What is the ruling on fasting on Saturday other than the obligatory fast?

The questioner : Our Shaykh, please clarify the issue of fasting on Saturday—Shaykh—other than the obligatory fast.

The Shaykh : Other than the obligatory fast.

The questioner : Clarifying the issue in light of the conflicting other hadiths; is that possible, Shaykh?

The Shaykh : If you remind us of the hadiths, or one of the conflicting hadiths, I will think about the answer.

The questioner : The hadith of the Mother of the Believers, who was fasting on Friday, and the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: .

The Shaykh : Yes, the hadith of Juwayriyyah.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Yes, indeed, there is a conflict here, without a doubt. We apply the rules. What does the hadith of Juwayriyyah indicate? Does it indicate the obligation of fasting on Saturday?

The questioner: No.

The Shaykh : And the hadith: ; what does it indicate?

The questioner : The prohibition.

The Shaykh : The prohibition. So, if a permissive text and a prohibitive text conflict, which is given precedence?

The questioner : The prohibitive text.

The Shaykh : And Allah is sufficient for the believers in fighting.

The questioner : So, Saturday is not fasted except in the obligatory fast?

The Shaykh : How could it be otherwise? In the obligatory fast, Saturday is not fasted except in the obligatory fast. And that is why I started with the question: Is fasting on Saturday obligatory? We said: No. So, it is not fasted by the indication of the hadith.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : How?

The questioner : Last year, the day of Ashura fell on a Saturday.

The Shaykh : It is not fasted. Neither the day of Ashura, nor the day of 'Arafah, nor a day from the middle of the month, the white days. Whatever coincides with Saturday is not fasted, due to the explicit statement of him (peace be upon him): ; and to emphasize this, he said—and this is a great thing—: , emphasizing the breaking of the fast.
But there is a doubt that must be dispelled, which is: how do we lose the virtue of fasting a day, which is an expiation for a year, or the virtue of fasting a day, which is an expiation for two years? The first is fasting Ashura, and the second is fasting 'Arafah? The answer is: We do not lose anything. This is an illusion due to ignorance. I do not say due to heedlessness, for heedlessness—sometimes—overtakes some people, but they quickly wake up. As for the ignorant person, he needs to be pursued with reminders and warnings until his understanding is straightened. The heedless person, if he is told... they say "Hazira," what do you say?

The questioner : Hazira.

The Shaykh : Hazira. The boy meets his companion, the small boys: "I want to play Hazira with you." Which is heavier, a qintar of cotton or a qintar of lead? No, a qintar of lead is heavier than a qintar of cotton. He is taken by what? Lead is heavy, but he was heedless of the weight. The weight is by appearance. The size of the qintar of lead may be like this, but the cotton fills the house. This is an illusion and heedlessness. But here, we must point out what resembles this heedlessness; it resembles it, but it is ignorance! Ignorance of his statement (peace be upon him). It may be heedlessness. And here is a point I mention now: some of the Salafi shaykhs in Damascus, in the Levant, used to sit and joke about the positions of the superstitious and the Sufis, saying: "By Allah, the position of these shaykhs is amazing, we do not know." So, whoever told them "Allah said, and the Messenger of Allah said, and the Companions of the Messenger of Allah said," and so on, it did not benefit them at all, and they remained in their stagnation. So we do not know whether this is heedlessness or a delusion—delusion means satanic influence!—stupidity or satanic influence. Some people say stupidity, and some say satanic influence. So one of them said: "My brother, they combine!" , so he solved the problem, meaning how do we treat this? Heedlessness and ignorance may combine in the following hadith; which is his statement (peace be upon him): . This is not a hadith we discovered from the bellies of manuscripts that the eyes of most scholars have not fallen upon, let alone others. Rather, it is a known hadith. But although it is known to some of the people of knowledge, it has become a forgotten thing. Here is its relevance: if you leave fasting on Saturday in response to the statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): ; then you have left fasting on this Saturday for Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). So Allah will compensate you with something better than it. So you are mistaken when you say: "I lost the fasting of a day that equals an expiation for a year!" Or "the fasting of two days that equals an expiation for two years!" This is an illusion. You must remember this fact, which is: . This is in acts of worship; so what about material things?
Whoever leaves a haram thing, Allah compensates him with something better than it, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . The majority of Muslims who deal with riba-based banks have also been heedless. But when I say "riba-based," it is not a descriptive attribute; because a descriptive attribute means that there are non-riba-based banks. I do not believe that there are non-riba-based banks! So these people who are afflicted with depositing money in banks, if you remind them of Allah and warn them of the consequence of riba, and specifically of his statement (peace be upon him): ; they will say to you: "My brother, what should we do? We fear that if we deposited this money in our houses, the robbers and thieves would break in on us, and so on." This is as if he has not read to believe, his statement (Mighty and Majestic): . As if he has not read this verse, or he read it and knew it, but he did not believe in it. And this is the problem that many people may fall into; they know the rulings of Allah and then deny them. Allah (Mighty and Majestic) described the Jews in the Noble Qur'an as not being ignorant of the truth of the matter of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and that he is a truthful prophet, and that he is the prophet promised in the previous books before the Noble Qur'an; they do not deny that, but they know it, as Allah (Mighty and Majestic) said in the Qur'an: . But knowledge is one thing and faith is another. So these rich people who deposit their money in banks and help the banks to stand; these people know the legal ruling, and that riba is one of the greatest of sins. But I do not know; by Allah, we say about them that they do not believe; because if they believed, they would have responded, withdrawn their money, and deposited it in a secure and safe place. And not as they imagine, that they must put this money in a clear, open place and put a flag on it fluttering, written on it "Here is a precious treasure, take it." This is how they imagine, as if they are raising flags on their money if they do not deposit it in a secure and safe place! The important thing is that we must always remember in our transactions and in our legal rulings his statement (Mighty and Majestic): .