Further supporting evidence for the hadith is the report narrated by al-Tabarani from Abdullah ibn Amr, attributed to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, in a hadith which states: “... Abraham, peace be upon him, fasted three days of every month: he fasted perpetually and yet broke his fast perpetually.” Its chain includes Ibn Lahiʿah, whose hadith is good when cited as corroborating evidence. Al-Mundhiri and al-Haythami considered it defective on account of Abu Firas, who was one of Muslim’s narrators; but neither of them identified him, as I had explained long ago in the other Silsilah (459).

The hadith is also supported by his saying, peace and blessings be upon him: “Whoever fasts perpetually has neither fasted nor broken his fast.” Ibn Hibban and others narrated it with an authentic chain, as stated in al-Taʿliq al-Raghib (2/88). This is because, when the Wise Lawgiver made fasting three days of every month equivalent to fasting perpetually, whoever fasts those days has indeed fasted and broken his fast. And Allah knows best.

2807 — “O Allah, I love him; so love him, and love whoever loves him”—meaning al-Hasan ibn Ali, may Allah be pleased with them both.

Al-Bukhari narrated it in al-Adab al-Mufrad (1183), as did Ahmad (1/532), his son Abdullah in Fadaʾil al-Sahabah (2/788/1407), and al-Hakim (3/178), through several routes from Hisham ibn Saʿd, from Nuʿaym ibn al-Mujmir, from Abu Hurayrah, who said:

Whenever I saw al-Hasan, my eyes would overflow with tears. One day, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, came out and found me in the mosque. He took me by the hand, and I went with him. He did not speak to me until we reached the market of Banu Qaynuqaʿ. He walked around it and looked it over, then returned, with me still accompanying him, until we came to the mosque. He sat down, drawing up his knees, and then said: