World Dawah Quran & Sunnah through understanding of Salaf
The Question:
“May Allah reward you, honorable Sheikh. This questioner asks: Is fasting the first ten days of Dhul-Hijjah a Sunnah? Because some people say that maintaining its fast every year has no foundation and was not reported from the Prophet, peace be upon him?”
Sheikh salih fawzan hafidha hu Allah
The Answer:
“I have told you many times that these people are demoralizers/forsaken one, whose only concern is to discourage people from doing good deeds.
According to them, nothing is authentic, everything is weak, and everything is questionable. These are discouragers /demoralizers and rumor-mongers who should not be given attention.
Fasting the ten days of Dhul-Hijjah is legislated and recommended because it falls under the Prophet’s statement (peace be upon him): ‘There are no days in which righteous deeds are more beloved to Allah than these ten days.’ It was asked: ‘Not even Jihad in the cause of Allah?’ He replied: ‘Not even Jihad in the cause of Allah, except for one who goes out with his life and wealth and returns with nothing.
‘Righteous deeds include fasting because fasting is among the best deeds, so it is included in this authentic hadith.
Secondly, it has been reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) fasted these days, as mentioned by the author of Al-Muntaqa, Al-Majd Ibn Taymiyyah, who attributed it to some authors of the Sunan that the Prophet (peace be upon him) fasted these ten days.Even if this specific hadith were not authenticated, fasting would still fall under the general meaning of ‘There are no days in which righteous deeds are better and more beloved to Allah than these ten days’ because fasting is a righteous deed.
However, these people are lazy and want to discourage others from performing righteous deeds, so they should not be given attention.
