Furthermore, his statement to them, “Allah has substituted for you [something better],” after he had asked about the two days and they replied, “They are two days on which we used to play in the Age of Ignorance,” shows that he forbade those two days in exchange for the two Islamic days. Had he not intended to forbid them, mentioning this substitution would have been irrelevant, for they already knew the ruling concerning the two sanctioned Islamic days and would never have left them for the days of jāhiliyyah.

Anas’s words—“They had two days on which they used to play”—together with the Prophet’s saying, peace and blessings be upon him, “Allah has replaced them with two days better than them,” prove that Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, understood from the Prophet’s phrase “He has replaced them for you” that the two new days were meant as compensation for the two that had been replaced.

Moreover, those two pre-Islamic days disappeared under Islam; no trace of them remained during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, nor during the era of his Caliphs. Had he not prohibited people from playing on those days and from similar practices, they would have continued their custom, for customs are not abandoned unless an opposing force removes them—especially when women, children, and many others are eager for a day set aside for idleness and amusement.

This is why many kings and rulers are unable to detach people from their festival habits: the urge for them is too strong within their souls, and the masses are determined to observe them. Were it not for the Prophet’s firm prohibition, those days would have survived, even if only in a diminished form. It is therefore clear that the deterrent he imposed was decisive, and whatever the Messenger forbade with such decisiveness is unlawful, for that is precisely what “prohibited” means.