Is it permissible for us, if we are in a group, to fast a collective fast, for example on Monday, and say, “We will fast this day as a group”?
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The questioner : Is it permissible for us, if we are a group, to fast a collective fast, for example on Monday, where we come and say, “We will fast this day as a group”? I hope you will answer, may Allah reward you.
The Shaykh : It was not the custom of the Salaf to agree to perform a specific act of worship and say, for example, “We will designate a day on which we all fast, whether Monday or Thursday, or a time at which we all pray, or something similar.” There is a fear that this practice of agreeing to fast on a specific day as a group, or something similar, and making it a habit, may lead to other acts of worship being agreed upon by them, which are matters in which agreement is prohibited.
However, if this is not customary for them, and they say, for example, “Whoever fasts tomorrow, meaning Monday or Thursday, we will break our fast with so-and-so or so-and-so, or we will break our fast in the open,” then there is nothing wrong with that. But as for making that a regular, fixed practice that they maintain and gather for, I fear that this may be a religious innovation. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah bless you. This questioner says his name is Ali.
The Shaykh : It was not the custom of the Salaf to agree to perform a specific act of worship and say, for example, “We will designate a day on which we all fast, whether Monday or Thursday, or a time at which we all pray, or something similar.” There is a fear that this practice of agreeing to fast on a specific day as a group, or something similar, and making it a habit, may lead to other acts of worship being agreed upon by them, which are matters in which agreement is prohibited.
However, if this is not customary for them, and they say, for example, “Whoever fasts tomorrow, meaning Monday or Thursday, we will break our fast with so-and-so or so-and-so, or we will break our fast in the open,” then there is nothing wrong with that. But as for making that a regular, fixed practice that they maintain and gather for, I fear that this may be a religious innovation. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah bless you. This questioner says his name is Ali.