Moreover, if that had taken place at night, he would not have been fasting continuously. When the Companions said to him, “You fast continuously,” he would have replied, “I am not (1) fasting continuously,” rather than saying, “I am not like you.” Thus, he accepted their description of him as fasting continuously, but ruled out equating their case with his by explaining the distinction between them. As related in Sahīh Muslim (2), ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Umar reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) fasted continuously during Ramadan, and the people did likewise, so he forbade them. He was told, “You fast continuously.” He replied, “I am not like you. I am fed and given drink.”
In (3) al-Bukhārī’s (4) wording of this hadith: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade continuous fasting. They said, “You fast continuously.” He said (5), “I am not like you. I am fed and given drink.”
In both Sahīh collections (6), Abū Hurayra reported: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade continuous fasting. A Muslim man said, “But you, O Messenger of Allah, fast continuously.” The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) replied, “Which of you is like me? I spend the night with my Lord feeding me and giving me drink.”
Both Sahīh collections contain similar reports from ‘Ā’isha and Anas (7). In some wordings of