The Shaykh's response to those who claimed that the hadith prohibiting fasting on Saturday was abrogated by the hadith (that the Messenger fasted on Saturday)

The Shaykh : So now, regarding those who say that the hadith about Saturday has been abrogated, what abrogated it? There is nothing except the hadith: "That the Messenger used to fast or fasted on Saturday." This is assuming we accept its authenticity. There is a discussion on this mentioned in some of my takhrij works. We do not have a statement that this was his action (peace and blessings be upon him) after the prohibition. Therefore, the hadith remains free from contradiction by his action, unlike the hadith of the Messenger praying while sitting, as mentioned by Ibn Taymiyyah. Furthermore, regarding this specific issue, I am adding what I omitted earlier. Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani mentions a narration that I used to follow in submission due to his knowledge, but then I found what he mentioned in the book "Al-Musannaf" by Abd al-Razzaq, after it was printed, and praise be to Allah. Al-Hafiz mentions, and we saw this in the same book, that he narrated with a sound chain that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said this hadith in that incident, the incident of his praying while sitting during his death illness: This is a hadith with a sound chain, but it is mursal. If it were musnad, the interpretation adopted by Ibn Taymiyyah, quoting from Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on them all), would be refuted. The point is that regarding the hadith of Saturday, there is no evidence that the Prophet fasted on Saturday. It should be noted that there is weakness in the authenticity of the claim that he fasted after the prohibition. Therefore, fasting on Saturday remains without contradiction. Here we say something to remind students of knowledge—please eat, as the adhan may be near, and Allah knows best.

The questioner : So here remains the issue of sitting behind the imam.

The Shaykh : So I mention something, which is that every student of knowledge must remember the following meaning: every text from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) containing a prohibition of something, we should realize that the prohibited thing in this text was previously permissible, otherwise what is the meaning of prohibiting it? And thus, whether we find a text stating that this prohibited thing was done by the Messenger or by someone else during the time of the Messenger, or we do not find it, the mere arrival of the text prohibiting this action makes us feel that it was done previously; therefore, the Lawgiver prohibited it. The only exception to this is what is known from the religion by necessity to be forbidden in all laws, such as shirk (associating partners with Allah), zina (unlawful sexual intercourse), and the like. The point now is: "Do not fast on Saturday," meaning that Saturday used to be fasted, so the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited it, and then he specified. Yes.

The questioner: Yes, Shaykh.

The Shaykh : And then he specified and clarified that there is no reason for fasting on Saturday except what is obligatory upon you. Therefore, the claim that the hadith of Saturday is abrogated is weaker than the claim that this hadith is a lie. Finally, the third opinion, which we mentioned earlier, is that the prohibition means singling it out for fasting. But we say this interpretation has no basis, because we said that the fact that the Messenger fasted on Saturday is questionable in its authenticity. And even assuming its authenticity, it is not established that he fasted after the prohibition. Therefore, there is no basis for this interpretation. Then there is no basis for such a correction. So we say: Unless one of you fasts it by fasting with it a day before it or a day after it. As for the claim that the hadith is a lie, we have said that it refutes what was said, because the hadith has three routes, and each route is sound in itself. How can it be said that a hadith like this is a lie?