May the day of Ashura be fasted by itself?
2026-09-21
F66 · Selected fatwas
Shaykh Ibn Bāz
الشيخ عبد العزيز بن باز
Original Q&A · Complete published question and answer
The complete published question and answer are included. The Shaykh's description of the additional report's weak chain is preserved; it is not presented as an unqualified authentic report.
النص العربي
السؤال الأصلي
شخصٌ صام يوم عاشوراء، ولم يصم يومًا قبله أو يومًا بعده، فما الحكم جزاكم الله خيرًا؟
الجواب
المشهور عند العلماء: أنه مكروهٌ؛ لأنَّ النبي عليه السلام قال في الأخير: لئن عشتُ لأصومنَّ التاسع، وكذلك بعدما نهي عن مُوافقة أهل الكتاب، كان أولًا يُحب مُوافقتهم فيما لم يُنْهَ عنه، وكان يصوم عاشوراء فقط، ثم أمره الله بمُخالفة المشركين، وعدم مُوافقتهم، فقال: لئن عِشْتُ إلى قابلٍ لأصومَنَّ التاسع، فلم يُدْرِك ذلك، وقال ابنُ عباسٍ -راوي الحديث: "يصوم التاسع والعاشر".
وروى أحمد وغيرُه عن النبي ﷺ أنه قال: صوموا يومًا قبله ويومًا بعده، وفي لفظٍ آخر: صوموا يومًا قبله أو يومًا بعده، لكن في إسناده ضعفٌ؛ لأنه من رواية محمد بن أبي ليلى، وهو يضعف في الحديث، لكن له شواهد في المعنى.
فالسنة عند أهل العلم أن يُصام قبله يومٌ، أو بعده يومٌ، أو يُصام ما قبله وما بعده -ثلاثة أيام- يكون للجميع، هذا هو السنة، حتى لا يُوافق أهلَ الكتاب.
English translation
English translation prepared for SalafAlSalih.com from the cited Arabic source. It is not an official translation.
Original question
A person fasted the Day of ʿĀshūrāʾ but did not fast a day before or after it. What is the ruling? May Allah reward you with good.
Answer
The well-known view among the scholars is that this is disliked, because the Prophet, peace be upon him, said towards the end: “If I live, I will certainly fast the ninth.” This was also after he was forbidden to conform to the People of the Book. At first he liked to agree with them in matters in which he had not been forbidden, and he fasted ʿĀshūrāʾ alone. Then Allah commanded him to differ from the polytheists and not conform to them, so he said: “If I live until next year, I will certainly fast the ninth.” He did not live to see it. Ibn ʿAbbās, the narrator of the hadith, said: “He fasts the ninth and the tenth.”
Aḥmad and others narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said: “Fast a day before it and a day after it.” Another wording is: “Fast a day before it or a day after it.” But its chain has weakness because it is narrated through Muḥammad ibn Abī Laylā, who is considered weak in hadith. Nevertheless, it has supporting reports for its meaning.
According to the scholars, the Sunnah is therefore to fast a day before it, a day after it, or both the day before and the day after—three days altogether. This is the Sunnah, so that one does not conform to the People of the Book.
Source and editorial notes
Official Ibn Bāz website fatwa 20781
الموقع الرسمي للشيخ عبد العزيز بن باز
Official website of Shaykh ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Bāz
Arabic checked against the complete official published transcript. Text is preserved; spacing is normalized and legacy honorific glyphs are expanded. The English translates every displayed paragraph; Quran quotations are translations of their meanings.