Question:
Is there any hadith regarding Wednesday?
Answer:
Alhamdulillah, praise and thanks to Allah for the countless blessings He has blessed us all with. Blessings and salutations to the prophet Muhammad PBUH, his family, companions and all those that follow his teachings to the day of judgement.
Allah SWT is the Almighty who created everything. The reason is, everything is a creation of Allah SWT. It includes time, year, month, day and others. This is clear according to a hadith which states that Allah SWT is the one who created the heaven and the earth, year and month:
- From Abi Bakrah RA, the Prophet PBUH said:
الزَّمَانُ قَدْ اسْتَدَارَ كَهَيْئَتِهِ يَوْمَ خَلَقَ اللَّهُ السَّمَوَاتِ وَالأَرْضَ، السَّنَةُ اثْنَا عَشَرَ شَهْرًا
“Time has come back to its original state which it had when Allah created the Heavens and the Earth; the year is twelve months,”
Sahih al-Bukhari (4054)
According to the above question, we include several narrations related to Wednesday, which mentioned that Wednesday is a day of disaster:
- From Anas bin Malik RA, the Prophet PBUH was asked regarding the days and the Prophet PBUH was also asked regarding Wednesday. Then, the Prophet PBUH said:
يَوْم نَحس قَالُوا وَكَيْفَ ذَاكَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ قَالَ أغرق الله فِرْعَوْن وَقَومه وَأهْلك عادًا وثمودًا
“Wednesday is the days of disasters.” Then, the companions asked: Why is that so, O Messenger of Allah? The Prophet PBUH answered: “(On that day) Allah SWT drowned the Pharaoh and his followers and destroyed the (people) of ‘Ad and Thamud.”
Imam al-Suyuthi criticized one of the narrators Abu al-Akhyal stating that he is one of the narrators who are indicted to have lied (متهم). (See al-La’aliy al-Masnu’ah, 442/1)
Furthermore, there is another narration which has a similar meaning where Wednesday is described as a day of disaster. The hadith is from Jabir bin Abdillah RA, the prophet PBUH said:
يَوْمُ الأَرْبِعَاءِ يَوْمُ نَحْسٍ مُسْتَمِرٍّ
“Wednesday is a day of continuous disaster.” Narrated by al-Thabarani in al-Awsath (797)
Imam Ibn al-Jauzi states that this narration is not a sahih narration from the Prophet PBUH. (See: al-Mawdhu’at, 74/2). Furthermore, Imam al-Sakhawi states that the hadith does not have a source as stated by Imam Mulla Ali al-Qari. (See al-Asrar al-Marfu’ah, 396/1). Moreover, Imam al-San’ani classify this narration as mawdhu’ (fake hadith). (See al-Fawaid al-Majmu’ah, 438/1)
After analysing the statements and opinions of the scholars regarding the above hadith, we are inclined to state that the hadith or narration is unauthentic (not sahih), even though there are other narrations that have similar meanings, all of them are criticized by scholars. The reason is, if we study an authentic hadith narrated by Imam Muslim, Allah SWT created light on Wednesday.
- From Abu Hurairah RA, the Prophet PBUH said:
وَخَلَقَ النُّورَ يَوْمَ الْأَرْبِعَاءِ
“And (Allah SWT) created light on Wednesday,”
Sahih Muslim (2789)
There are other incidents that was reported to have happened on a Wednesday such as Allah SWT drowned Qarun and his family together with his riches into the depths of the earth, the Pharaoh and his followers are drowned in Nile, and the destruction of the people of the Prophet Soleh AS and others are incidents that supposedly have happened on a Wednesday, but in truth, the exact date and day cannot be determined accurately nor could it be authenticated and maybe comes from Israiliyyat narrations.
Closing
To conclude, deciding that Wednesday is a day of calamity and bad luck contradicts one of the pillars of faith, which is to believe in the qada’ and qadar of Allah SWT. Everything that happens on a person is determined by Allah SWT and it can happen anytime, not necessarily on Wednesdays. Furthermore, Islam prohibit Muslims from believing in superstitions and bad luck. Lastly, may Allah SWT protect us and our faith from harmful matters. Amin.
Wallahua’lam.