Not fasting on the Day of ‘Arafah or ‘Aashooraa that coincides with Saturday is not a loss, but two

[osbay99]

Q: "What is the ruling of fasting on the Day of 'Aashooraa or 'Arafah if it coincides with Saturday?"

Shaikh al-Albaani:

"With regard to (the hadeeth) 'Don't fast on Saturday,' some people are under the false impression that if we leave off fasting on Saturday due to it coinciding with the Day of 'Aashooraa or the Day of 'Arafah or the like, then we would lose the excellence of fasting on one of these two days that coincided with Saturday. No, we would not lose, (rather) we would make two gains.

The first gain is that we have submitted our hearts and souls to the statement of our Prophet (sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam): 'Don't fast on Saturday unless it is obligated upon you, and even if you don't find anything but a bark of a tree, chew on it' [1]. Hence we have followed this hadeeth because fasting on the Day of 'Arafah and fasting on the Day of 'Aashooraa are not obligatory. The Messenger ('alayhi ssalaam) only made obligatory fasts an exception - if they coincide with Saturday, it is allowed to fast them, (but) those fasts other than the obligatory ones, we were prohibited from fasting them (if they coincide with Saturday).

The second gain is that we are included in the likes of his ('alayhi ssalaam) statement: 'Whoever leaves something for Allaah's Sake, Allaah will replace it for him with something better'[2]. So we have left fasting on the Day of 'Arafah due to it coinciding with Saturday. We have not lost the fast of the Day of 'Arafah. Why? Because we have left it for the sake of Allaah, so Allaah will replace it for us with something better. The same thing is said even more so regarding the fast of the Day of 'Aashooraa."

[1] Saheeh at-Tirmidhee 744, Saheeh Ibn Maajah 1413
[2] Shaikh al-Albaani graded it authentic in Hijaabul-Mar.ah p.49

[silsilatul-hudaa wa-nnoor 211/6 / asaheeha translations]

www.alalbaany.com

 

[Seeking Allah's Mercy]

Asalamo`Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakaatuh,

it's already discussed: http://www.turntoislam.com/forum/showthread.php?t=89197. Please read post number 3. Also I'll share the fatwa shared on Post number 5 of that thread. It shows that fasting on Saturday is permissible provided we fast a day before or after it.

Ruling on fasting on Saturdays
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What is the ruling on fasting on Saturdays at times other than Ramadaan? What if the day of ‘Arafah happens to be a Saturday?.

Praise be to Allaah.

It is makrooh to single out Saturday for fasting, because of the report narrated by al-Tirmidhi (744), Abu Dawood (2421) and Ibn Maajah (1726) from ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Busr, from his sister, that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Do not fast on Saturdays apart from days when you are obliged to fast. If any one of you cannot find anything other than grape stalks or the twigs of a tree, let him chew it (to make sure that he is not fasting).” Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in al-Irwa’ (960). Abu ‘Eesa al-Tirmidhi said: This is a hasan hadeeth. What is makrooh in this case is for a man to single out Saturday for fasting, because the Jews venerate Saturday. End quote.

Ibn Qudaamah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in al-Mughni (3/52): Our companions said: It is makrooh to single out Saturday for fasting … what is makrooh is singling out that day. If he fasts another day along with it, then it is not makrooh, because of the hadeeth of Abu Hurayrah and Juwayriyah. If it coincides with a day that a person regularly fasts, it is not makrooh.

What is meant by the hadeeth of Abu Hurayrah is the report narrated by al-Bukhaari (1985) and Muslim (1144) from Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) who said: I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say: “No one of you should fast on Friday, unless he fasts (a day) before it or after it.”

The hadeeth of Juwayriyah was narrated by al-Bukhaari (1986) from Juwayriyah bint al-Haarith (may Allaah be pleased with her), that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) entered upon her on a Friday and she was fasting. He said; “Did you fast yesterday?” She said, “No.” He said: “Do you intend to fast tomorrow?” She said: “No.” He said: “Then break your fast.”

This hadeeth and the one before it clearly indicate that it is permissible to fast on a Saturday at times other than Ramadaan, for the one who fasts the Friday before.

It is proven in al-Saheehayn that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The most beloved of fasting to Allaah is the fast of Dawood; he used to fast one day and not the next.”

In this case it is bound to happen that he will sometimes fast on a Saturday on its own. So it may be understood from this that if Saturday coincides with a day that he habitually fasts, such as ‘Arafah or ‘Ashoora’, there is nothing wrong with fasting on that day, even if it is on its own.

Al-Haafiz stated in al-Fath that an exception to the prohibition on fasting on Friday is made if a person habitually fasts on a certain day, such as ‘Arafah, and it coincides with Friday.

The same applies to Saturday. We have quoted the words of Ibn Qudaamah concerning that above.

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:

It should be noted that different scenarios may apply with regard to fasting on a Saturday.

1 – It may be obligatory, such as observing a Ramadaan fast during Ramadaan or making it up later on, or observing a fast as expiation (kafaarah), or instead of offering a sacrifice when performing Hajj tamattu’, and so on. There is nothing wrong with that so long as he does not single it out deliberately thinking that there is some virtue in that.

2 – If he fasts on the Friday before, there is nothing wrong with it, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said to one of the Mothers of the Believers who was fasting on a Friday: “Did you fast yesterday?” She said: “No.” He said: “Are you going to fast tomorrow?” She said, “No.” He said: “Then break your fast.” The words, “Are you going to fast tomorrow?” indicate that it is permissible to fast Saturday along with Friday.

3 – If it happens to be one of the days when it is prescribed to fast, such as Ayyaam al-Beed (the 13th, 14th and 15th of each hijri month), ‘Arafah, ‘Ashoora’, six days of Shawwaal for one who has fasted Ramadaan, and the ninth of Dhu’l-Hijjah. There is nothing wrong with that, because he is not fasting because it is Saturday, rather it is because it is one of the days when it is prescribed to fast.

4 – When it happens to be a day when he habitually fasts, such as a person whose habit is to fast alternate days, and the day that he fasts happens to be a Saturday, then there is nothing wrong with it, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said when he forbade fasting one or two days before Ramadaan begins: “except a man who (habitually) observes a fast, in which case let him fast.” This is similar.

5 – If he singles it out to observe a voluntary fast for one day only. This is what is forbidden, if the hadeeth forbidding it is proven to be saheeh.

End quote from Majmoo’ Fataawa wa Rasaa’il al-Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (20/57)

And Allaah knows best.
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