break his fast, and he would refrain from fasting until we would say that he would not fast. I never saw him fast an entire month except Ramadan, nor did I ever see him fast more than he did in Sha‘bān.” This establishes the merit of fasting in Sha‘bān and its superiority over fasting in other months.
“The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) used to fast on Mondays and Thursdays, and said: ‘Deeds are presented to Allah on these two days, and I love for my deeds to be presented to Allah while I am fasting.’” Fasting on these two days is therefore recommended.
It is reported that he (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: “Whoever fasts Ramadan and follows it with six days of Shawwāl, it is as though he has fasted his entire life.” Mālik—may Allah Most High have mercy on him—disliked this for fear that ignorant and uncouth people would attach to Ramadan what is not part of it. For an individual observing them as his own personal practice, however, fasting these days is not disliked.
Likewise, Mālik—may Allah Most High have mercy on him—disliked deliberately singling out the bright days—the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth—for fasting, in accordance with the reports concerning them, for fear that fasting them would be regarded as obligatory. It is also reported that fasting the white days—the first, tenth and twentieth—is equivalent to fasting for a lifetime, and that this was the practice of Mālik ibn Anas—may Allah Most High have mercy on him.
Mālik—may Allah Most High have mercy on him—did not regard fasting Friday alone, without fasting the day before or after it, as prohibited, despite the reported prohibition. He said that there was nothing wrong with fasting it alone or deliberately choosing it for fasting. He mentioned that some virtuous people would deliberately choose to fast it.
There is nothing wrong with fasting throughout the year, provided one does not fast on the days on which the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) forbade fasting. Some scholars, however, disliked perpetual fasting because of Abū Qatādah’s report that “the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) was asked about perpetual fasting and said: ‘Whoever does that has neither fasted nor refrained from fasting. The fast most beloved to Allah—mighty and majestic—is the fast of David: he would fast one day and refrain from fasting the next.’” This, and Allah knows best, was out of concern that the person might become weary and bored.
He (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: “Allah does not grow weary until you grow weary. Take on only as much worship as you can sustain,” when he was told of al-Hawlā’ bint Tuwayt that she did not sleep