Among the supererogatory fasts:

Under the heading “Fasting the first ten days of Dhuʾl-Hijjah” he cites:

4 – Abu Hurayrah reported: “The Messenger of Allah forbade fasting on the Day of ʿArafah while at ʿArafah.” Recorded by Ahmad, Abu Dawud, al-Nasaʾi, and Ibn Majah.

I say: Its chain of transmission is weak, for all of its routes revolve around Mahdi al-Hijri, who is unknown, as al-Nawawi stated (6/380) and al-Hafiz in al-Talkhis (6/469). Because of this, Ibn al-Qayyim, al-Shawkani, and others deemed it weak, and it is listed in al-Ahadith al-Daʿifah, no. 404.

Under the heading “Expansiveness on the Day of ʿAshura” he quotes: “Jabir reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘Whoever is generous to himself and his family on the Day of ʿAshura, Allah will be generous to him throughout the rest of the year.’” Al-Bayhaqi narrated it in al-Shuʿab and Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr likewise. The report has several additional routes, all of them weak; however, al-Sakhawi claimed that when they are combined the narration gains strength.

I respond: This is al-Sakhawi’s view, and we do not consider it sound, for a hadith can only be strengthened by multiple chains when those chains are free of any narrator who is abandoned or accused of fabrication. That condition is not met here. Consider, for example, this narration from Jabir, which has two routes:

The first: Muhammad ibn Yunus narrated to us; ʿAbd Allah ibn Ibrahim al-Ghifari narrated to us; ʿAbd Allah ibn Abi Bakr, the nephew of Muhammad ibn al-Munkadir, narrated from Muhammad ibn al-Munkadir, from him. Al-Bayhaqi recorded it.

This chain is fabricated because of Muhammad ibn Yunus—al-Kadimi—who is a liar. Ibn ʿAdi said: