The Ruling on Singling Out Saturday for Fasting
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
With Allah's blessing, we begin this session, and we ask His Eminence Shaykh Abdulaziz about singling out the fast of Saturday; what is its ruling?
May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Praise be to Allah, and may Allah send prayers and peace upon the Messenger of Allah, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow his guidance. As for what follows:
A hadith has been reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in which he forbade fasting on Saturday, except for what is obligatory upon us. Some of our brothers thought it was authentic, but the correct view is that it is a weak hadith, not authentic; rather, it is confused, as al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) clarified in al-Bulugh, and Imam Malik and a group of scholars rejected it. The correct view is that it is weak, confused, and anomalous, contradicting the authentic hadiths, so it cannot be relied upon.
There is no harm in fasting on Saturday alone, or together with Friday. What indicates that the prohibition is not authentic is what is established in the two Sahihs from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said:Bulugh al-Maram 5:41 and the day after it is Saturday. It is also established from him (peace and blessings be upon him) that he used to fast on Saturday and Sunday, and say: .
The point is that the hadith forbidding fasting on Saturday is not authentic; rather, it is anomalous and contradicts the authentic hadiths, so it is not permissible to rely on it. Whoever among some of the brothers deemed it authentic has erred. For this reason, it is established from him (peace and blessings be upon him) that when he forbade fasting on Friday, he said:Bulugh al-Maram 5:41 and the day after it is Saturday. He used to fast on Saturday (peace and blessings be upon him), and fast on Sunday, and say: (peace and blessings be upon him). Yes.
The presenter: May Allah reward you, O Shaykh.
With Allah's blessing, we begin this session, and we ask His Eminence Shaykh Abdulaziz about singling out the fast of Saturday; what is its ruling?
May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Praise be to Allah, and may Allah send prayers and peace upon the Messenger of Allah, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow his guidance. As for what follows:
A hadith has been reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in which he forbade fasting on Saturday, except for what is obligatory upon us. Some of our brothers thought it was authentic, but the correct view is that it is a weak hadith, not authentic; rather, it is confused, as al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) clarified in al-Bulugh, and Imam Malik and a group of scholars rejected it. The correct view is that it is weak, confused, and anomalous, contradicting the authentic hadiths, so it cannot be relied upon.
There is no harm in fasting on Saturday alone, or together with Friday. What indicates that the prohibition is not authentic is what is established in the two Sahihs from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said:
None of you should fast on Friday, unless he fasts together with the day before or the day after.
لا تصوموا يوم الجمعة إلا أن تصوموا يومًا قبله أو يومًا بعدهThey are two days of the festivals of the polytheists; so I love to differ from them.
إنهما يوما عيد المشركين؛ فأحب أن أخالفهمThe point is that the hadith forbidding fasting on Saturday is not authentic; rather, it is anomalous and contradicts the authentic hadiths, so it is not permissible to rely on it. Whoever among some of the brothers deemed it authentic has erred. For this reason, it is established from him (peace and blessings be upon him) that when he forbade fasting on Friday, he said:
None of you should fast on Friday, unless he fasts together with the day before or the day after.
لا تصوموه إلا أن تصوموا يومًا قبله أو يومًا بعدهThey are two days of the festivals of the polytheists, and I love to differ from them.
إنهما يوما عيد المشركين، وأنا أحب أن أخالفهمThe presenter: May Allah reward you, O Shaykh.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.