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His guidance, in both word and deed, was to disapprove of singling out Friday for fasting. The prohibition against fasting on Friday alone is authentically reported in hadiths narrated by Jābir ibn ‘Abd Allāh, Abū Hurayrah, Juwayriyah bint al-Hārith, ‘Abd Allāh ibn Mas‘ūd, Junādah al-Azdī (1), and others. He also drank on a Friday while on the pulpit, showing them that he was not fasting that day, as related by Imam Ahmad (2). The reason given for prohibiting fasting on Friday is that it is a day of Eid. Imam Ahmad (3) narrated from Abū Hurayrah that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
“Friday is a day of Eid, so do not make your day of Eid a day of fasting, unless you fast the day before it or the day after it.”
If it is objected: “But one may not fast on a day of Eid even if one also fasts the day before or after it.”
The reply is: Since Friday was likened to Eid, the prohibition against deliberately singling it out for fasting follows from that resemblance. If one fasts the day before or after it, one has not singled it out, and its ruling is the same as that of fasting