Prohibited for a pilgrim at ‘Arafat during Hajj
“The day of ‘Arafah, the day of Nahr and the days of Tashriq are ‘eid for us, the people of Islam, and they are days of eating and drinking.”[21]
“I [‘Ikrimah (ra)] entered upon Abu Hurairah [ra] in his house and asked him about fasting the day of ‘Arafah at ‘Arafat. Abu Hurairah [ra] said, ‘The Messenger of Allah [saws] forbade fasting the day of ‘Arafah at ‘Arafat.’”[22]
“Ibn ‘Umar [ra] was asked about fasting [the day of] ‘Arafah. He said, ‘I performed Hajj with the Prophet [saws] and he did not fast it and with Abu Bakr [ra] and he did not fast it and with ‘Umar [ra] and he did not fast it and with ‘Uthman [ra] and he did not fast it. I do not fast it nor order it nor forbid it.”[23]
“While the people were with me [Umm Al-Fadl bint Al-Harith (ra)] on the day of ‘Arafah they differed as to whether the Prophet [saws] was observing saum or not; some said that he was observing saum while others said that he was not observing saum. So I sent to him a bowl full of milk while he was riding over his camel and he drank it.”[24]
“The people doubted whether the Prophet [saws] was observing saum on the day of ‘Arafah or not so I [Maimunah (ra)] sent milk while he was standing at ‘Arafah he drank it and the people were looking at him.”[25]
Fasting some of the month of Muharram
“The Messenger of Allah [saws] said, ‘The best fast after Ramadan is Allah’s month, Muharram and the best prayer after the obligatory prayers is prayer at night.’”[26]
“I [‘A’ishah (ra)] do not know that the Messenger of Allah [saws] recited the whole Qur’an in one night or prayed Qiyam until the morning or ever fasted an entire month except Ramadan.”[27]
“The Messenger of Allah [saws] used to fast until we thought he would never stop fasting. And he used to not fast until we thought he would never fast. And he never fasted any complete month apart from Ramadan from the time he came to Al-Madinah.”[28]
“I [‘Abdullah bin Shaqiq (ra)] asked ‘A’ishah [ra] about the fasting of the Prophet [saws] and she said, He used to fast until we said, ‘He has fasted he has fasted.’ And he would not fast until we said, ‘He is not fasting he is not fasting.’ She said, ‘And I did not see him fast an entire month since he came to Al-Madinah unless it was Ramadan.’”[29]