The wife of Bashīr ibn al-Khaṣāṣiyyah said: “I wanted to fast two consecutive days without breaking the fast, but Bashīr forbade me and said, ‘The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, forbade me from that and said: “Such a practice is only for the Christians. Fast as Allah has commanded you, complete the fast as Allah has commanded you—complete it until nightfall, and when night comes, break your fast.”’” This ḥadith is also recorded by Aḥmad in his Musnad.
The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, thus explained that continuous fasting is prohibited because it resembles the fasting of the Christians, and that is indeed the case. It appears to be part of the monastic austerity they themselves innovated.
Ḥammād narrates from Thābit, from Anas—may Allah be pleased with him—that: “The Jews used to, whenever …”
(1) The printed edition reads “Bishr,” which is wrong; the correct form is “Bashir,” as in all the manuscript copies.
(2) The Companion concerned is Bashir ibn Maʿbad ibn Dabab ibn Sabaʿ ibn Sadus. His original name was Zahman, but the Prophet renamed him Bashir. Al-Khasasiyyah was one of his grandmothers. He settled in Basra. See Tahdhib al-Tahdhib 1:468, no. 866.
(3) Ms. B adds the words: “in them both.”
(4) The printed edition again has “Bishr,” whereas the correct reading is Bashir.
(5) The printed edition reads: “then complete [them].”
(6) Ahmad records the hadith in his Musnad 4:225, under the Musnad of Bashir ibn al-Khasasiyyah; the chain is sound, as Ibn Hajar notes in Fath al-Bari 4:202.
(7) Ms. B includes the phrase: “as the Prophet said.”
(8) Mss. C and D add the word: “and the like.”
(9) The narrator is Hammad ibn Salamah, as in Sahih Muslim; the precise location there will be cited below, and his biography has already been given.
(10) The transmitter is Thabit ibn Aslam al-Bunani, Abu Muhammad of Basra, one of Anas ibn Malik’s devoted students and a prolific transmitter from him. Reliable, righteous and devout, he died in 123 AH (some say 127). See Tahdhib al-Tahdhib 2:2–4, no. 2.