(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.

Allah's Apostle stood beside me at Al-Hudaibiya and the lice were falling from my head in great number. He asked me, "Have your lice troubled you?" I replied in the affirmative. He ordered me to get my head shaved. Ka`b added, "This Holy Verse:--'And if any of you is ill, or has ailment in his scalp (2.196), etc. was revealed regarding me. "The Prophet then ordered me either to fast three days, or to feed six poor persons with one Faraq (three Sas) (of dates), or to slaughter a sheep, etc. (sacrifice) whatever was available.

Prayer passed through three stages and fasting also passed through three stages. The narrator Nasr reported the rest of the tradition completely. The narrator, Ibn al-Muthanna, narrated the story of saying prayer facing in the direction of Jerusalem.

He said: The third stage is that the Messenger of Allah (saws) came to Medina and prayed, i.e. facing Jerusalem, for thirteen months.

Then Allah, the Exalted, revealed the verse: "We have seen thee turning thy face to Heaven (for guidance, O Muhammad). And now verily We shall make thee turn (in prayer) toward a qiblah which is dear to thee. So turn thy face toward the Inviolable Place of Worship, and ye (O Muslims), wherever ye may be, turn your face (when ye pray) toward it" (ii.144). And Allah, the Reverend and the Majestic, turned (them) towards the Ka'bah. He (the narrator) completed his tradition.

The narrator, Nasr, mentioned the name of the person who had the dream, saying: And Abdullah ibn Zayd, a man from the Ansar, came. The same version reads: And he turned his face towards the qiblah and said: Allah is most great, Allah is most great; I testify that there is no god but Allah, I testify that there is no god but Allah; I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah; come to prayer (he pronounced it twice), come to salvation (he pronounced it twice); Allah is Most Great, Allah is most great. He then paused for a while, and then got up and pronounced in a similar way, except that after the phrase "Come to salvation" he added. "The time for prayer has come, the time for prayer has come."

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: Teach it to Bilal, then pronounce the adhan (call to prayer) with the same words. As regards fasting, he said: The Messenger of Allah (saws) used to fast for three days every month, and would fast on the tenth of Muharram. Then Allah, the Exalted, revealed the verse: ".......Fasting was prescribed for those before you, that ye may ward off (evil)......and for those who can afford it there is a ransom: the feeding of a man in need (ii.183-84). If someone wished to keep the fast, he would keep the fast; if someone wished to abandon the fast, he would feed an indigent every day; it would do for him. But this was changed. Allah, the Exalted, revealed: "The month of Ramadan in which was revealed the Qur'an ..........(let him fast the same) number of other days" (ii.185).

Hence the fast was prescribed for the one who was present in the month (of Ramadan) and the traveller was required to atone (for them); feeding (the indigent) was prescribed for the old man and woman who were unable to fast. (The narrator, Nasr, further reported): The companion Sirmah, came after finishing his day's work......and he narrated the rest of the tradition.

On the days of the conquest of Mecca, when Mecca was captured, Fatimah came and sat on the left side of the Messenger of Allah (saws), and Umm Hani was on his right side. A slave-girl brought a vessel which contained some drink; she gave it to him and he drank of it. He then gave it to Umm Hani who drank of it. She said: Messenger of Allah, I have broken my fast; I was fasting. He said to her: Were you making atonement for something? She replied: No. He said: Then it does not harm you if it was voluntary (fast).

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab that A'isha and Hafsa, the wives of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, began fasting voluntarily one morning and then food was given to them and they broke their fast with it. Then the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, came in. A'isha said, "Hafsa asked, anticipating me in speech - she took after her father Umar - 'Messenger of Allah, A'isha and I began the morning fasting voluntarily and then food was given us and we broke the fast with it.' The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'Fast another day in its place.' "

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard the people of knowledge telling people not to fast on the day in Shaban when there was doubt (about whether it was Shaban or Ramadan), if they intended by it the fast of Ramadan . They considered that whoever fasted on that day without having seen (the new moon) had to make up that day if it later became clear that it was part of Ramadan. They did not see any harm in voluntary fasting on that day.

Malik said, "This is what we do, and what I have seen the people of knowledge in our city doing."

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that Abdullah ibn Umar was asked about what a pregnant woman should do if the fast became difficult for her and she feared for her child, and he said, "She should break the fast and feed a poor man one mudd of wheat in place of every day, using the mudd of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace."

Malik said, "The people of knowledge consider that she has to make up for each day of the fast that she misses as Allah, the Exalted and Glorified, says, 'And whoever of you is sick or on a journey should fast an equal number of other days, ' and they consider her pregnancy and her concern for her child as a sickness."

Hunaydah al-Khuza'i reported on the authority of her mother who said: I entered upon Umm Salamah and asked her about fasting. She said: The Messenger of Allah (saws) used to command me to fast three days every month beginning with Monday or Thursday.

(Reporting the speech of Ka`b bin Umra) Allah's Apostle saw him (i.e. Ka`b) while the lice were falling on his face. He asked (him), "Have your lice troubled you?" He replied in the affirmative. So, he ordered him to get his head shaved while he was at Al-Hudaibiya. At that time they were not permitted to finish their Ihram, and were still hoping to enter Mecca. So, Allah revealed the verses of Al-Fidya. Allah's Apostle ordered him to feed six poor persons with one Faraq of food or to slaughter one sheep (as a sacrifice) or to fast for three days.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: Gabriel (saws) led me in prayer at the House (i.e. the Ka'bah). He prayed the noon prayer with me when the sun had passed the meridian to the extent of the thong of a sandal; he prayed the afternoon prayer with me when the shadow of everything was as long as itself; he prayed the sunset prayer with me when one who is fasting breaks the fast; he prayed the night prayer with me when the twilight had ended; and he prayed the dawn prayer with me when food and drink become forbidden to one who is keeping the fast.

On the following day he prayed the noon prayer with me when his shadow was as long as himself; he prayed the afternoon prayer with me when his shadow was twice as long as himself; he prayed the sunset prayer at the time when one who is fasting breaks the fast; he prayed the night prayer with me when about the third of the night had passed; and he prayed the dawn prayer with me when there was a fair amount of light.

Then turning to me he said: Muhammad, this is the time observed by the prophets before you, and the time is anywhere between two times.