Fasting was observed on the day of 'Ashura' (i.e. 10th of Muharram) by the people of the Pre-lslamic Period. But when (the order of compulsory fasting) in the month of Ramadan was revealed, the Prophet said, "It is up to one to fast on it (i.e. day of 'Ashura') or not."

'A'isha (Allah be pleased with her) reported. In the pre-Islamic days fast was observed on the day of Ashura, but with the advent of Islam (its position was ascertained as that of a voluntary fast). Then he who wished to fast fasted, and he who liked to abandon it abandoned it.

Allah's Apostle said on the day of the conquest of Mecca, "There is no migration now, but there is Jihad (i.e.. holy battle) and good intentions. And when you are called for Jihad, you should come out at once" Allah's Apostle also said, on the day of the conquest of Mecca, "Allah has made this town a sanctuary since the day He created the Heavens and the Earth. So, it is a sanctuary by Allah's Decree till the Day of Resurrection. Fighting in it was not legal for anyone before me, and it was made legal for me only for an hour by daytime. So, it (i.e. Mecca) is a sanctuary by Allah's Decree till the Day of Resurrection. Its thorny bushes should not be cut, and its game should not be chased, its fallen property (i.e. Luqata) should not be picked up except by one who will announce it publicly; and its grass should not be uprooted," On that Al-`Abbas said, "O Allah's Apostle! Except the Idhkhir, because it is used by the goldsmiths and by the people for their houses." On that the Prophet said, "Except the Idhkhir."

Allah's Apostle said, "On the Day of Resurrection, a huge fat man will come who will not weigh, the weight of the wing of a mosquito in Allah's Sight." and then the Prophet added, 'We shall not give them any weight on the Day of Resurrection ' (18.105)

That the Prophet (saws) said: "A worshipper does not fast a day in the cause of Allah except that, that day (of fasting) distances the Fire from his face by seventy autumns."

[Abu 'Eisa said:] This Hadith is Hasan Sahih.

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that once in the time of Uthman ibn Affan the new moon had been seen in the afternoon and Uthman did not break his fast until evening had come and the sun had set.

Yahya said that he had heard Malik say that some one who sees the new moon of Ramadan when he is on his own should start the fast and not break it if he knows that that day is part of Ramadan. He added, "Some one who sees the new moon of Shawwal when he is on his own does not break the fast, because people suspect the reliability of someone among them who breaks the fast. Such people should say, when they sight the new moon, 'We have seen the new moon.' Whoever sees the new moon of Shawwal during the day should not break his fast but should continue fasting for the rest of that day. This is because it is really the new moon of the night that is coming ."

Yahya said that he heard Malik say, "If people are fasting on the day of Fitr thinking that it is still Ramadan and then definite evidence comes to them that the new moon of Ramadan had been seen one day before they began to fast and that they are now into the thirty- first day, then they should break the fast on that day at whatever time the news comes to them. However, they do not pray the id prayer if they hear the news after the sun has begun to decline."

We used to visit Anas bin Malik and he used to talk to us about the Ansar, and used to say to me: "Your people did so-and-so on such-and-such a day, and your people did so-and-so on such-and-such a day."

The Prophet (saws) sent Umm Salamah on the night before the day of sacrifice and she threw pebbles at the jamrah before dawn. She hastened (to Mecca) and performed the circumambulation. That day was the one the Messenger of Allah (saws) spent with her.

Nafi' reported on the authority of Ibn Umar. He (ibn Umar) used to come (to Mina) and threw pebbles three days after the day of sacrifice walking when arriving and returning (both ways). He reported that the Prophet (saws) used to do so.

AbdurRahman reported on the authority of his uncle that the people of the tribe Aslam came to the Prophet (saws). He said (to them): Did you fast on this day? They replied: No. He said: Complete the rest of your day, and make atonement for it.

The Prophet (saws) used to observe i'tikaf during the last ten days of Ramadan. One year he did not observe i'tikaf. When the next year came, he observed i'tikaf for twenty nights (i.e. days).

Allah's Apostle entered upon me and said, "Have I not been informed that you offer prayer all the night and fast the whole day?" I said, "Yes." He said, "Do not do so; Offer prayer at night and also sleep; Fast for a few days and give up fasting for a few days because your body has a right on you, and your eye has a right on you, and your guest has a right on you, and your wife has a right on you. I hope that you will have a long life, and it is sufficient for you to fast for three days a month as the reward of a good deed, is multiplied ten times, that means, as if you fasted the whole year." I insisted (on fasting more) so I was given a hard instruction. I said, "I can do more than that (fasting)" The Prophet said, "Fast three days every week." But as I insisted (on fasting more) so I was burdened. I said, "I can fast more than that." The Prophet said, "Fast as Allah's prophet David used to fast." I said, "How was the fasting of the prophet David?" The Prophet said, "One half of a year (i.e. he used to fast on alternate days). '

Allah's Apostle said to me, "O `Abdullah! Have I not been informed that you fast during the day and offer prayers all the night." `Abdullah replied, "Yes, O Allah's Apostle!" The Prophet said, "Don't do that; fast for few days and then give it up for few days, offer prayers and also sleep at night, as your body has a right on you, and your wife has a right on you, and your guest has a right on you. And it is sufficient for you to fast three days in a month, as the reward of a good deed is multiplied ten times, so it will be like fasting throughout the year." I insisted (on fasting) and so I was given a hard instruction. I said, "O Allah's Apostle! I have power." The Prophet said, "Fast like the fasting of the Prophet David and do not fast more than that." I said, "How was the fasting of the Prophet of Allah, David?" He said, "Half of the year," (i.e. he used to fast on every alternate day). Afterwards when `Abdullah became old, he used to say, "It would have been better for me if I had accepted the permission of the Prophet (which he gave me i.e. to fast only three days a month).

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yahya ibn Said that he heard Said ibn al Musayyab being asked about making up days missed in Ramadan, and Said said, "What I like best is for days missed in Ramadan to be made up consecutively, and not separately."

Yahya said that he had heard Malik say, about some one who made up the days he had missed in Ramadan separately, that he did not have to repeat them. (What he had done) was enough for him. It was, however, preferable, if he did them consecutively.

Malik said, "Whoever eats or drinks thoughtlessly or forgetfully in Ramadan or during any other obligatory fast that he must do, has to fast another day in its place."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa that his father used to kill his sacrificial animals while they were standing.

Malik said, "No-one is permitted to shave his head until he has killed his sacrificial animal, and no-one must sacrifice before dawn on the day of sacrifice. The things that should be done on the day of sacrifice are slaughtering, donning clothes, grooming the body generally (at-tafath) and shaving the head, and none of this may be done before the day of sacrifice."

That the Prophet asked him (Imran) or asked a man and `Imran was listening, "O Abu so-and-so! Have you fasted the last days of this month?" (The narrator thought that he said, "the month of Ramadan"). The man replied, "No, O Allah's Apostle!" The Prophet said to him, "When you finish your fasting (of Ramadan) fast two days (in Shawwal)." Through another series of narrators `Imran said, "The Prophet said, '(Have you fasted) the last days of Sha'ban?"

A man asked Al-Bara "O Abu '`Umara! Did you flee on the day (of the battle) of Hunain?" Al-Bara replied while I was listening, "As for Allah's Apostle he did not flee on that day. Abu Sufyan bin Al- Harith was holding the reins of his mule and when the pagans attacked him, he dismounted and started saying, 'I am the Prophet, and there is no lie about it; I am the son of `Abdul Muttalib.' On that day nobody was seen braver than the Prophet.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) had a stop of seventeen days in Mecca and he shortened the prayer (i.e. prayed two rak'ahs at each time of prayer). Ibn Abbas said: He who stays seventeen days should shorten the prayer; and who stays more than that should offer complete prayer.

Abu Dawud said: The other version transmitted by Ibn 'Abbas through a different chain adds: He (the Prophet) had a stop of nineteen days (in Mecca).

One of the sons of Um 'Atiyya died, and when it was the third day she asked for a yellow perfume and put it over her body, and said, "We were forbidden to mourn for more than three days except for our husbands."

I went out to Mina on the day of Tarwiya and met Anas going on a donkey. I asked him, "Where did the Prophet offer the Zuhr prayer on this day?" Anas replied, "See where your chiefs pray and pray similarly."

The Prophet observed the fast on the 10th of Muharram ('Ashura), and ordered (Muslims) to fast on that day, but when the fasting of the month of Ramadan was prescribed, the fasting of the 'Ashura' was abandoned. `Abdullah did not use to fast on that day unless it coincided with his routine fasting by chance.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) would say the takbir (Allah is most great) seven times in the first rak'ah and five times in the second rak'ah on the day of the breaking of the fast and on the day of sacrifice (on the occasion of both the 'Id prayers, the two festivals).

The Prophet (saws) said: I hope my community will not fail to maintain their position in the sight of their Lord if He delays them half a day. Sa'd was asked: How long is half a day? He said: It is five hundred years.

The Prophet (saws) said: If anyone lies on his side where he does not remember Allah, deprivation will descend on him on the Day of Resurrection; and if anyone sits in a place where he does not remember Allah, deprivation will descend on him on the Day of Resurrection.

The Prophet once stayed for nineteen days and prayed shortened prayers. So when we travel led (and stayed) for nineteen days, we used to shorten the prayer but if we traveled (and stayed) for a longer period we used to offer the full prayer.

Abu Huraira reported that the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) said. it is the right of Allah upon every Muslim that he should take a bath (at least) on one day (Friday) during the seven days (of the week) and he should wash his head and body.

When the Messenger of Allah (saws) halted at a certain place (while on a journey), he would not leave that place till he offered the noon prayer. A man said to him: Even if in the middle of the day? He replied: Even if in the middle of the day.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) used to count the days in Sha'ban in a manner he did not count any other month; then he fasted when he sighted the new moon of Ramadan; but if the weather was cloudy he counted thirty days and then fasted.

Salama bin Al-Akwa` said, "I fought in seven Ghazwat along with the Prophet." He then mentioned Khaibar, Al-Hudaibiya, the day (i.e. battle) of Hunain and the day of Al-Qurad. I forgot the names of the other Ghazwat.

The tradition, (of the Prophet) is that if someone marries a virgin and he has already a matron wife (with him), then he should stay with the virgin for seven days; and if someone marries a matron (and he has already a virgin wife with him) then he should stay with her for three days.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umar said, "The sacrifice can be done up to two days after the Day of Sacrifice."

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard the same from Ali ibn Abi Talib.

We set out in the company of Allah's Apostle five days before the end of Dhul Qa'da intending to perform Hajj only. When we approached Mecca Allah's Apostle ordered those who did not have the Hadi (i.e. an animal for sacrifice) with them, to perform the Tawaf around the Ka`ba, and between Safa and Marwa and then finish their Ihram. Beef was brought to us on the day of (i.e. the days of slaughtering) and I asked, "What is this?" Somebody said, Allah's Apostle has slaughtered (a cow) on behalf of his wives."

Malik said, "I have heard people of knowledge saying that the kaffara specified by the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, for a man who has intercourse with his wife during the day in Ramadan is not due from someone who, on a day when he is making up the fast of Ramadan, breaks his fast by having intercourse with his wife, or whatever. He only has to make up for that day."

Malik said, "This is what I like most out of what I have heard about the matter."