Prohibition of Fasting on the Sabbath

 بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

The most holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him & his family) forbade fasting on the Sabbath:

لاَ تَصُومُوا يَوْمَ السَّبْتِ إِلاَّ فِيمَا افْتَرَضَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْكُمْ فَإِنْ لَمْ يَجِدْ أَحَدُكُمْ إِلاَّ لِحَاءَ عِنَبَةٍ أَوْ عُودَ شَجَرَةٍ فَلْيَمْضُغْهُ

Do not fast on the Day of the Sabbath [Saturday] except in what Allah has obligated upon you. So if one of you does not find but a grape peel or the twig of a tree then let him chew it.

(Jami’ at-Tirmidhi, #744)

Commenting on this Hadith, Imam at-Tirmidhi says:

وَمَعْنَى كَرَاهَتِهِ فِي هَذَا أَنْ يَخُصَّ الرَّجُلُ يَوْمَ السَّبْتِ بِصِيَامٍ لأَنَّ الْيَهُودَ تُعَظِّمُ يَوْمَ السَّبْتِ

“The meaning of its dislike here is a man singling out the Day of the Sabbath for fasting because the Jews revere the Sabbath.”

In other words, Imam at-Tirmidhi imagined that the Prophet (peace be upon him & his family) forbade singling out the Sabbath for fasting because it is the day which the Jews revere, and the intention of disliking fasting on the Sabbath is to oppose the sentiments of the Jews. However, deeper analysis reveals that Imam at-Tirmidhi’s reasoning was flawed for a number of reasons. Firstly, although in our Shari’a the Sabbath is not considered a day of rest as it is in the Mosaic Law given to the nation of Israel nevertheless the Quran magnifies the Sabbath as the day in which Allah Most High settled upon the Throne:

اِنَّ رَبَّکُمُ اللّٰہُ الَّذِیۡ خَلَقَ السَّمٰوٰتِ وَالۡاَرۡضَ فِیۡ سِتَّۃِ اَیَّامٍ ثُمَّ اسۡتَوٰی عَلَی الۡعَرۡشِ

Surely, your Lord is Allah Who created the Heavens and the Earth in six days; then He settled Himself on the Throne

(Sura 7:54)

This mirrors the Biblical explanation for the holiness of the Sabbath: “Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.” (Genesis 2:3)

As for the Hadith in Sahih Muslim which says:

خَلَقَ اللَّهُ التُّرْبَةَ يَوْمَ السَّبْتِ

“Allah created the clay on the Sabbath”

it is an error as Ibn Taymiya explained:

وَنَازَعَهُ فِيهِ مَنْ هُوَ أَعْلَمُ مِنْهُ ‌كَيَحْيَى ‌بْنِ ‌مَعِينٍ ‌وَالْبُخَارِيِّ ‌وَغَيْرِهِمَا ‌فَبَيَّنُوا ‌أَنَّ ‌هَذَا ‌غَلَطٌ لَيْسَ هَذَا مِنْ كَلَامِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ

وَالْحُجَّةُ مَعَ هَؤُلَاءِ فَإِنَّهُ قَدْ ثَبَتَ بِالْكِتَابِ وَالسُّنَّةِ وَالْإِجْمَاعِ أَنَّ اللَّهَ تَعَالَى خَلَقَ السَّمَوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ فِي سِتَّةِ أَيَّامٍ وَأَنَّ آخِرَ مَا خَلَقَهُ هُوَ آدَمَ وَكَانَ خَلْقُهُ يَوْمَ الْجُمُعَةِ وَهَذَا الْحَدِيثُ الْمُخْتَلَفُ فِيهِ يَقْتَضِي أَنَّهُ خَلَقَ ذَلِكَ فِي الْأَيَّامِ السَّبْعَةِ وَقَدْ رُوِيَ إسْنَادٌ أَصَحُّ مِنْ هَذَا أَنَّ أَوَّلَ الْخَلْقِ كَانَ يَوْمَ الْأَحَدِ

Yahya bin Ma’in, al-Bukhari and other than them explained that this is incorrect, this is not from the speech of the Prophet – sall Allahu alaihi wasallam. It is proven from the Book [Quran], the Sunna and the Ijma [consensus] that Allah Most High created the Heavens and the Earth in six days, in the last of which He created Adam, and his creation was on Friday. (Majmu al-Fatawa, v.1 pp.256-257)

According to a narration in the Sunan al-Kubra of Imam an-Nasa’i the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:

يَا ‌أَبَا ‌هُرَيْرَةَ ‌إِنَّ ‌اللهَ ‌خَلَقَ ‌السَّمَوَاتِ ‌وَالْأَرَضِينَ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا فِي سِتَّةِ أَيَّامٍ ثُمَّ اسْتَوَى عَلَى الْعَرْشِ يَوْمَ السَّابِعِ

“O Abu Huraira! Verily, Allah created the Heavens and the Earths and what is in between them in six days, then He settled upon the Throne on the Seventh Day [Sabbath]”

Secondly, the Jews till this day also consider it prohibited to keep a fast on the Sabbath unless the Sabbath coincides with Yom Kippur.