Dhul-Hijjah Benefit #1

According to the majority of scholars, fasting is among the good deeds that Muslims are ENCOURAGED to perform during the first NINE days of Dhul-Hijjah. Someone might ask: How should we understand the statement of Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) found in Sahih Muslim: ((ما رَأيتُ رَسولَ اللهِ ﷺ صائِمًا في العَشرِ قَطُّ)) “I NEVER saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ fasting during the ten days (of Dhul-Hijjah).” Scholars have given several responses: 1⃣ Some give preference to the hadith of Hafsah (may Allah be pleased with her): ((أن رسول الله ﷺ كان لا يدع ثلاثًا: صيام العشر، وصيام ثلاثة أيام من كل شهر، وركعتين قبل الغداة)) “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ would never neglect three things: fasting the first ten days (of Dhul-Hijjah), fasting three days of every month, and praying two rak‘ahs before the dawn prayer.” [Reported by An-Nasa'i] For example, Sheikh Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “When two hadiths appear contradictory — one affirming and the other negating — the affirming report takes precedence over the negating one. For this reason, Imam Ahmad said: ‘The hadith of Hafsah affirms, while the hadith of Aishah negates, and the affirming report is given precedence.’ I also want to give you a principle: when the Sunnah comes in the form of a statement, then act upon what the statement indicates. As for actions, it is not a condition that we know the Messenger ﷺ himself did it or that the Companions did it. If we were to say, ‘We will not act upon evidence unless we know that the Companions acted upon it,’ then many acts of worship would be lost to us. Rather, we have before us a textual proof that has reached us clearly, and we must act according to what it indicates, whether or not we know that people acted upon it previously.” [Liqa’ Al-Bab Al-Maftuh (92/12)] Note: The above report of Hafsah is considered weak by some scholars because its chain of narration contains Abu Ishaq Al-Ashja‘i, who is unknown (majhool). Abu Dawud reports (2437) from Hunaydah ibn Khalid (may Allah be pleased with him), from his wife, from one of the wives of the Prophet ﷺ, who said: ((كَانَ رَسُولُ اللهِ ﷺ يَصُومُ تِسْعَ ذِي الْحِجَّةِ وَيَوْمَ عَاشُورَاءَ وَثَلَاثَةَ أَيَّامٍ مِنْ كُلِّ شَهْرٍ)) “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to fast the first nine days of Dhul-Hijjah, the day of Ashura, and three days of every month.” [Shaykh Albani graded this sahih in Sahih Sunan Abi Dawud] Note: This hadith has also been deemed weak by some scholars due to inconsistency (idhtirab) in its chain. Different narrations were reported from Hunaydah: from his wife, from one of the wives of the Prophet ﷺ, from Hafsah, from his mother, and from Umm Salamah in a shortened form. [See: Nasb al-Rayah (2/157)] 2⃣ Assuming the hadith of Hafsah is authentic, some scholars attempted to reconcile the two reports by saying that the Prophet ﷺ fasted during these days without Aishah’s knowledge. However, it seems very unlikely that he ﷺ would regularly fast the ten days while it remained unknown to Aishah, especially since he stayed with her for two days and two nights out of every nine days, because Sawda bint Zam'a had given her allotted day to Aishah, and the Prophet ﷺ approved of that. Thus, Aishah had two days and two nights out of every nine. [Majmūʿ Fatāwā wa Maqālāt Ash-Shaykh Ibn Bāz (25/215)] 3⃣ Another reconciliation is that he ﷺ fasted the ten days on some occasions. Hafsah observed this and remembered it, while Aishah observed it and later FORGOT it. 4⃣ Others explained that Aishah meant that he ﷺ did not fast all ten days completely. This is similar to the response given by some scholars when reconciling the two apparently conflicting reports from Aishah regarding Salat Adh-Dhuha. In one report, she said: ((كان رسول الله ﷺ يصلي الضحى أربعا، ويزيد ما شاء الله)) “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ USED TO PRAY four rak‘ahs of Dhuha prayer, and sometimes he would increase as Allah willed.”