and nursing mothers if they feared for themselves. If they feared for their children, they were to feed one needy person for each day in addition to making up the missed fasts. Their breaking the fast was not due to fear of illness, but occurred while they were healthy; it was therefore compensated for by feeding a needy person (1), just as when a healthy person refrained from fasting in the early days of Islam.

Fasting passed through three stages (2):

The first: making it obligatory while allowing a choice.

The second: making it binding. However, if a fasting person fell asleep before eating, food and drink became forbidden to him until the following night. This was then abrogated by the third stage, which remains the established ruling of Islamic law until the Day of Resurrection.

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His practice, peace and blessings be upon him, during Ramadan was to engage abundantly in various forms of worship. Gabriel would (3) study the Quran with him during Ramadan, and when Gabriel met him, he was more generous in bestowing good than a freely blowing wind. He was the most generous of people, and he was at his most generous during Ramadan (4), when he increased his charity, acts of kindness, recitation of the Quran, prayer, remembrance of Allah, and devotional retreat.