How is the fast of Dawood (peace be uponhim) observed, and howcan that be reconciled with the prohibition on fasting on Fridays?

I would like to know how to observe the fast of the Prophet of Allaah Dawood(peace be upon him). If hisfast – as is well known – means fasting one day and not the next, as the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) told us, but it is forbidden to single out Fridays for fasting, then how can we fast alternate days? Is it that singling out a Friday for fasting was not forbidden at the time of Dawood (peace be upon him)?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly: It is narrated in al-Saheehayn from ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Amr (mayAllaah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The best fasting is the fast of Dawood: he used to fast one day and not the next.” This statement does not contradict the fact that it is not allowed to fast on Fridays, becausethe prohibition on fasting on Fridays applies to one who singles out a Friday rather than any other day.But the one who observesthe fast of Dawood – fasting alternate days – is not singling out a Friday for fasting.
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
The hadeeth of ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Amr (mayAllaah be pleased with him) indicates that if fasting on a Friday or Saturday coincides with a day one usually fasts, without intending to single that day out for fasting, then there is nothing wrong with it, because if he fasts alternate days, then that will coincide with some Fridays and Saturdays. Thus it becomes clear thatfasting on these days is not haraam. Otherwise the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) would have said: Fast one day and notthe next, so long as that (fasting) does not coincidewith a Friday or Saturday.
Al-Sharh al-Mumti’, 6/476.
Secondly: With regard to your question about the ruling on singling out Friday for fasting in the law of Dawood (peace be upon him):
We do not know anythingabout the practical rulingsof the law of Dawood (peace be upon him) with regard to whether it was forbidden to fast on Fridays or other days. What we do know is that every Prophet has a law and a way, but their beliefwas one and the same, although their laws differed.
Allaah says (interpretationof the meaning):
“To each among you, We have prescribed a law anda clear way”
[al-Maa'idah 5:48]
It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: I heard the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say: “The Prophets are paternal brothers; their mothers are different, but their religion is the same.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 3259; Muslim, 2365.
What this hadeeth means is that the religion of the Prophets is one, which is Tawheed or belief in the Oneness of Allaah and that He alone is entitled to worship, even though their laws may differ. This is like brothers who have the same father but different mothers (which is what is meant by paternal brothers)./ - - - :-> Transtors: 1.http://free-translation.imtranslator.net/lowres.asp 2.http://translate.google.com/m?twu=1&hl=en&vi=m&sl=auto&tl=en

The Peacock and the Tortoise

ONCE upon a time a peacock and a tortoise became great friends. The peacock lived on a tree on the banks of the stream in which the tortoise had his home; and daily the peacock after he had a drink of water danced nearthe stream and displayed his gay plumage for the amusement of his friend. One unfortunate day, a bird-catcher who was on the prowl caught the peacock and was about taking him away to the market. The unhappy bird begged of his captor to allow him to bid his friend the tortoise good-bye, as itwould be the last time he would see him. The bird-catcher allowed him his prayer and took him tothe tortoise, who was greatly moved to see his friend a captive. The tortoise asked the bird-catcher to let the peacock go; but he laughed at the request, saying that was his means of livelihood. The tortoise then said, "If I make you a handsome present, will you let my friend go?""Certainly," answered the bird-catcher, that is all I want." Whereupon the tortoise dived into the water and in a few seconds came up with a handsome pearl, which, to the great astonishment of the bird-catcher, he handed to him. This was beyond his expectabons, and he let the peacock go immediately. A short time after, the avaricious man came back and told the tortoise that he thought he had not paid enough for the release of his friend, and threatened that, unless a match to that pearl was obtained for him, he would again catch the peacock. The tortoise, who had already advised his friend to betake himself to a distantjungle on being set free, was greatly enraged at thegreed of this man. "Well," said the tortoise, "if you insist on having another pearl like it, give it to me and I will fish you out an exact match for it." The cupidity of the bird-catcherprevented his reasoning that "one in the hand was equal to two in the bed of the stream," and he speedily gave the pearl to the wily tortoise, who swam out with it saying, "Iam no fool to take one and give two!" and forthwith disappeared, leaving the bird-catcher to be sorry ever after for his covetousness./ - - - :-> Transtors: 1.http://free-translation.imtranslator.net/lowres.asp 2.http://translate.google.com/m?twu=1&hl=en&vi=m&sl=auto&tl=en

He lost his wudoo’ whilst doing the prostration of forgetfulness (sujood al-sahw); what should he do?

What should one do if one makes a mistake (such as forgetting to
recite Rabbigfirli between the two sajdas) in Sajdah Sahw ? Also what
should one do if ones wudhu gets lost during the SajsahSahw (such as
when sitting between the two sajsas)?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
What is prescribed in the prostration of forgetfulness is to say in
itand between the two prostrations what one says in prostration during
prayer, so you should say tasbeeh whilst prostratingand say Rabb
ighfir li (Lord forgive me) between the two prostrations. But if you
forget any of that, you do not have to do another prostration for
forgetfulness, so that it does not become an endless cycle.
It says in al-Sharh al-Kabeer (1/700) about matters for which no
prostration is required: It is not prescribed to do theprostration of
forgetfulness in the funeral prayer, because there is no prostration
in this prayer, so how could you do a prostration to make up for a
mistake in this case; or in the prostration of recitation, or in the
prostration of forgetfulness. This was stated by Ahmad. And because
there is consensus narrated by Ishaaq, because it would become an
endless cycle. So if he forgets somethingafter doing the prostration
of forgetfulness, he should not prostrate again for that reason. And
Allah knows best. End quote.
It says something similar in Mataalib Ooli al-Nuha (1/507).
To sum up: if a person forgets something during the prostration of
forgetfulness, he does nothave to do anything else, and his prayer is
valid.
Secondly:
If a person loses his wudoo' during the prostration of forgetfulness,
the matter is subject to further discussion:
1. If he prostrated before the salaam, his prayer is rendered
invalid,because saying the tasleem at the end of the prayer is a
pillar or essential part of prayer, and he broke his wudoo' before
doing this essentialpart.
2. If he had said the salaam at the end of his prayer, and he only
had the prostration of forgetfulness to do, then he lost his wudoo
during it or before he did it, then his prayer is valid and he does
not have to do anything else, because theprostration is making up for
a mistake in the prayer, and it is not rendered invalid by missing it.
It says in Kashshaaf al-Qinaa' (1/409): If a person forgets the
prostration of forgetfulness until he starts another prayer, then he
remembers it, he should make it up when he says the salaam, if a long
time has not passed. But if a long time has passed, he should not do
this prostration, because it is done to complete a prayer, so it
should not bedone after a long time haspassed. Or if he has left the
masjid he does not have to do this prostration; and the sameapplies if
he loses his wudoo' -- and his prayer is valid.
And Allah knows best.

Ruling on prayer if one omits some obligatory parts out of ignorance or forgetfulness

If a person makes a mistake in adhkaar that are obligatory in the
prayer, such as the dhikr when sitting between thetwo prostrations and
in the tashahhud – the first part of it – what is the ruling on his
prayer if he forgot or was unaware (that it is obligatory)? What about
previous prayers in which he made this mistake and does he have t o
repeat them?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
The dhikr that comes between the two prostrations is one of the
Sunnahs of the prayer andis not obligatory. This has been discussed
previouslyin the answer to question no. 130981
Based on that, if a person omits it deliberately or out of ignorance,
that does not render his prayerinvalid and he does not have to do
anything. If he forgot it although he usually does it, it is mustahabb
for him to do the two prostrations of forgetfulness before the salaam.
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-'Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy onhim)
said: If a person omits one of the mustahabb words or actions out of
forgetfulness and he usually does it, then it is prescribed for him to
prostrate (the prostration of forgetfulness) to make up for this
omission that affected the perfection of the prayer but was not
anomission of something obligatory, because of thegeneral meaning of
the words of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) in
the hadeeth, "For every mistake there are two prostrations"– narrated
by Abu Dawood; it is a hasan hadeeth. In Saheeh Muslim it says: "If
one of you forgets, let him prostrate twice." As this is general in
meaning, if he omits a Sunnah that he does not usually do, then it is
not Sunnah for him toprostrate, because it never occurred to him to do
it.
End quote from ash-Sharhal-Mumti' 'ala Zaad al-Mustaqni', 3/333, 334
Secondly:
The first Tashahhud is oneof the obligatory parts of the prayer
although it is not one of the pillars or essential parts, as was
explained previously in the answer to question no. 34570
If someone omits this obligatory part deliberately, his prayer is
rendered invalid, as you will see in the answer to question no. 9897 .
If someone omits it becausehe forgot, then he has to do the
prostration of forgetfulness before the salaam. If someone omits it
because he is unaware of the ruling on it, he doesnot have to do
anything, because the one who is unaware is excused.
The evidence for the obligatory parts of the prayer being waived in
the case of forgetfulness, and that the prostration of forgetfulness
is required in this case, is the report narrated by al-Bukhaari (795)
and Muslim (570) from 'Abdullah ibn Buhaynah (may Allah be pleased
with him), according to which the Prophet (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) led them in praying Zuhr, then he stood up after
thefirst two rak'ahs and did not sit, and the people got up with him.
When hehad finished the prayer and the people were waiting for him to
say thetasleem, he said takbeer whilst sitting and prostrated twice
before saying the salaam, then he said the salaam.
Ibn Qudaamah (may Allahhave mercy on him) said, concerning one who
omitted the obligatory part deliberately: His prayer is rendered
invalid.But if he omitted it by mistake, he should do the prostration
of forgetfulness before he says the salaam, because of the report
narrated by 'Abdullah ibn Maalik ibn Buhaynah -- and he quoted the
hadeeth. Thus this idea is proven, and byanalogy we apply the same
principle to all the obligatory parts (of the prayer).

And Allah knows best.