Chapter on Fasting the Four Days in the Year

And from him, from a number of our companions, from Sahl ibn Ziyad, from Yusuf ibn al-Sukht, from Hamdan ibn al-Nadr, from Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn al-Sayqal, who said: Abu al-Hasan, meaning Imam al-Ridha عليه السلام, came out to us in Marw on the day of the twenty-fifth of Dhu al-Qadah, and said: “Fast, for I have entered the morning fasting.” We asked: “May Allah سبحانه وتعالى make us your ransom, what day is it?” Imam عليه السلام said: “A day in which mercy was spread, and in which the earth was spread out, and in which the Kaa’ba was erected, and in which Adam عليه السلام, descended.”

And from him, from Ali ibn Ibrahim, from his father, from al-Qasim ibn Yahya, from his grandfather al-Hasan ibn Rashid, from Abu Abdillah عليه السلام, peace be upon him, who said: I (narrator) said to Imam عليه السلام: “May I be made your ransom, do the Muslims have an Eid other than the two Eids?” – meaning Eid Al Fitr and Eid Al Adha. Imam عليه السلام said: “Yes, O Hasan, one that is greatest of them and the most noble of all.” He (narrator) said: “I asked: ‘And which day is it?’” Imam عليه السلام said: “It is the day on which Commander of the Faithful عليه السلام, peace be upon him, was appointed in it as a standard for the people.” – meaning Day of Ghadeer. So I said: “May I be made your ransom, and what is appropriate for us to do on it?” Imam عليه السلام said: “You fast it, O Hasan, and you increase in it the sending of blessings upon Muhammad صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلم and his family, and you disassociate yourself to Allah سبحانه وتعالى, Mighty and Majestic, from those who wronged them. And indeed the prophets عليه السلام, used to command the successors regarding the day on which the successor is established (Ghadeer), that it be taken as an Eid.” He (narrator) said: “I asked: ‘Then what is there for one who fasts it?’” Imam عليه السلام said: “The fasting (equal) to that of sixty months. And do not leave fasting the twenty-seventh of Rajab, for it is the day on which prophethood came down upon Muhammad صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلم, may Allah سبحانه وتعالى bless him and his family, and its reward is like sixty months (of fasting) for you.”

Abu Abdullah ibn Ayyash said: Ahmad ibn Ziyad al-Hamadhani and Ali ibn Muhammad al-Tustari narrated to me, saying: Muhammad ibn al-Layth al-Makki narrated to us, saying: Abu Ishaq ibn Abdullah al-Alawi al-Uraydi narrated to me, saying: “And there was uncertainty in my chest regarding which days are to be fasted, so I went to our master Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Muhammad عليه السلام, peace be upon him, while he was in Sarba, and I did not disclose that (question) to anyone from the creation of Allah سبحانه وتعالى. So I entered upon Imam عليه السلام, and when he saw me, the Imam عليه السلام, peace be upon him, said: “O Abu Ishaq, you have come to ask me about ‘the days on which fasting is observed’. These days of fasting are divided in four; (1) The first of them is the day of twenty-seventh of Rajab, the day on which Allah سبحانه وتعالى, Exalted, sent Muhammad, may Allah سبحانه وتعالى bless him and his family, to His سبحانه وتعالى creation as a mercy to the worlds; (2) And the day of the birth of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلم, may Allah سبحانه وتعالى bless him and his family, and it is the seventeenth of the month of Rabi al-Awwal; (3) And the day of the twenty-fifth of Dhu al-Qadah, in which the Ka’aba was spread out; (4) And the day of al-Ghadeer, in which the Messenger of Allah سبحانه وتعالى, may Allah سبحانه وتعالى bless him and his family, established his brother Imam Ali عليه السلام, peace be upon him, as a standard for the people and an Imam after him.” I (narrator) replied: “You have spoken the truth, may I be made your ransom. It is indeed for this reason that I came to you. I bear witness that you are indeed the Proof of Allah سبحانه وتعالى over His سبحانه وتعالى creation.”