Praise be to Allah
Firstly:
Whoever becomes
junub at night, then starts his day fasting, his fast is valid and he does
not have to make up that day according to the majority of scholars. That is
because of the hadith of ‘Aa’ishah and Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased
with them), who said: We testify that if the Messenger of Allah (blessings
and peace of Allah be upon him) woke up junub in the morning, not as the
result of a wet dream, he would do ghusl then fast. Ash-Shawkaani said: This
is the view of the majority. An-Nawawi stated that there was consensus on
this. Ibn Daqeeq al-‘Eid said: It reached consensus or was like consensus.
End quote from
al-Mawsoo‘ah al-Fiqhiyyah (28/63)
See also the
answers to questions no. 43307 and
181351
Al-Bukhaari
(1926) and Muslim (1109) narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased
with him) used to narrate from the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him) that he used to say: “If dawn comes when a person is junub, he
should not fast.” He heard of the words of ‘Aa’ishah and Umm Salamah
referred to above and said to the one who told him about it: Did they say
that? He said: Yes. He said: They know better. Then Abu Hurayrah referred
what he used to say about that to al-Fadl ibn al-‘Abbaas. Abu Hurayrah said:
I heard that from al-Fadl; I did not hear it from the Prophet (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him). Abu Bakr ibn ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan (the one who
narrated it from Abu Hurayrah) said: So Abu Hurayrah retracted what he used
to say about that.
Ibn Maajah
(1702) narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that he
said: No, by the Lord of the Ka‘bah, I did not say, “Whoever wakes up in a
state of janaabah let him not fast”; Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah
be upon him) said it. This was classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh
Ibn Maajah.
Ibn Abi Shaybah
(2/330) narrated from Ibn al-Musayyib that Abu Hurayrah retracted his fatwa,
“If dawn comes when a person is junub, he should not fast.”
The scholars are
agreed that we should follow the hadith of ‘Aa’ishah and Umm Salamah, not
the hadith of Abu Hurayrah, with regard to this matter. This is supported by
the fact that Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) himself retracted
his fatwa in favour of their view.
There are
several scholarly views concerning the response to the hadith of Abu
Hurayrah.
Some said that
the hadith of ‘Aa’ishah and Umm Salamah outweighs the hadith of Abu Hurayrah
because its isnad is more sound, and because the report of two takes
precedence over the report of one.
See: Nayl
al-Awtaar (4/253).
Imam al-Bukhaari
(may Allah have mercy on him) said, after narrating the two hadiths: The
first one is more sound in terms of its isnad – referring to the hadith of
‘Aa’ishah and Umm Salamah.
Some of the
scholars said that the hadith of Abu Hurayrah is abrogated (mansookh).
Ibn al-Mundhir
(may Allah have mercy on him) said: The best of what I have heard concerning
this is that that report is to be regarded as having been abrogated… Abu
Hurayrah initially used to give advice based on what he had heard from
al-Fadl ibn al-‘Abbaas, and he was not aware of the abrogation. When he
heard the report of ‘Aa’ishah and Umm Salamah, he followed it.
End quote from
as-Sunan al-Kubra by al-Bayhaqi (4/363).
Some of the
scholars interpret the hadith of Abu Hurayrah as meaning that the fast in
this case is to be regarded as imperfect.
Ibn Katheer
said:
Some of the
scholars interpret the hadith of Abu Hurayrah as meaning that this fast is
imperfect, because of the hadith of ‘Aa’ishah and Umm Salamah which
indicates that it is permissible to fast in this situation. This way of
interpreting the two hadiths is the most likely to be correct and is the
best way to reconcile the reports. And Allah knows best.
End quote from
Tafseer Ibn Katheer (1/517).
What is meant by
the fast being imperfect is that what is preferable and more perfect for the
one who wants to fast is that he should do ghusl before dawn, so that he
will be in a state of purity from the beginning of the day, but if he delays
doing ghusl until after dawn, that is permissible.
It says in
al-Mawsoo‘ah al-Fiqhiyyah (28/63):
The hadith of
Abu Hurayrah is to be understood as having been abrogated or as pointing to
that which is preferable, which is that it is mustahabb to do ghusl before
dawn, so that one will be in a state of purity at the beginning of the fast.
End quote.
Perhaps the
strongest scholarly view is that the hadith of Abu Hurayrah is abrogated (mansookh).
This is indicated by the fact that Abu Hurayrah decided to follow the hadith
of ‘Aa’ishah and Umm Salamah, and abandoned what he used to narrate.
And Allah knows
best.