The Obligation of Fasting for One Who Performs al-Hajj al-Tamattu’ but Cannot Find an Offering

1. A number of our people have narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from and Sahl ibn Ziyad all from Rifa‘ah ibn Musa who has said the following: “I once asked abu ‘Abdillah عليه السلام about a man who is for al-Tamattu‘ (advantageous) but does not find an offering-animal. He (the Imam) said, ’He must fast before al-Tarwiyah (eight of Dhu al-Hajjah) on the day of al-Tarwiyah and on the day of ‘Arafah. I then said that he has arrived on the day of Tarwiyah. He (the Imam) said, ‘He must fast three days after the days of Tashriq.’ I then said that transporting people do not wait for him. He (the Imam) said, ‘He can fast on the day of al-Hasabah and two days thereafter.’ I then asked, ‘What is al-Hasabah?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘It is the day he leaves.’ I then asked, ‘Can he fast when traveling?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘Yes, was he not traveling on the day of ‘Arafah? We, Ahl al-Bayt say it because of the words of Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, ‘. . . three days of fasting in al-Hajj.’ (2:196) He says this (fasting) is in Dhu al-Hajjah.’”