Fasting (Kitab Al-Siyam)

Hunaydah al-Khuzai reported from her mother: I visited Umm Salamah and asked her about fasting. She said, "The Messenger of Allah used to instruct me to fast three days each month, beginning on a Monday or Thursday."

Muadhah reported: I asked Aishah, "Did the Messenger of Allah fast three days each month?" She said, "Yes." I asked, "Which days of the month did he fast?" She replied, "He did not mind which days of the month he fasted."

Hafsah, wife of the Prophet, reported that the Messenger of Allah said, "Whoever does not resolve to fast before dawn has no fast." Abu Dawud said: Al-Layth and Ishaq ibn Hazim also narrated this from Abdullah ibn Abi Bakr with the same wording. Mamar, al-Zubaydi, Ibn Uyaynah, and Yunus al-Ayli all narrated it from al-Zuhri as Hafsahs own statement.

Aishah reported: When the Messenger of Allah came to me, he would ask, "Do you have any food?" If we said no, he would say, "Then I am fasting." Wakii added: On another day, he came to us and we said, "Messenger of Allah, some hais was given to us, and we saved it for you." He said, "Bring it here." Talhah said: He had begun the day fasting, then broke his fast.

Umm Hani reported: On the day Mecca was conquered, Fatimah came and sat to the left of the Messenger of Allah, while Umm Hani sat to his right. A servant brought a vessel of drink and passed it to him; he drank, then passed it to Umm Hani, who drank. She said, "Messenger of Allah, I have broken my fast, though I had been fasting." He asked, "Were you making up an obligatory fast?" She said, "No." He replied, "Then it does not matter, since it was voluntary."

Aishah reported: Some food was given to Hafsah and me while we were fasting, and we broke our fast. The Messenger of Allah came in, and we said, "Messenger of Allah, we were given a gift and wanted it, so we broke our fast." He said, "There is no harm; fast another day in its place."

Abu Hurayrah reported that the Messenger of Allah said, "A woman must not observe a voluntary fast while her husband is present without his permission, except for Ramadan; and she must not admit anyone into his home while he is present without his permission."

Abu Said al-Khudri reported: A woman came to the Prophet while we were with him and said, "Messenger of Allah, my husband, Safwan ibn al-Muattal, hits me when I pray, makes me break my fast when I fast, and does not pray Fajr until the sun has risen." Safwan was present, so the Prophet asked him about what she had said. He replied, "Messenger of Allah, as for her saying that I hit her when she prays, she recites two surahs, and I have forbidden her to do that." The Prophet said, "One surah would suffice for people." Safwan continued, "As for her saying that I make her break her fast, she goes off and fasts, and I am a young man who cannot restrain himself." The Messenger of Allah said that day, "A woman must not fast without her husbands permission." Safwan continued, "As for her saying that I do not pray until sunrise, we are a people known for this; we can hardly wake before the sun rises." The Prophet said, "When you wake, then pray." Abu Dawud said: Hammad ibn Salamah narrated it from Humayd, or Thabit, from Abu al-Mutawakkil.

Abu Hurayrah reported that the Messenger of Allah said, "When one of you is invited, let him accept. If he is not fasting, let him eat; if he is fasting, let him offer a prayer." Hisham said: Here prayer means supplication. Abu Dawud said: Hafs ibn Ghiyath also narrated it from Hisham.

Abu Hurayrah reported that the Messenger of Allah said, "When one of you is invited to a meal while fasting, let him say, I am fasting."

Aishah reported: The Prophet used to observe retreat in the mosque during the last ten days of Ramadan until Allah took him. After his death, his wives continued to observe retreat.

Ubayy ibn Kab reported: The Prophet used to observe retreat during the last ten days of Ramadan. One year he did not do so; the following year, he observed retreat for twenty nights.

Aishah reported: When the Messenger of Allah intended to observe retreat, he would pray Fajr and then enter his place of retreat. One time he intended to do so during the last ten days of Ramadan, and ordered a tent to be set up. When I saw this, I ordered a tent for myself, and the other wives of the Prophet did the same. After praying Fajr, he saw the tents and asked, "Do you intend to do this as an act of righteousness?" He ordered his tent to be taken down, and his wives had their tents taken down too. He then postponed his retreat until the first ten days of Shawwal. Abu Dawud said: Ibn Ishaq and al-Awzai narrated a similar report from Yahya ibn Said. Malik narrated it from Yahya ibn Said, saying that he observed retreat for twenty days in Shawwal.

Ibn Umar reported that the Prophet used to observe retreat during the last ten days of Ramadan. Nafi said: Abdullah showed me the place in the mosque where the Messenger of Allah used to observe retreat.

Abu Hurayrah reported that the Prophet used to observe retreat for ten days every Ramadan. In the year in which he died, he observed retreat for twenty days.

Aishah reported: When the Messenger of Allah observed retreat, he would bring his head near me and I would comb it. He would enter the house only to attend to a human need.

Aishah reported from the Prophet a report with the same meaning as the preceding account. Abu Dawud said: Yunus also narrated it from al-Zuhri. No one supported Malik in narrating it from Urwah, from Amrah; Mamar, Ziyad ibn Sad, and others narrated it from al-Zuhri, from Urwah, from Aishah.

Aishah reported: When the Messenger of Allah was observing retreat in the mosque, he would put his head through an opening in my room, and I would wash his hair. Musaddad wording adds, "I would comb it while I was menstruating."

Safiyyah reported: While the Messenger of Allah was observing retreat, I came to visit him one night and spoke with him. When I got up to leave, he got up to walk me home. Her dwelling was in the house of Usamah ibn Zayd. Two men from the Ansar passed by, and when they saw the Prophet, they hurried on. The Prophet said, "Take it easy; she is Safiyyah bint Huyayy." They said, "Glory be to Allah, Messenger of Allah!" He said, "Satan flows through a person like blood. I feared that he might cast something into your hearts," or he said, "some evil."

This report from al-Zuhri, through another chain, adds: When he was near the mosque gate by Umm Salamahs door, two men passed them. The narrator related the rest with the same meaning as the preceding account.