569 – Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ commanded us to fast three days of every month: the thirteenth, the fourteenth, and the fifteenth.” Narrated by al-Nasaʾi and al-Tirmidhi, and Ibn Ḥibbān declared it authentic. ⦗1⦘
Grading of the hadith:
The report is classed as ḥasan (good).
Al-Ḥāfiẓ stated in al-Talkhīṣ: “Al-Nasaʾi, al-Tirmidhi, and Ibn Ḥibbān transmitted it through the chain of Abu Dharr; Ibn Ḥibbān also related it from Abu Hurayrah; Ibn Abī Ḥātim narrated it from Jarīr as marfūʿ (traced back to the Prophet), while Abū Zurʿah deemed the version that stops with Jarīr mawqūf and authentic.”
Al-Tirmidhi remarked, “It is a ḥasan hadith, and it has additional chains.”
Vocabulary notes:
– “The thirteenth…” and so on: These are called al-ayyām al-bayḍ (“the white days”) because their nights are bright with the full moon from start to finish.
– “Thirteen”: In Arabic it stands in apposition to the object; it is a compound number (murakkab mazjī) whose two parts carry the fatḥah. “Thalāth” is rendered masculine to agree with the masculine noun “yawm” (day), whereas “ʿashara” is rendered feminine in contrast to “yawm”; the same pattern applies to the remaining compound numbers.
Lessons drawn from the hadith:
- It is recommended to fast three days of every month in the lunar calendar, and the reward of those three days equals the reward of fasting the whole month, for each good deed is multiplied tenfold. This calculation is supported by what is found in the four Sunan collections from the hadith of Qatadah ibn