A word from the Shaykh on the issue of singling out the night of Friday for standing in prayer and its day for fasting.

The Shaykh : This is the night of Friday, the night of the twenty-sixth of Ramadan in the year 1413. It is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: meaning, do not make it distinct from the nights of the week by standing in prayer, such that you stand in prayer on its night while not doing so on the other nights of the week, or that you increase your standing in prayer on it compared to the other nights of the week. Likewise, regarding fasting, do not single out its day from the days of the week. Indeed, the Messenger (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) entered upon one of his wives while she was fasting on Friday, and he said to her: So he ordered her to break her fast because she had singled out Friday for fasting. If that is the case, then what appears to be the case is that the remaining acts of worship, such as standing in prayer regarding the night and fasting regarding the day, should not be singled out for Friday, except for what evidence indicates is specific to Friday, such as the Friday prayer, for example. Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned in *Zad al-Ma’ad* the cosmic, decreed, and legal characteristics of the day of Friday. So whoever wishes to refer to them, let him refer to them, for these mentioned matters are beneficial. Based on that, it is not permissible for us to single out the night of Friday for performing the lesser pilgrimage (‘Umrah) over the other nights, nor its day for performing the lesser pilgrimage over the other days. Rather, we should treat the day of Friday and the night of Friday regarding the lesser pilgrimage as we do the others. If a person happens to arrive in Mecca on the night of Friday and performs the lesser pilgrimage, there is no harm in that, and likewise during the day. As for intentionally doing so, there is no evidence for this; rather, the apparent indication of the Sunnah is the prohibition of singling it out for the lesser pilgrimage, or singling out its day for the lesser pilgrimage, or singling out its day.