‘When it is the middle of Sha’ban, do not fast until Ramadan comes.”

Abu Huraira reported God’s messenger as saying, “Ramadan, a blessed month, has come to you during which God has made it obligatory for you to fast. In it the gates of heaven are opened, the gates of al-Jahim are locked, and the rebellious devils are chained. In it God has a night which is better than a thousand months. He who is deprived of its good has indeed suffered deprivation." Ahmad and Nasa’i transmitted it.

“ ‘Umrah during Ramadan is equivalent to Hajj (i.e. in reward).”

‘ ‘Umrah during Ramadan is equivalent to Hajj (i.e., in reward).’”

“The Prophet (saw) used to spend the night in a state of sexual impurity, then Bilal would come to him and inform him that it is time for prayer. So he would get up and have a bath, and I would see the water dripping from his head, then he would go out and I would hear his voice during Fajr prayer.”

(One of the narrators) Mutarrif said: "I said to Amir: 'Was that during Ramadan?' He said: 'In Ramadan and at other times.'"

I heard Messenger of Allah (PBUH) during the sermon of the Farewell Pilgrimage saying, "Be mindful of your duty to Allah; perform your five daily Salat, observe Saum during the month (of Ramadan) , pay the Zakat on your properties and obey your leaders; (if you do so) you will enter the Jannah of your Rubb".

[At-Tirmidhi, who categorized it as Hadith Hasan Sahih].

Abu Huraira reported God’s messenger as saying, “If anyone breaks his fast one day in Ramadan without a concession* or without being ill, a perpetual fast will not atone for it even if he observes it.” *e.g. while travelling. Ahmad, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah, Darimi and Bukhari in a chapter heading transmitted it. Tirmidhi said that he heard Muhammad, i.e. Bukhari, say this was the only tradition he knew by Abul Mutawwis the transmitter.

Abu Huraira reported God's Messenger as saying, "There are no days on which God likes better to be worshipped than the ten days of Dhul Hijja. Fasting observed on each of these days is equivalent to a year’s fasting, and prayer during each of these nights is equivalent to prayer during Lailat al-qadr.’* * A night towards the end of Ramadan. See Book 7, Chap. 9. Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah transmitted it, but Tirmidhi said its isnad is weak.

“Whoever fasts Ramadan then follows it with six days of Shawwal, it is as if he fasted for a lifetime.”

"We fasted Ramadan with the Messenger of Allah (SAW), and the Prophet (SAW) did not lead us in Qiyam until there were seven days left of the month, then he led us in Qiyam until one-third of the night had passed. Then, when there were six days left, he did not lead us in Qiyam. When there were five days left, he led us in praying Qiyam until half the night had passed. We said: 'O Messenger of Allah (SA), why don't you lead us in praying Qiyam for the rest of the night?' He said: 'If a man prays with the Imam until he leaves, that will be continued for him as if he spent the whole night in prayer.' Then, when there were four days left, he did not lead us in praying Qiyam. When there were three days left he sent for his daughters and women, and gathered the people, and he led us in praying Qiyam until we feared that we would miss Al-Falah. Then he did not lead us in praying Qiyam for the rest of the month." Dawud (one of the narrators) said: "I said: ' What is falah?' He said: 'Sahur.'

"We fasted with the Messenger of Allah (SAW) in Ramadan and he did not lead us in praying Qiyam until there were seven days left in the month, when he led us in praying Qiyam until one-third of the night had passed. Then he did not lead us in praying Qiyam when there were six days left. Then he led us praying Qiyam when there were five days left until one-half of the night had passed. I said: "O Messenger of Allah! What if we spend the rest of this night praying Nafl?" He said: "Whoever prays Qiyam with the Imam until he finishes, Allah (SWT) will record for him the Qiyam of a (whole) night." Then he did not lead us in prayer or pray Qiyam until there were three days of the month left. Then he led us in praying Qiyam when there were three days left. He gathered his family and wives (and led us in prayer) until we feared that we would miss Al-Falah. I (one of the narrators) said: "What is Al-Falah?" He said: "The suhur".

“The Prophet (saw) used to strive hard (in worship) in the last ten nights of Ramadan as he never did at any other time.”

‘Whoever fasts Ramadan out of faith and the hope of reward will be forgiven his previous sins.”

Yahya related to me from Malik from Abd Rabbih ibn Said from Abu Bakr ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn al-Harith ibn Hisham from A'isha and Umm Salama, the wives of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to get up in the morning junub from intercourse, not a dream, in Ramadan, and then he would fast."

Yahya related to me from Ziyad from Malik that he saw some of the people of knowledge who, when they did itikaf in the last ten days of Ramadan, would not go back to their families until they had attended the Id al-Fitr with everybody.

Ziyad said that Malik said, "I heard this from the people of excellence who have passed away, and it is what I like most out of what I have heard about the matter."

"I said to Ubayy bin Ka'b: 'O Abu Al-Mundhir! How do you know that it is the night of the twenty-seventh?' He said: 'Rather, the Messenger of Allah informed us that it is a night (after which) the sun rises without rays, so we counted and we remembered it. By Allah! Ibn Mas'ud learned that it is in Ramadan and that it is the nigh of the twenty-seventh, but he did not want to inform you lest you would depend on it."

The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "(The superstructure of) Islam is based on five (pillars), testifying the fact that La ilaha illallah wa anna Muhammad-ar-Rasul-ullah [there is no true god except Allah, and Muhammad ((PBUH)) is the Messenger of Allah], establishing As- Salat (the prayers), paying Zakat (poor due), the pilgrimage to the House [of Allah (Ka'bah)], and the Saum (fasting) during the month of Ramadan."

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Jabir said that God’s messenger went off to Mecca in Ramadan in the year of the Conquest, and he and the people fasted till he came to Kura' al-Ghamim.* He then called for a cup of water which he raised till the people looked at it, and then he drank. He was told afterwards that some of the people had continued to fast, and said, “Those are the disobedient ones; those are the disobedient ones.” *A wadi two stages from Mecca on the way to Medina. Muslim transmitted it.

Ibn ‘Umar said God’s messenger prescribed as the zakat payable by slave and freeman, male and female, young and old among the Muslims on breaking the fast of Ramadan a sa'* of dried dates or a sa' of barley, and gave command that this should be paid before the people went out to prayer. (Bukhari and Muslim.) * The Hijazi sa' is described as a measure equivalent to four mudds, the mudd being the amount a man with average size hands can hold with both hands extended.

Yahya related to me from Malik that Humayd ibn Oays al-Makki told him, "I was with Mujahid while he was performing tawaf around the Kaba, and a man came to him and asked whether the days (of fasting) for kaffara had to be fasted consecutively, or could they be split up. I said to him, 'Yes, they can be split up, if the person so wishes.' Mujahid said, 'He should not split them up, because in Ubayy ibn Kab's recitation they are referred to as three consecutive days.' "

Malik said, "What I like most is what Allah has specified in the Qur'an, that is, that they are fasted consecutively."

Malik was asked about a woman who began the day fasting in Ramadan and though it was outside of the time of her period, fresh blood (i.e. not menstrual blood) flowed from her. She then waited until evening to see the same, but did not see anything.Then, on the next day in the morning she had anotherflow, though less than the first. Then, some days before her period, the flow stopped completely. Malik was asked what she should do about her fasting and prayer, and he said, "This blood is like menstrual blood. When she sees it she should break her fast, and then make up the days she has missed. Then, when the blood has completely stopped, she should do ghusl and fast."

Malik was asked whether someone who became muslim on the last day of Ramadan had to make up all of Ramadan or whether he just had to make up the day when he became muslim, and he said, "He does not have to make up any of the days that have passed. He begins fasting from that day onwards. What I like most is that he makes up the day on which he became muslim."

Yahya related to me from Malik that Sumayy, the mawla of Abu Bakr ibn Abd ar-Rahman, heard Abu Bakribn Abd ar-Rahman say, "A woman came to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and said, 'I had arranged to do hajj, but I was prevented,' and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'Do umra in Ramadan, for doing umra in it is like doing hajj.' "

Ibn ‘Abbas told a desert Arab coming to the Prophet and saying he had seen the new moon, i.e. the new moon of Ramadan. He asked him whether he testified that there is no god but God and he replied that he did. He then asked if he testified that Muhammad is God’s messenger, and when he replied that he did he said, “Bilal, announce to the people that they must fast tomorrow." Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, Nasa’i, Ibn Majah and Darimi transmitted it.

He reported God’s Messenger as saying, “May he be abased who does not invoke a blessing on me when I am mentioned in his presence. May he be abased who passes through the whole of Ramadan before his sins are forgiven him. May he be abased one or both of whose parents have reached old age without causing him to enter paradise.* *This means that he has shown them no kindness. Tirmidhi transmitted it.

The messenger of Marwan whom he sent to Umm Ma'qil reported to me.

She said: AbuMa'qil accompanied the Messenger of Allah (saws) during hajj. When he came (to her) she said: You know that hajj is incumbent on me. They walked until they visited him (i.e. the Prophet) and she asked (him): Messenger of Allah, hajj is due from me, and AbuMa'qil has a camel.

AbuMa'qil said: She spoke the truth, I have dedicated it to the cause of Allah.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: Give it to her, that is in the cause of Allah. So he gave the camel to her.

She then said: Messenger of Allah, I am a woman who has become aged and ill. Is there any action which would be sufficient for me as my hajj?

He replied: umrah performed during Ramadan is sufficient as hajj.

(A man broke his fast intentionally) during Ramadan. The Messenger of Allah (saws) commanded him to emancipate a slave, or fast for two months, or feed sixty poor men. He said: I cannot provide. The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: Sit down. Thereafter a huge basket of dates ('araq) was brought to the Messenger of Allah (saws). He said: Take this and give it as sadaqah (alms). He said: Messenger of Allah, there is no poorer than I. The Messenger of Allah (saws) thereupon laughed so that his canine teeth became visible and said: Eat it yourself.

Abu Dawud said: Ibn Juraij narrated it from al-Zuhri in the wordings of the narrator Malik that a man broke his fast. This version says: You should either free a slave, or fast for two months, or provide food for sixty poor men.

“A man came to the Prophet (saw) and said: ‘Which fasting is better after the month of Ramadan?’ He said: ‘The month of Allah which is called Muharram.’”

“Whoever does not fast one day in Ramadan without having a concession allowing that, fasting for a lifetime will not make up for that.”

“He used to fast all of Sha’ban, until he joined it to Ramadan.”

“When her husband is present, no woman should fast any day apart from the month of Ramadan without his permission.”

“I heard ‘Aishah say: ‘I used to owe fasts from the month of Ramadan, and I would not make them up for until Sha’ban came.’”

“The Messenger of Allah (saw) said: ‘Whoever fasts Ramadan and spends its nights in prayer, out of faith and in hope of reward, his previous sins will be forgiven.’”

“When the last ten days of Ramadan began, the Prophet (saw) used to stay up at night, tighten his waist- wrap, and wake up his family (to pray).”

Ziyad related to me from Malik from Abu'n Nadr, the mawla of Umar ibn Ubaydullah, that Abdullah ibn Unays al-Juhani said to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, "Messenger of Allah, I am a man whose house is a long way away. Tell me one night so that I can stop my journey for it." The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Stop on the twenty-third night of Ramadan."

“I met Abu Salamah bin ‘Abdur-Rahman and said: ‘Tell me a Hadith that you heard from your father, in which mention is made of the month of Ramadan.’ He said: ‘Yes, my father narrated to me that the Messenger of Allah (saw) mentioned the month of Ramadan and said: “A month which Allah has enjoined upon you to fast, and in which I have established Qiyam (prayers at night) as Sunnah for you. So whoever fasts it and spends its nights in prayer out of faith and in hope of reward; he will emerge from his sins as on the day his mother bore him.”

The Prophet (saw) used to spend the last ten days of Ramadan in I’tikaf. One year he was traveling, so the following year he spent twenty days in I’tikaf.

“Two months of ‘Eid whose reward cannot be reduced (even if they are twenty-nine days): ‘Ramadan and Dhul-Hijjah.”

“The Messenger of Allah (saw) said: ‘For guarding the frontier for a day in the cause of Allah, defending the Muslims, seeking reward, apart from in the month of Ramadan, there is a reward granted greater than worshipping for a hundred years, fasting and praying. Guarding the frontier for a day in the cause of Allah, defending the Muslims, seeking reward, in the month of Ramadan, is better before Allah and brings a greater reward” – I think he said – “than worshipping for a thousand years, fasting and praying. If Allah returns him to his family safe and sound, no bad deed will be recorded for him for a thousand years, but his good deeds will be recorded, and the reward for guarding the frontier will come to him until the Day of Resurrection.”

I was a man who was more given than others to sexual intercourse with women. When the month of Ramadan came, I feared lest I should have intercourse with my wife, and this evil should remain with me till the morning. So I made my wife like my mother's back to me till the end of Ramadan. But one night when she was waiting upon me, something of her was revealed. Suddenly I jumped upon her. When the morning came I went to my people and informed them about this matter.

I said: Go along with me to the Messenger of Allah (saws).

They said: No, by Allah. So I went to the Prophet (peace be upon him and informed him of the matter.

He said: Have you really committed it, Salamah? I said: I committed it twice, Messenger of Allah. I am content with the Commandment of Allah, the Exalted; so take a decision about me according to what Allah has shown you.

He said: Free a slave. I said: By Him Who sent you with truth, I do not possess a neck other than this: and I struck the surface of my neck.

He said: Then fast two consecutive months. I said: Whatever I suffered is due to fasting.

He said: Feed sixty poor people with a wasq of dates.

I said: By Him Who sent you with truth, we passed the night hungry; there was no food in our house.

He said: Then go to the collector of sadaqah of Banu Zurayq; he must give it to you. Then feed sixty poor people with a wasq of dates; and you and your family eat the remaining dates. Then I came back to my people, and said (to them): I found with you poverty and bad opinion; and I found with the Prophet (saws) prosperity and good opinion. He has commanded me to give alms to you.

Ibn al-Ala' added: Ibn Idris said: Bayadah is a sub-clan of Banu Zurayq.

‘Do not anticipate Ramadan by fasting one or two days before, except for a man who has a habitual pattern of fasting, in which case let him fast.”

When the Messenger of Allah (saws) performed the Farewell Pilgrimage, and we had a camel, AbuMa'qil dedicated it to the cause of Allah. Then we suffered from a disease, and AbuMa'qil died. The Prophet (saws) went out (for hajj). When he finished the hajj, I came to him.

He said (to me): Umm Ma'qil, what prevented you from coming out for hajj along with us?

She said: We resolved (to do so), but AbuMa'qil died. We had a camel on which we could perform hajj, but AbuMa'qil had bequeathed it to the cause of Allah.

He said: Why did you not go out (for hajj) upon it, for hajj is in the cause of Allah? If you miss this hajj along with us, perform umrah during Ramadan, for it is like hajj.

She used to say: hajj is hajj, and umrah is umrah. The Messenger of Allah (saws) said it to me: I do not know whether it was peculiar to me.

When the Messenger of Allah(May peace be upon him) lived among us, we use to bring forth zakat, on closing the fast of Ramadan one sa’ of grain or of cheese, or of barley, or of dried dates, or of raisens, payable by every young and old freeman and slave. We continued to pay this till mu-awayah came to perform Haj or Umra and he spoke to the people on the pulpit. What he said to the people was : I think that Mudds of the wheat of syrria is equivalent to one sa’ of dried dates. So the people adopted it. Abu sa’id said : But I continued to pay one sa’ of wheat as long as I lived on.

Abu Dawud said : this tradition has also been transmitted by Abu sa’id through a different chain of narrators to the same effect. A man has narrated in this version from Ibn-Ulayyah one sa’ of wheat. But this version is not guarded.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) used to spend the middle ten days of Ramadan in retirement and devotion (i'tikaf) in the mosque. One year he had retirement and devotion in the mosque (as usual); when the twenty-first night came, and this night when he used to come out his devotion in the mosque, he said: He who has engaged himself in devotion along with me should do so during the last ten days; I saw that night, that was caused to forget it, but I have seen myself prostrating in water and mud on the morning following (that night), so seek it in the last ten days and seek it every night with an odd number. Abu sa'id said: Rain fell that night, the mosque that was thatched building dripped, and my eyes saw the Messenger of Allah (saws) with the traces of water and mud, on his forehead on the morning following the twenty-first night.

A man came to the Prophet (saws) during Ramadan in the mosque. He said: Messenger of Allah, I am burnt. The Prophet (saws) asked him what happened to him. He said: I had sexual intercourse with my wife. He said: Give sadaqah (alms). He said: I swear by Allah, I possess nothing with me, and I cannot do this. He said: Sit down. He sat down. While he was waiting, a man came forward driving his donkey loaded with food. The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: Where is the man who was burnt just now ? Thereupon the man stood up. The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: Give it as sadaqah (alms). He asked: Messenger of Allah, to others than us ? By Allah. we are hungry, we have nothing (to eat). He said: Eat it yourselves.

Abu Huraira reported that an Arab came to the Prophet and said, "Guide me to a deed by doing which I shall enter paradise.” He said, “Worship God and associate nothing with Him, observe the prescribed prayer, pay the obligatory zakat, and fast during Ramadan.” He replied, "By Him in whose hand my soul is, I shall not add anything to this, or fall short of it.” Then when he turned away the Prophet said, "If anyone wishes to look at a man who will be among the people of paradise, let him look at this man.” (Bukhari and Muslim.)

Abu Huraira reported God's messenger as saying, "When the first night of Ramadan comes the devils and the rebellious jinn are chained, the gates of hell are locked and not one of them is opened; the gates of paradise are opened and not one of them is locked, and a crier calls, 'You who desire what is good, come forward, and you who desire evil refrain.' Some are freed from hell by God, and that happens every night." Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah transmitted it, and Ahmad transmitted it from a man. [i.e. an unspecified person.] Tirmidhi said this is a gharib tradition.

‘A'isha said, "God’s messenger used to fast to such an extent that we thought he would never break his fast, and he would go without fasting to such an extent that we thought he would never fast. I never saw God’s messenger fast a complete month except in Ramadan, and I never saw him fast more in any month than in Sha'ban." In a version she said he used to fast the whole of Sha'ban, i.e. he would fast all but a little of Sha'ban. (Bukhari and Muslim.)

An-Nu‘man b. Bashir said that God’s Messenger used to recite at the two festivals1 and on Friday, “Glorify the name of your most high Lord", 2 and “Has the story of the overwhelming event reached you?"3 He said that when a festival and a Friday coincided he recited them both at the two prayers. 1. Id al-Fitr at the end of Ramadan, and Id al-Adha on the 10th of Dhul Hijja, when sacrifices are made. The former is called the lesser and latter the greater. 2. Al-Qur’an; 87. 3. Al-Qur'an, 88. Muslim transmitted it.

“The one who fasts Ramadan while traveling is like one who breaks his fast when not traveling.”

Abu Ishaq said: "This Hadith is of no significance."

“When the Prophet (saw) wanted to start I’tikaf, he would pray the Subh, then he would enter the place where he wanted to observe I’tikaf. He wanted to spend the last ten days of Ramadan in I’tikaf, so he ordered that a tent be set up for him.” Then ‘Aishah ordered that a tent be set up for her, and Hafash ordered that a tent be set up for her. When Zainab saw their two tents, she also ordered that a tent be set up for her. When the Messenger of Allah (saw) saw that, he said: “It is righteousness that you seek?” Then he did not observe I’tikaf during Ramadan, and he observed I’tikaf during ten days of Shawwal.

The Messenger of Allah (saw) used to spend the last ten days of Ramadan in I’tikaf.

Nafi' said: " Abdullah bin 'Umar showed me the place where the Messenger of Allah (SAW) used to observe I'tikaf."