Fasting on the day of Saturday.

The questioner : O our Shaykh, did you look into the hadith of 'Abdullah ibn Bishr?

The Shaykh : Yes, I looked into it in al-Nasa'i's al-Musnad al-Kabir; its chain of narration is indeed good.

The questioner : The one that is mawquf (stopping at a Companion)?

The Shaykh : Mawquf, yes.

The questioner : Okay, what will this be, Shaykh? I mean, what is your position on it now, in light of the extensive research you published on this?

The Shaykh : The point is that the hadith is marfu' (traced to the Prophet).

The questioner : I mean, his saying: "It is not for you, and it is not upon you"—the phrase "it is not upon you," what do we understand from it?

The Shaykh : First of all, understand the first part; after that, you can understand the other. "It is not for you" means...

The questioner : I understand it to mean there is no reward for you.

The Shaykh : Okay, so do you do something in which there is no reward for you?

The questioner : I do not do it.

The Shaykh : Okay, so if you did it in this case, what would be your ruling?

The questioner : If I were to answer, I would answer with the following phrase: "It is not upon you."

The Shaykh : No, you cannot answer that way, because if you answer with the second phrase, it means you did not follow the knowledge. In other words, I tell you: What is the ruling on one who worships with what is not worship?

The questioner : It is a religious innovation (bid'ah) in the religion of Allah.

The Shaykh : What is the ruling on religious innovation in the religion of Allah...?

The questioner : It is forbidden (haram), no.

The Shaykh : So you take from the mawquf hadith what is consistent with the marfu' hadith, and you do not take from it what contradicts and opposes it. So his saying: "It is not for you" means it is not prescribed (mashru') for you. Once you know that, you are then spared from relying on the rest of the hadith. Is that clear or not?

The questioner : No, it is completely clear.

The questioner : Clarify it for us, O our Shaykh. We do not understand anything. Give us the beginning of the hadith.

The Shaykh : The hadith is like this: "Fasting on the day of Saturday is not for you, and it is not upon you." He is asking about a narration with this wording. This wording came as marfu' and came as mawquf. The chain of the marfu' narration contains Ibn Lahi'ah, who has weakness in it. The chain of the mawquf narration is authentic, good, or hasan (a good hadith), so it benefits us in supporting the marfu' hadith that came with authentic chains from 'Abdullah ibn Bishr: Do not fast on the day of Saturday. This is a clear prohibition. The mawquf hadith does not contain a prohibition; it contains: "It is not upon you," meaning there is nothing on you if you fast it. But when the Muslim knows the issue from the jurisprudential perspective, he does not fast it; he does not dare to fast it. And if he does, it is as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said regarding another fast, namely fasting for the whole year: This is the complete matter.

The questioner : This is clearer, O our Shaykh.

The Shaykh : This does not contain a prohibition, but it contains a statement that he wasted his time, his thirst, and his hunger in vain. So he did not fast, but in reality, he did not break his fast either, because he continued to abstain from food and drink. So this is a waste of time and a waste of effort, and finally, it leads to religious innovation. Therefore, it came in another hadith: So this mawquf hadith benefits us with its first part, "Fasting on the day of Saturday is not for you." Its end, "it is not upon you," does not harm us, because we take from the mawquf statement what agrees with the marfu' statement to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). Perhaps it has become clear to you.

The questioner : Did you read this book, O our Shaykh?

The Shaykh : The verification of the narration in the order of...

The questioner : O our Shaykh, the marfu' appears to have been included by mistake in Sahih al-Jami'.

The Shaykh : No, it is not a mistake.

The questioner : I am saying, I mean, I said "appears," because the number of al-Irwa' is written, and the hadith is certainly not in al-Irwa'.

The Shaykh : Yes, it is not in al-Irwa', but I am referring to the number of the corroborating narration (shahid) for it, which is . I mean, when I placed...

The questioner : But in al-Irwa' it is not mentioned at all, not even...

The Shaykh : This is the same text; this is not mentioned in al-Irwa', but we placed the reference to the hadith of , because, as we mentioned earlier, this corroborates it.

The questioner : I understand from this statement, O our Shaykh, that you are authenticating the marfu' or grading it as hasan?

The Shaykh : For other reasons, as we do, yes.