for the day of fasting. But when ʿAbd Allah (may Allah be pleased with him) grew older, it became too difficult for him to fast one day and break the fast the next, and he said, “If only I had accepted the Prophet’s ﷺ concession.” He then began to fast fifteen consecutive days and eat fifteen consecutive days, for he was no longer able to fast one day and eat the next.

As for night prayer, the Prophet ﷺ told him, “The greatest arrangement is that you sleep for half the night, stand in prayer for one third, and then sleep for one sixth.” He thus divided the night into three parts—sleeping for half of it, praying for one third, and sleeping for one sixth—and said, “There is nothing better than that.”

The upshot is that a person should not impose hardship on himself in worship. Whenever Allah makes an act easy for you, praise Him. Some people in winter have both hot and cold water available, yet they perform ablution with the cold and leave the hot, tormenting themselves, even though Allah says, “Why should Allah punish you if you are grateful and believe?” ⦗4:147⦘. Yes, if you have nothing but cold water and you use it despite the hardship, you will be rewarded. But deliberately choosing the harder option over the easier one in pursuit of extra reward is not correct; whenever the way is eased for you, take it.

Similarly, someone may say, “I will walk to Hajj because it is harder than riding in a car.” We say: this is a mistake. If Allah has made the act of worship easy for you, then perform it in the easier manner.