The Day of ‘Aashooraa’ is a blessed day, on which Allah, Exalted is He, saved His Prophet Moosaa from Pharaoh and his army. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ fasted it, and commanded Muslims to fast as well, to express their gratitude to Allah, Exalted is He. In this hadeeth, Al-Rubay‘ bint Mu‘awwidh (may Allah be pleased with her)related that the Prophet ﷺ once sent his messengers on the morning of the Day of ‘Aashooraa’, the tenth of Muharram, to the villages of Al-Madeenah. They called out to the people, “Whoever has eaten something should not eat, but complete the fast, and whoever is observing fast should complete it.” Then, she (may Allah be pleased with her) stated that since then they used to fast on the Day of ‘Aashooraa’ regularly and also made their young boys fast. They used to make them toys of dyed wool and if anyone of them cried for food, he was given those toys to be distracted by them till it was time to break the fast, to encourage and train young children in performing worshipful acts. It has been reported in Saheeh Al-Bukhaaree and Saheeh Muslim that the Prophet ﷺ deemed fasting on the Day of ‘Aashooraa’ optional after the obligatory fasting ofRamadan was prescribed. It was narrated on the authority of Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that he ﷺ said: “That was a day on which the people of pre-Islamic days used to observe fast. So, heamongst you who likes to observe fast should do so, and he who does not like it should abandon it.” [Al-Bukhaaree and Muslim]. He ﷺ commanded them to fast on it as a voluntary act of worship. The merits of this blessed day have been reported in many texts of the Sunnah. For instance, it has been narrated that fasting it expiates the sins committed in the previous year, as narrated on the authority of Aboo Qataadah (may Allah be pleased with him) and recorded in Saheeh Muslim. The permissibility of training young children in fasting can be inferred from the hadeeth. It is also deduced therefrom that when any of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) says, “We used to do such-and-such during the lifetime of the Prophet ﷺ,” such a report is considered Marfoo‘ (i.e., a Hadeeth that is directly attributed to the Prophet ﷺ), because the fact that he ﷺ did not disapprove their act serves as a tacit approval of it on his part, otherwise he ﷺ would have forbidden them from such an act. .