Hunaydah ibn Khalid narrated from his wife on the authority of one of the wives of the Prophet (saws) who said: The Messenger of Allah (saws) used to fast the first nine days of Dhul-Hijjah, Ashura' and three days of every month, that is, the first Monday (of the month) and Thursday.

I asked `Aisha "Did Allah s Apostle, use to choose some special days (for fasting)?" She replied, "No, but he used to be regular (constant) (in his service of worshipping). Who amongst you can endure what Allah's Apostle used to endure?"

When the Messenger of Allah (saws) offered salutation in the witr prayer, he said: Glorify be to the king most holy.

Yahya related to me from Malik that Yahya ibn Said used to hear Said ibn al-Musayyab say, "Anyone that does umra in Shawwal, Dhu'l-Qada or Dhu l-Hijja, and then stays in Makka until it is time for the hajj, is doing tamattu if he then does hajj. He must sacrifice whatever animal it is easy for him to obtain, and if he cannot find one then he must fast three days during hajj and seven days when he returns."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi that Abdullah ibn Umar said, "If someone breaks an oath which he has stressed, he has to free a slave, or clothe ten poor people. If someone breaks an oath, but has not stressed it, he only has to feed ten poor people and each poor person is fed a mudd of wheat. Some one who does not have the means for that, should fast for three days."

Hamnah said my menstruation was great in quantity and severe. So I came to the Messenger of Allah (saws) for a decision and told him. I found him in the house of my sister, Zaynab, daughter of Jahsh.

I said: Messenger of Allah, I am a woman who menstruates in great quantity and it is severe, so what do you think about it? It has prevented me from praying and fasting.

He said: I suggest that you should use cotton, for it absorbs the blood. She replied: It is too copious for that. He said: Then take a cloth. She replied: It is too copious for that, for my blood keeps flowing. The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: I shall give you two commands; whichever of them you follow, that will be sufficient for you without the other, but you know best whether you are strong enough to follow both of them.

He added: This is a stroke of the Devil, so observe your menses for six or seven days, Allah alone knows which it should be; then wash. And when you see that you are purified and quite clean, pray during twenty-three or twenty-four days and nights and fast, for that will be enough for you, and do so every month, just as women menstruate and are purified at the time of their menstruation and their purification.

But if you are strong enough to delay the noon (Zuhr) prayer and advance the afternoon ('Asr) prayer, to wash, and then combine the noon and the afternoon prayer; to delay the sunset prayer and advance the night prayer, to wash, and then combine the two prayers, do so: and to wash at dawn, do so: and fast if you are able to do so if possible.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: Of the two commands this is more to my liking.¹

Abu Dawud said: 'Amr b. Thabit narrated from Ibn 'Aqil: Hamnah said: Of the two commands this is the one which is more to my liking.² In this version these words were not quoted as the statement of the Prophet (saws); it gives it as a statement of Hamnah.

Abu Dawud said: 'Amr b. Thabit was a Rafidi. This has been said by Yahya b. Ma'in.

Abu Dawud said: I heard Ahmad (b. Hanbal) say: I am doubtful about the tradition transmitted by Ibn 'Aqil.

I asked `Aisha, mother of the believers, "O mother of the believers! How were the deeds of the Prophet? Did he use to do extra deeds of worship on special days?" She said, "No, but his deeds were regular and constant, and who among you is able to do what the Prophet was able to do (i.e. in worshipping Allah)?"

My ears heard and my heart grasped (the statement which) the Prophet said, "The period for keeping one's guest is three days (and don't forget) his reward." It was asked, "What is his reward?" He said, "In the first night and the day he should be given a high class quality of meals; and whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, should entertain his guest generously; and whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should talk what is good (sense) or keep quiet."

No man embraced Islam before the day on which I embraced Islam, and no doubt, I remained for seven days as one third of the then extant Muslims.

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."

The family of (the Prophet) Muhammad never ate wheat-bread with meat for three consecutive days to their fill, till he met Allah.

The Prophet said, "No good deeds done on other days are superior to those done on these (first ten days of Dhul Hijja)." Then some companions of the Prophet said, "Not even Jihad?" He replied, "Not even Jihad, except that of a man who does it by putting himself and his property in danger (for Allah's sake) and does not return with any of those things."

The Prophet (saws) said: The time limit for wiping over the socks for a traveller is three days (and three nights) and for a resident it is one day and one night.

Abu Dawud said: Another version adds: Had we requested him to extend (the period of wiping), he would have extended.

The Prophet (saws) said about the woman having a prolonged flow of blood: She should abandon prayer during her menstrual period: then she should take a bath and pray. She should perform ablution for every prayer.

Abu Dawud said: 'Uthman added: She should keep fast and pray.

We used to salt some of the meat of sacrifice and present it to the Prophet at Medina. Once he said, "Do not eat (of that meat) for more than three days." That was not a final order, but (that year) he wanted us to feed of it to others, Allah knows better.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Humayd bin Qays from Mujahid Abu'l Hajjaj from Ibn Abi Layla from Kab ibn Ujra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to him, "Perhaps your pests are troubling you?" He replied that indeed they were, and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Shave your head and fast three days or feed six poor men or sacrifice a sheep."

Fatima bint Abi Hubaish asked the Prophet, "I got persistent bleeding (in between the periods) and do not become clean. Shall I give up prayers?" He replied, "No, this is from a blood vessel. Give up the prayers only for the days on which you usually get the menses and then take a bath and offer your prayers."

Abu 'Uthman reported on one of the days when Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) was fighting and none remained with him save Talha and Sa'd.

Uqbah consulted the Prophet (saws) about his sister who took a vow to perform hajj barefooted and bareheaded. So he said: Command her to cover her head and to ride, and to fast three days.

The Prophet came to me during the period of Al-Hudaibiya, while I was lighting fire underneath a cooking pot and lice were falling down my head. He said, "Do your lice hurt your?" I said, "Yes." He said, "Shave your head and fast for three days or feed six poor persons or slaughter a sheep as a sacrifice:"

I came to the Prophet and he said to me, "Come near." So I went near to him and he said, "Are your lice troubling you?" I replied, "Yes." He said, "(Shave your head and) make expiation in the form of fasting, Sadaqa (giving in charity), or offering a sacrifice." (The sub-narrator) Aiyub said, "Fasting should be for three days, and the Nusuk (sacrifice) is to be a sheep, and the Sadaqa is to be given to six poor persons."

Fasting for those who perform ,Hajj-at-Tamattu` (in lieu of the Hadi which they cannot afford) may be performed up to the day of `Arafat. And if one does not get a Hadi and has not fasted (before the `Id) then one should fast of the days of Mina. (11, 12 and 13th of Dhul Hajja).