What is the ruling on fasting the Day of 'Arafah if it falls on a Saturday?

The questioner : May Allah reward you with all good. The Day of 'Arafah has come and it falls on a Saturday.

The Shaykh : Fasting on Saturday is something we have not been able to get rid of. There is no power or strength except with Allah.

The questioner : We want you to clarify this for us.

The Shaykh : O people, on this occasion, and before proceeding directly to the answer, I say: I advise our brothers who have acquired some knowledge not to be bold and not to build and issue rulings that are greater than them. They should be among those to whom the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) referred in his saying: The hadith that was reported specifically regarding fasting on Saturday is worded as follows: This hadith has two aspects. A hadith aspect and a fiqh aspect. The hadith aspect means: is it authentic or not? The fiqh aspect is: what is its implication? Many people, especially students of knowledge, and more specifically those who are pleased with themselves and think they have reached the level of one who issues fatwas, saying that it is permissible or not permissible, may have some excuse, but not all of it, in saying "no." They say this hadith does not mean that if the Day of 'Arafah or the Day of Ashura falls on a Saturday, it is not permissible to fast it. This is some excuse for them, but not a full excuse. However, regarding whether the hadith is authentic or weak, they have absolutely no right to enter into that, because they have no knowledge of the way to know an authentic hadith or a weak hadith. So the discussion now is with our brothers, let alone others who believe in the authenticity of this hadith. If someone has some hadithic study and says "no, this hadith is not authentic," then we open a new page and study the hadith in light of the rules of hadith science to see if our saying that this hadith is authentic is correct, or if their saying that this hadith is not authentic is incorrect. Or, if the research is based on the fact that this hadith is authentic, and it is undoubtedly and without doubt authentic, then it is easy to clarify the error of those people, whether they are followers of taqlid, or followers like our Salafi brothers, or others. It is very easy to make them understand that this hadith is a clear text that does not accept figurative interpretation that if the Day of Ashura or the Day of 'Arafah falls on a Saturday, it is not permissible to fast it. And here is the explanation. You heard the hadith just now. After the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited fasting on Saturday, he made an exception and said: And at that point, we have a prohibition against fasting on Saturday. I mean, let us summarize the hadith and not narrate it in its entirety; take its summary. Its summary is that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited fasting on Saturday except in what is obligatory. If someone says, as we hear, "No, or in Ashura," that is a second exception, "or in 'Arafah," or "or in the white days." Allahu Akbar. I cannot imagine a Muslim who knows and pays attention to what comes out of his mouth, who would dare to say this. The Messenger of Allah says: -May Allah have mercy on you- and he is saying "except such and such, and except such and such, and except such and such." Is this not a correction of the Messenger of Allah? Does it not mean that the one who makes this second, third, and fourth correction is saying in his heart that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) does not know how to speak, is not eloquent, because he brought a general prohibition and one exception, and he should have brought a word that covers these types and other exceptions that these people are saying? Imagine a rational, unbiased student of knowledge; imagining this speech is enough for him to say, "I repent to Allah and return to Him from what I used to say," and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is truthful when he says: After this heading, we come to a picture where you will see these enthusiasts for these three exceptions, and I say it in another phrase, those who correct the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), will retract in another issue. We say to them: if a day of 'Id falls on a Saturday, will you fast it? The Day of Sacrifice, and the three days after it. It is certain that in some years, it has fallen on a Monday or a Thursday without a doubt. Will we fast on Monday if it falls on a day of 'Id? The answer will be unanimously "no." We will say to them why? They will say this is prohibited. What is the difference between fasting on Saturday, which is prohibited, and fasting on a day of 'Id that falls on a Monday, where fasting on Monday is recommended, and fasting on Thursday is recommended, but when it coincides with a day, it is prohibited from fasting? When it coincides with a day, it is prohibited from fasting. What was the position of the scholars? They prioritized the prohibition over the permissibility. They said: "No, we do not fast on Monday and Thursday because of the coincidence of this day or that with the day of 'Id, which is prohibited from fasting." There is absolutely no difference between the prohibition of the Messenger regarding Saturday and the prohibition of the Messenger regarding fasting on the four days of 'Id. So what is the rule that those who resort to correcting the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and say that it is permissible to fast on Saturday if it coincides with a virtuous day, like the Day of 'Arafah for example, followed? What do these people say about fasting on Monday and Thursday, which are days whose fasting is recommended? If these people are jurists, they will answer with the words of the scholars of usul. They will say: when the prohibition conflicts with the permissibility, the prohibition is prioritized over the permissibility. The days of 'Id are prohibited from fasting, and Monday and Thursday are permissible to fast and recommended. So when the permissive conflicts with the prohibited, the prohibited is prioritized over the permissive. We applied the same rule here in the fasting of Saturday.

The questioner : Even if it is fasting the day before or after it?

The Shaykh : The same result, my brother. The same result, meaning, as Ibn Hazm (may Allah have mercy on him) says: "This is an additional ruling brought by the Lawgiver, and we must submit to it." And the rule is one: the present is prioritized over the permissive regarding the fasting of Saturday, regarding the fasting of the day of 'Id. The prohibitive is prioritized over the permissive. Finally, we say something: many people imagine that if a Saturday coincides with the Day of Ashura or a day of virtue, that if they leave fasting that day, the Saturday, they have missed a great good. , . How do we lose this virtue and that? The answer is, if they knew, in his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): We did not fast on Saturday why? Because of disdain for fasting the Day of 'Arafah and fasting the Day of Ashura and fasting any virtuous day, like the white days for example? It is not disdain. Rather, it is obedience to Allah and His Messenger. If this hadith is truthful in us, something here is like something in the previous verse . Whoever leaves something, any of these things, we left fasting on Saturday even though it coincided with the Day of 'Arafah. Why? For Allah, because He prohibited it through His Messenger. So we are better than those who fasted the Day of Ashura, and if Allah wills, they deserved that Allah forgives them the previous year and the following year. We are the ones who deserve, if Allah wills, by the text of this hadith. We acted on two hadiths: one with a virtue, and one with a prohibition. They acted on a hadith with a virtue, and turned away from the hadith with a prohibition. And this is a reminder, and the reminder benefits the believers.

The questioner : Who are the A'raf?

The Shaykh : There is a long disagreement among the scholars of tafsir regarding the A'raf, and I do not have a definitive opinion on the matter, so I have no answer.