obligatory fasting. Obligatory fasting did not cease; only the particular fast designated as obligatory changed, with the obligation transferred from one occasion to another. Whether a fast is valid with an intention formed during the day pertains to fasting itself, not to its particular designation.

This approach is also sounder than that of those who say that fasting on ‘Āshūrā’ was never obligatory. The command to fast on that day is established, as is its reinforcement through a public proclamation, and its further reinforcement by commanding those who had already eaten to abstain. All this provides strong, clear evidence that it was obligatory. Ibn Mas‘ūd says that when fasting in Ramadan was made obligatory, ‘Āshūrā’ was abandoned. Yet the evidence cited above, and other evidence, makes it clear that its recommended status was not abandoned. It must therefore be concluded (1) that what was abandoned was its obligatory status.

These, then, are five (2) approaches people have taken to this matter. Allah is the One who guides to what is correct.

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As for the fourth difficulty—namely, that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “If I live until next year, I shall certainly fast on the ninth,” but died before the following year, alongside Ibn ‘Abbās’s statement that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to fast on the ninth (3)—Ibn ‘Abbās narrated both reports, and both have been authentically transmitted from him. There is no contradiction between them. It is possible that he fasted on the ninth and stated that, if he lived until (4) the following year, he would fast on it again. Alternatively, Ibn ‘Abbās may have described his practice on the basis of what he had resolved and promised to do. Such a description is valid with a qualification—meaning that this is what he would have done had he lived—or without that qualification when the circumstances are known. On either possibility, there is no contradiction between the two reports.