✿ Fasting on Friday or Saturday Alone Is Disliked (Makrūh) ✿
✍ Written by: Imran Ayyub Lahori
Abū Hurayrah رضي الله عنه narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
لا يصوم أحدكم يوم الجمعة إلا يوما قبله أو بعده
“None of you should fast on Friday unless he fasts a day before or a day after it.”
[Bukhārī: 1975, Kitāb al-Ṣiyām: Bāb Ṣawm Yawm al-Jumʿah; Muslim: 1144]
Another narration states:
لا تخصوا يوم الجمعة بصيام من بين الأيام إلا أن يكون في صوم يصومه أحدكم
“Do not single out Friday for fasting among other days unless it coincides with a fast one of you usually observes.”
[Muslim: 1143, Kitāb al-Ṣiyām: Bāb Karāhat Ṣiyām Yawm al-Jumʿah Munfaridan; Nasāʾī: 2/141; Bayhaqī: 4/302]
According to the majority of scholars (jumhūr), this prohibition is not strictly ḥarām (unlawful), but rather makrūh tanzīhī (discouraged).
[Al-Majmūʿ: 6/438–439]
Some scholars explain this as follows:
Friday has been described as a day of ʿEid in Islam, and fasting on Eid is unanimously forbidden.
As per the ḥadīth:
يوم الجمعة يوم عيدكم
“Friday is your day of Eid.”
[Aḥmad: 2/532]
However, unlike Eid days — when fasting is always prohibited — fasting on Friday becomes permissible if combined with a day before or after.
Ṣammāʾ bint Buṣr رضي الله عنها narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said:
لا تصوموا يوم السبت إلا فيما افترض عليكم
“Do not fast on Saturday except for what has been made obligatory upon you.”
He further said:
“If any of you finds nothing but the peel of a grape or a twig from a tree, he should chew it (to break the fast).”
[Ṣaḥīḥ Abū Dāwūd: 2116, Kitāb al-Ṣiyām: Bāb al-Nahy an Yukhass Yawm al-Sabt bi-Ṣawm; Tirmidhī: 744; Ibn Mājah: 726; Dārimī: 2/19; Sharḥ Maʿānī al-Āthār: 2/80; Ibn Khuzaymah: 2162; Bayhaqī: 4/302]
Note: This prohibition applies only when Saturday is fasted in isolation.
➡ If a fast is observed with another day, the prohibition does not apply.
[Ibn Khuzaymah: 2167; Aḥmad: 323]
✔ Fasting only on Friday or only on Saturday is discouraged (makrūh).
✔ If these days are combined with a fast before or after, or coincide with an ongoing routine, then fasting is allowed.
✔ This caution stems from the special status of Friday as a weekly Eid and the historical significance of Saturday for previous nations.
✍ Written by: Imran Ayyub Lahori
❖ Prohibition of Fasting on Friday Alone
Abū Hurayrah رضي الله عنه narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
لا يصوم أحدكم يوم الجمعة إلا يوما قبله أو بعده
“None of you should fast on Friday unless he fasts a day before or a day after it.”
[Bukhārī: 1975, Kitāb al-Ṣiyām: Bāb Ṣawm Yawm al-Jumʿah; Muslim: 1144]Another narration states:
لا تخصوا يوم الجمعة بصيام من بين الأيام إلا أن يكون في صوم يصومه أحدكم
“Do not single out Friday for fasting among other days unless it coincides with a fast one of you usually observes.”
[Muslim: 1143, Kitāb al-Ṣiyām: Bāb Karāhat Ṣiyām Yawm al-Jumʿah Munfaridan; Nasāʾī: 2/141; Bayhaqī: 4/302]❖ Scholarly Interpretation
According to the majority of scholars (jumhūr), this prohibition is not strictly ḥarām (unlawful), but rather makrūh tanzīhī (discouraged).
[Al-Majmūʿ: 6/438–439]Some scholars explain this as follows:
Friday has been described as a day of ʿEid in Islam, and fasting on Eid is unanimously forbidden.
As per the ḥadīth:
يوم الجمعة يوم عيدكم
“Friday is your day of Eid.”
[Aḥmad: 2/532]However, unlike Eid days — when fasting is always prohibited — fasting on Friday becomes permissible if combined with a day before or after.
❖ Prohibition of Fasting on Saturday Alone
Ṣammāʾ bint Buṣr رضي الله عنها narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said:
لا تصوموا يوم السبت إلا فيما افترض عليكم
“Do not fast on Saturday except for what has been made obligatory upon you.”
He further said:
“If any of you finds nothing but the peel of a grape or a twig from a tree, he should chew it (to break the fast).”
[Ṣaḥīḥ Abū Dāwūd: 2116, Kitāb al-Ṣiyām: Bāb al-Nahy an Yukhass Yawm al-Sabt bi-Ṣawm; Tirmidhī: 744; Ibn Mājah: 726; Dārimī: 2/19; Sharḥ Maʿānī al-Āthār: 2/80; Ibn Khuzaymah: 2162; Bayhaqī: 4/302] Note: This prohibition applies only when Saturday is fasted in isolation.➡ If a fast is observed with another day, the prohibition does not apply.
[Ibn Khuzaymah: 2167; Aḥmad: 323]❖ Summary
✔ Fasting only on Friday or only on Saturday is discouraged (makrūh).
✔ If these days are combined with a fast before or after, or coincide with an ongoing routine, then fasting is allowed.
✔ This caution stems from the special status of Friday as a weekly Eid and the historical significance of Saturday for previous nations.
