and he responded that Ḥamzah’s question concerned fasting while travelling, not fasting for the whole year, and that keeping successive fasts does not necessarily amount to year-round fasting. Usāmah ibn Zayd reported that the Prophet ﷺ used to fast consecutively, and people would remark, “He never breaks the fast.” This was recorded by Ahmad.1 Yet it is well known that the Prophet ﷺ did not fast the entire year, so the mere mention of successive fasting cannot be taken as evidence for fasting all year long.

He further said, “The best practice is to fast one day and break the fast the next, for that is the form of fasting most beloved to Allah.”

I say: This is one of the proofs that fasting the whole year is disliked—apart from the days on which fasting is forbidden—because if fasting the entire year were legislated or recommended, it would entail more worship and thus be superior; and worship, by definition, is not deemed inferior. If it truly constituted an act of worship, it would not be considered less meritorious, as Ibn al-Qayyim has already clarified.