Sayyiduna Jabir bin Samurah (may Allah be pleased with both of them) narrates that before the obligation of Ramadan, we used to fast on the day of Ashura, and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) would encourage us to fast on this day and would supervise us regarding it. Then, when the fasts of Ramadan were made obligatory, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) no longer encouraged us regarding it nor supervised us about it, and we used to fast on this day. Imam Abu Bakr (may Allah have mercy on him) says that the basis of the hadith of Sayyiduna Jabir bin Samurah (may Allah be pleased with both of them) is the hadith of Sayyiduna Ammar bin Yasir (may Allah be pleased with both of them). In this is evidence that the noble Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) continued to fast on the day of Ashura even after the obligation of Ramadan was revealed, as is found in the narrations of Sayyiduna Ibn Umar and Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with them), that whoever wished would fast on this day and whoever wished would not fast. Imam Abu Bakr (may Allah have mercy on him) says that our companion Musaddad asked me about the meaning of the hadith of Sayyiduna Ammar bin Yasir (may Allah be pleased with both of them), so I replied to him saying that when the Prophet (peace be upon him) gave his Ummah a command once, it is not obligatory to give that command every year or at every other time. Whenever the Prophet (peace be upon him) gave a command, it was obligatory upon his Ummah to act upon it; if that command was obligatory, then it would remain obligatory forever until he clarified at another occasion that the obligation had been lifted, and if that command was for recommendation, guidance, or for attaining virtue and reward, then that act would always remain virtuous until he forbade it at another time. And his silence on another occasion, after having given the command previously, is not evidence for the obligation being lifted if it was originally given as an obligatory command, nor is his silence on another occasion evidence for the invalidation of a virtuous act if he had previously given a recommended command. Because when he gives a command about something once, that is always sufficient unless he gives a contrary command. His silence does not abrogate that command. On this issue, I explained this meaning to the questioner, and perhaps at that time I explained the matter in more detail, and gave the questioner a brief answer at that time.