the People of the Book in this act of worship while still observing it. This can be achieved in one of two ways: either by moving the fast from the tenth to the ninth, or (1) by fasting on both days. His statement, ‘When next year comes, we shall fast on the ninth,’ allows for either interpretation. He, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, died before his intent became clear to us, so the cautious course was to fast on both days.”

The interpretation we have presented is more correct, Allah willing, and Ibn ‘Abbās’s hadiths, taken together, support it. His statement in the hadith recorded by Ahmad, “Differ from the Jews: fast a day before it and a day after it,” and his statement (2) in the hadith recorded by al-Tirmidhī, “We were commanded to fast on ‘Āshūrā’, the tenth day” (3), demonstrate the soundness of our interpretation. Allah knows best.

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His practice was not to fast on the Day of ‘Arafah while at ‘Arafah. This is established in the two Sahīh collections (4).

It is also reported that he forbade fasting on the Day of ‘Arafah while at ‘Arafah; this was related by the compilers of the Sunan collections (5). It is authentically established from him that fasting on that day expiates the sins of the preceding year and the coming year, as recorded by Muslim (6).