(1) I recall having read that one scholar understood the Prophet’s phrase “every sabt” in the hadith to mean “every week,” not the literal Saturday. He supported this view with linguistic evidence that I can no longer bring to mind, nor do I remember in which book I saw it; whoever finds it should note it down. Should this interpretation prove sound, the hadith would offer no support whatsoever for singling out Saturday. Later I discovered the source: the Shafi‘i imam Abu Shama, in his work Al-Baaʿith ʿala Inkar al-Bidaʿ wa-l-Hawadith. There he states exactly what we have argued—that specifying acts of worship for times which the Lawgiver has not specified is impermissible. His words (p. 34) are: “It is not appropriate to restrict acts of devotion to times the Shariʿah has not itself restricted. All forms of righteousness remain unrestricted throughout all times; no period is superior to another unless the Lawgiver has preferred it and attached to it a particular act of worship. Where such a preference exists, the merit belongs to that specific act alone, such as fasting on the Day of ʿArafah, on ʿAshura, praying in the depths of the night, or performing ʿumrah in Ramadan. There are, moreover, spans of time the Shariʿah has declared superior for every good deed, like the first ten days of Dhu al-Hijjah and Laylat al-Qadr, which is better than a thousand months—that is, any righteous deed performed in it is better than the same deed done in a thousand months that lack Laylat al-Qadr. The conclusion is that the servant has no authority to establish such specifications; that belongs solely to the Lawgiver. This, indeed, was the Prophet’s pattern of worship.” He then cites the report in the two Sahihs from ʿAishah: “The Messenger of Allah used to fast continuously until we thought he would never break his fast, and then he would refrain until we thought he would never fast.” He also quotes ʿAlqamah who asked ʿAishah, “Did the Messenger of Allah single out any particular days?” She replied, “No; his practice was constant.” Abu Shama continues: “Muḥammad ibn Salamah said: No mosque should be visited believing it has special merit—apart from the three sacred mosques—except, perhaps, the mosque of Qubaʾ. Even for that one he disliked assigning a particular day for the visit, fearing innovation and lest the practice become long-…"