of them, or most of them, or at least some of them. We apologize for not answering what we do not know, for it is part of knowledge to say regarding what we do not know: "We do not know." So bring them, may Allah bless you.

The questioner: Regarding the issue of fasting on Saturday, this is an issue that is almost new to understanding. Some of those who claim to be scholars in Egypt objected to it, causing some confusion. So we hope for an explanation of the reality of this issue, and an answer to the doubts that arise regarding this ruling, especially since sometimes Saturday may coincide with the Day of 'Arafah, or for example with the Day of 'Ashura?

The Shaykh: The truth is that this issue, due to the many times I have been asked about it and answered it, sometimes in detail without discussion or argument, and sometimes with detail while receiving objections and questions. Of this type was what occurred in this last trip to the Holy City of Madinah, where there were in that gathering some of the distinguished scholars, doctors, and other teachers at the Islamic University. So I do not know if it is useful to delve into such an issue again, even though the soul is not usually eager to repeat what has been researched repeatedly. In any case, I say that perhaps the brother here has tapes. Nevertheless, I am with you if you think we should delve into it again, I will do so, if Allah wills, and I hope for success from Allah. Do you see that?

The questioner: Yes, may Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh: Do you see that this issue, as you pointed out at the beginning of your speech, is surprising for the general public, especially those who do not occupy themselves with studying the Sunnah, but rather they may refer to books of the Sunnah only in matters that agree with their schools of thought, customs, and traditions. This hadith, in fact, although it is found in the depths of the books of the Sunnah, which Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, has preserved for us, just as He preserved the Noble Qur'an, as He, Mighty and Majestic, said: , this hadith was preserved in the books of the Sunnah. But because the study of the Sunnah has almost become forgotten in the end times, when such a preserved hadith is raised, it comes as a stranger to people's minds, especially if it contradicts what is in some schools of thought or what they are accustomed to in acts of worship, whether they are sunnahs or recommended practices. My attention was drawn to this hadith when I began tracing the book *Manar al-Sabil* in the book known today to students of knowledge as *Irwaa' al-Ghalil* in tracing the hadiths of *Manar al-Sabil*. This hadith passed in that book—*Manar al-Sabil*—which is in Hanbali jurisprudence, and I found myself compelled to give it proper attention... I proceeded to trace it scientifically, as is my habit regarding the hadiths we adopt, whether authenticating or weakening them. I found that from the hadith perspective, there is no way for the researcher to avoid authenticating it, because it has many routes, some of which are authentic without any doubt or ambiguity. All of this is explained in the aforementioned book, *Irwaa' al-Ghalil*. After I was reassured of the authenticity of the hadith, I had to turn to studying the hadith from the jurisprudential perspective. I found the hadith explicit in its indication, admitting no discussion or argument, that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) prohibited fasting on Saturday except in the case of an obligatory fast. He, peace and blessings be upon him, said—we mention this hadith to remind those present, or to alert the heedless—he, peace and blessings be upon him, said: , . This hadith did not stop at the command to break the fast on Saturday except in the case of an obligatory fast; rather, it added to that a strong emphasis by his saying, peace and blessings be upon him: . The bark of the tree is the peel that people do not usually benefit from except as firewood. The Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, emphasized the command to break the fast on Saturday by saying: . I reflected on this hadith and found it an explicit text that it is not permissible to fast on Saturday except in the case of an obligatory fast. The word "obligatory" here does not limit itself—as some doctors assume—to fasting in Ramadan only, but it is broader than that; because among the obligatory fasts is making up what one owes from Ramadan, and among the obligatory fasts is, for example, fasting the days of Tashriq for the one who did not find the sacrificial animal, in the case of the one performing 'Umrah, and so on. And among the obligatory fasts is the one who has vowed a specific fast, so he must adhere to it, because by the vow it became obligatory. The point is that this is where we stopped, because we found some assuming that this exception is limited to Ramadan only, and the matter is broader than that; but with this expansion regarding what is obligatory, this exception explicitly negates what is not obligatory. Accordingly, the difficulties that our brother Abu Ishaq mentioned earlier arise.