Surah An-Nahl (16) — Ayah 124

(Ayah124){اِنَّمَا جُعِلَ السَّبْتُ عَلَى الَّذِيْنَ … :} That is, the reverence for the day of Saturday is not found in the Islamic community, nor was it in the Shariah of Ibrahim (peace be upon him). This day was later prescribed only for those people who differed regarding it. The meaning of "differed" is that Musa (peace be upon him) made the reverence of Friday obligatory upon them, but they differed in it and fixed Saturday as the day. Upon this, Allah made the reverence of that very day obligatory upon them, that they should not hunt on it. This is supported by the narration of Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [ نَحْنُ الْآخِرُوْنَ السَّابِقُوْنَ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ، بَيْدَ أَنَّهُمْ أُوْتُوا الْكِتَابَ مِنْ قَبْلِنَا، ثُمَّ هٰذَا يَوْمُهُمُ الَّذِيْ فُرِضَ عَلَيْهِمْ فَاخْتَلَفُوْا فِيْهِ فَهَدَانَا اللّٰهُ فَالنَّاسُ لَنَا فِيْهِ تَبَعٌ، الْيَهُوْدُ غَدًا وَالنَّصَارَی بَعْدَ غَدٍ ] [ بخاری، الجمعۃ، باب فرض الجمعۃ : ۸۷۶ ] "We are the last to come, but will be the first on the Day of Resurrection, even though they were given the Book before us. Then this was their day which was made obligatory upon them, but they differed in it, so Allah guided us to it (the day of Friday), so people are behind us in this regard: the Jews the day after us, and the Christians the day after that." In the hadith of Sahih Muslim, the determination of this obligatory day is mentioned, that it was Friday, from which the Jews differed and fixed Saturday, and the Christians fixed Sunday. [ دیکھیے مسلم، الجمعۃ، باب ہدایۃ ھذہ الأمۃ لیوم الجمعۃ : ۸۵۵ ]

124. 1. What is the intention behind this difference? There is a difference of opinion regarding its details. Some say that Musa (عليه السلام) appointed Friday as the day for them, but the Children of Israel differed and preferred Saturday for reverence and worship. Allah said, "Musa! Let the day they have chosen remain for them." Some say Allah commanded them to designate one day in the week for reverence, and they differed in its determination. Thus, the Jews, based on their religious analogy, chose Saturday, and the Christians, out of opposition to the Jews, chose Sunday for themselves. Similarly, for worship, they adopted the eastern side of Bayt al-Maqdis as their qiblah to distinguish themselves from the Jews. The mention of Friday being appointed by Allah for the Muslims is found in the hadith (Sahih Bukhari).

As for the Sabbath, it was only imposed on those who differed [126] about it. Your Lord will certainly judge between them on the Day of Resurrection regarding the matters in which they used to differ [127].

[126]
The Sabbath Holiday Was Fixed Due to the Insistence of the Jews:

There was no command in the Abrahamic faith regarding the sanctification of the Sabbath; rather, Friday was appointed, and Muslims also honor Friday. The Sabbath was imposed upon the Jews in such a way that when Mosesؑ told them to honor Friday, they said that Allah created the heavens and the earth in six days. He finished on Friday and rested on the seventh (Saturday), so we too will take a holiday on Saturday. This concept of Allah resting, held by the Jews, was extremely erroneous. However, as a result of their stubbornness with their prophet, the Sabbath was imposed upon them, and the strictness was such that they were to completely abstain from business on the Sabbath and spend the entire day in worship of Allah. Then, as they violated this command, its detailed account has already passed under Surah Al-Baqarah verse 65 and Surah Al-A'raf verse 166. The first disagreement the Jews had regarding the Sabbath was that they insisted on Saturday instead of Friday. Then, a tribe of Jews residing in the town of Eilah did not uphold the sanctity of the Sabbath and, through tricks and excuses, paved the way for fishing on that day. And when the other group forbade them, they would verbally say, "When have we broken the sanctity of the Sabbath? When do we fish on the Sabbath? We fish on Sunday." Then, when Jesusؑ came, he too taught adherence to the Mosaic law and emphasized the sanctification of the Sabbath, but later the Christians disagreed and, instead of Saturday, declared Sunday as the holiday. Thus, Sayyiduna Abu Hurairahؓ says that the Messenger of Allahﷺ said: "We came last, but on the Day of Resurrection we will be first. The only difference is that the People of the Book were given the Book before us, and we were given it after them. So, regarding the day that Allah made obligatory upon them, they differed. Then Allah informed us of that day, so they were left behind us—the Jews were left behind by one day, and the Christians by yet another day after that."
[127] One type of disagreement is as mentioned above, and another is that the Jews used to say that Sayyiduna Ibrahimؑ was upon our religion, i.e., he was a Jew. And the Christians used to say that Sayyiduna Ibrahimؑ was upon our religion, i.e., he was a Christian. Then, whether it be the polytheists of Makkah, the Jews, the Christians, or the Muslims, all connect themselves to Sayyiduna Ibrahimؑ and accept him as their leader. Allah will decide all these matters on the Day of Resurrection—who was truthful, who was false, and what was the reality of their disagreements?