Is it established that the Messenger used to fast the ten days of Dhul-Hijjah?

The questioner : May Allah reward you: Is it established from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) that he fasted the ten days of Dhul-Hijjah, O Shaykh?

The Shaykh : I inform you that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Did it reach you? Good. Question: Is fasting among the righteous deeds? What did he exclude from this generality? Did the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "Except fasting, so do not fast"? I ask you! He did not say that. So what did he exclude from the generality? The hadith of A'ishah: This is what she saw, but others saw otherwise. So in another hadith from one of the Mothers of the Believers, she says: Imam Ahmad said: "And the affirming is preferred over the negating". And even if we assume there is no affirmation that the Messenger fasted them, they fall under the generality: And if we suppose that the Messenger did not fast them, this is a specific case; it is possible that the Messenger did not fast them because he was occupied with what is more important, do you understand? And here is a rule we must act upon: When the textual expressions are general, do not ask: Did the Companions act upon them or not? Because the original state is, what is the original state? That they acted upon them. The original state is that they acted upon them, and not knowing that they acted upon them is not knowledge that they did not act upon them. So the original state is that they acted upon it. Then, even if we assume—and it is an impossible assumption—that they did not act upon it, do we ask on the Day of Resurrection about the actions of the Companions or about the saying of the Messenger? Answer: About the saying of the Messenger, as He the Exalted said: Is it possible for any person to find an excuse if asked on the Day of Resurrection about any of the sayings of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) that are general? Is it possible for him to say: "O Lord, the Companions did not act upon it, or I do not know if they acted upon it or not"? It is not possible for that to be an excuse. Therefore, we regret that some people have cast doubt among the Muslims in this matter and said: That fasting them is not a Sunnah. Glory be to Allah! I fear that Allah the Exalted will punish them on the Day of Resurrection. How can the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) say: and we leave the righteous deed about which Allah the Exalted said: Glory be to Allah! Therefore, we must turn this call back on its heels so that it returns in disgrace, and we say to this man the same questions that were directed to you: Is fasting among the righteous deeds or not? Did it come from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he forbade it or not? He will say: No. And if he says: Yes, we say: Bring the evidence. He will say: It is among the righteous deeds in fasting. And he will say: It did not come from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) that he forbade it. So we say: Then we must act upon it. And this is truly a calamity that people have acted upon a deed in which there is no sin, but rather there is reward, and then some people go against it to mention [something] and bring what contradicts the custom, which is closer to the truth than what he said. This is a problem. Yes.

The questioner : O Virtuous Shaykh, what is the ruling on the Hajj of one who...?

The Shaykh : Repeat, repeat, repeat the sentence.

The questioner : Your Eminence, the Shaykh.

The Shaykh : Yes.