The Shaykh’s remarks on fasting the Day of 'Arafah if it falls on a Saturday.

The Shaykh : But I thought you would ask about the actual situation that occurred.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : In this festival, which is fasting on a Saturday.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : So, is it permissible to fast on a Saturday that coincides with the Day of 'Arafah?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : And he (peace be upon him) said: , This is the same as that; it is not permissible to say: "Do not fast on a Saturday" with the intention of fasting it, because he said: ; therefore, it is not permissible to fast on a Saturday, whether it is the Day of 'Ashura, the Day of 'Arafah, or any other day of the known virtues in the Sunnah.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Because he made an exception after the general prohibition, excepting one thing, and he said: Then he emphasized this prohibition by saying: The bark of the tree is the peel of the tree.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : And you know that the peel of a tree is not eaten.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : But in the context of emphasizing the command to break the fast on that day, he said: ; therefore, interpreting the hadiths is the domain of the people of theology (kalam) from old, and interpretation is not permissible except with evidence, and there is no evidence here; because the first hadith is explicitly related to Friday: "Do not fast on Friday except on a day before it or a day after it" , and the other hadith is: When Juwayriyyah entered upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), he invited her to eat, and she said: "I am fasting." He said: . She said: "No." He said: . She said: "No." He said: . Do you see whether she intended Friday to oppose the Sunnah, or did it just happen that she fasted on Friday? So he said to her: "If you fasted on Thursday, or if you intend to fast on Saturday, there is no harm." But you did not fast yesterday, meaning Thursday, nor are you intending to fast on Saturday, so break your fast. The statement that she intended it or did not intend it is philosophy from our own minds; Allah has not sent down any authority for it.

The questioner : This is the answer of my Shaykh, generally speaking.

The Shaykh : How?

The questioner : In voluntary acts, or is it general... everything, I mean?

The Shaykh : What is fasting on Friday?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : No, no, in voluntary acts, otherwise there are Fridays in the month of Ramadan.

The questioner : ...the Day of Standing or 'Ashura.

The Shaykh : No, these are voluntary and not obligatory; therefore, he said in the other hadith: So a person may fast on a Saturday as an obligation, but as a voluntary act, he may not do so.

The questioner : Okay, my Shaykh, the continuation of the hadith said: . She said: "No" .

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner : I mean, just a question, let us suppose she said "yes," what is the answer?

The Shaykh : The answer is "yes," meaning she fasts on that day, because the Messenger permitted her to do so. But here the issue enters another stage, which is: if two differing hadiths come, one prohibiting and the other permitting, this is, of course, related to the principles of jurisprudence. So, which is given precedence, the prohibiting or the permitting? They said: The prohibiting is given precedence over the permitting. Why? Because the prohibiting text, meaning the preventing one, meaning the forbidden one, contains a new ruling over the permitting text. The permitting text is sometimes a statement, like the hadith of Juwayriyyah, and sometimes an action. If the action means it permits the thing, it is like the statement that permits the thing. So, if something opposes the verbal permission or the action-based permission from the words of the Messenger (peace be upon him), at that time the prohibiting is given precedence over the permitting. And this opens for us a new door of knowledge, and I feel that the masses of people are unaware of it, and that is what confirms for us that we must address its mention and explanation. Many authentic hadiths came from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) that he drank while standing, especially when he performed the Farewell Pilgrimage and came to Zamzam to drink from it, so he drank while standing. This is a permission to drink while standing. But hadiths came prohibiting drinking while standing. Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) prohibited drinking while standing." And another hadith with the same meaning confirms it and adds another ruling, which is from the hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him). He said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) saw a man drinking while standing, so he said to him: . He said: "No, O Messenger of Allah." He said: . You have drunk with you one who is worse than the hyena that you first heard my words to you about . The suns are like the suns of a donkey. No, so you have drunk with you one who is worse than it, the Shaytan. The additional ruling here over the first hadith of Anas is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him or to someone else: - And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah and His blessings - I know... in the end of the hadith, did you notice it?

The questioner : Yes, yes, he said: "Do you like for him to drink with you?"

The Shaykh : No, the end of the hadith, you missed it, I think he said to him: ; meaning, this water that you drank while standing, expel it, get it out, because the Shaytan shared it with you. The point after this is how to reconcile the drinking of the Messenger while standing with his prohibition of drinking while standing? The prohibiting is given precedence over the permitting. This is a jurisprudential principle of the principles of jurisprudence. Whoever knows it and masters it is saved from much confusion in reconciling the Prophetic hadiths. And from that, he permitted her to fast on a Saturday, but afterwards he said: And he emphasized the non-fasting by saying: emphasizing the breaking of the fast. This is a message to the people.