Imam Ahmad and Abū Dāwūd (1) also narrated from ‘Abd Allāh ibn Busr (2) al-Sulamī, from his sister al-Sammā’, that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:
“Do not fast on Saturday except as part of an obligatory fast. Even if one of you finds nothing but grapevine bark or a tree twig, let him chew it.”
People differed concerning these two hadiths. Mālik said: “This is false,” referring to the hadith of ‘Abd Allāh ibn Busr, as Abū Dāwūd (3) reported from him. Al-Tirmidhī said: “It is a good hadith.” Abū Dāwūd (4) said: “This hadith is abrogated.” Al-Nasā’ī (5) said: “It is a hadith with conflicting versions.”
A number of scholars said: There is no contradiction between it and the hadith of Umm Salamah, since the prohibition against fasting on Saturday is only a prohibition (6) against singling it out for fasting. Accordingly, Abū Dāwūd entitled his chapter: “The Prohibition against Singling Out Saturday for Fasting.” The hadith describing his fasting on Saturday concerns fasting it together with Sunday. They said: A parallel to this is his prohibition against singling out Friday for fasting, unless (7) one