and I have incorporated them into a small treatise that I entitled al-Qawl al-Thabt fi al-Sawm Yawm al-Sabt. I add: What I was able to gather on the matter, in this brief survey, comes to nearly thirty rulings distilled from a little over thirty hadiths. All praise is due to Allah for His favour and guidance. Subsequently it became apparent to me that the report itself is weak, as I clarified in Silsilat al-Ahadith al-Daifa, no. 1099, and that, from a juristic perspective, fasting on a Saturday is only prescribed when the fast is obligatory. Al-Tahawi relates this position from some scholars in Sharh al-Maʿani (1/399), basing it on the Prophet’s general prohibition: “Do not fast on Saturday except for what has been made obligatory upon you…,” authenticated in Irwa al-Ghalil, no. 960. See also my legal discussion in Sahih al-Targhib (1/509) and the addendum, no. 16, at the end of the second volume of al-Sahihah, new Maʿarif edition. 1. Narrated by al-Bukhari (3/418); Abu Dawud (1/305); al-Nasaʾi (2/48–49); al-Tirmidhi (2/104–125), who graded it hasan sahih; and Ahmad (nos. 84, 200, 275, 358, 385). Shaykh al-Islam writes (p. 57): “As far as I recall, this hadith also states: ‘Our practice differs from the practice of the polytheists.’” I reply: This is an error on his part—may Allah have mercy on him—for that wording occurs in none of the routes of this hadith; rather, it is found in a different report that al-Tabarani transmitted (20/24/28) through Ibn Jurayj, from Muhammad ibn Qays ibn Makhrama, from al-Miswar ibn Makhrama, who said: =