–and he forbade his Companions from continuous fasting, saying:

“I am not like you; I spend the night with my Lord, and He feeds me and gives me drink.”

He imposed no obligatory fast other than the fast of Ramadan, and he required the ḥajj of one who is able only once. He made the five daily prayers incumbent upon every sane adult, except for women who are menstruating or in postpartum bleeding. Such women were prohibited from fasting and prayer; they were commanded to make up the missed fasts but were not required to make up the prayers.

He ordered a full ritual bath after major sexual impurity before performing the prayer, and he instructed that anyone who had urinated, defecated, passed wind, or emitted pre-seminal fluid should perform ablution. He allowed purification with three stones, forbade cleansing oneself with the right hand, and prohibited the use of bone or dung for that purpose, saying:

“They are provisions for your brothers among the jinn.”

Nor did he ever assemble the Muslims to listen to hand-clapping, a frame drum, or dancing.