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Why fasting is forbidden on the day of 'Eed

Question

Some people say that fasting is forbidden on the day of Eid because satan used to fast on the day of Eid. Is this true according to Islam?

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) is His slave and Messenger.

As far as we know, it is not mentioned in any hadeeh that Satan fasts on the day of 'Eed. But it is confirmed that the Prophet  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) forbade us from fasting on the day of 'Eed Al-Fitr and 'Eed Al-Adhha.

Shaykh ibn ‘Uthaymeen  may  Allaah  be  pleased  with  him said:

The wisdom in it is that the day of 'Eed Al-Fitr is the day of breaking the fast from Ramadan, and Ramadan cannot be specified [singled out] except by breaking the fast [not fasting] on the day of 'Eed. As regards 'Eed Al-Adhha, it is because it is the day of sacrifice, and if people were to fast on this day, they would have acted differently from what Allaah loves and ordered us to do in His saying {So eat of them and feed the miserable and poor.} [Quran 22:28]; how could a fasting person eat from them?

Allaah knows best.

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