The Ruling on Fasting in Sha'ban and Reconciling the Hadiths

Question:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. O Allah, send prayers and peace upon Your servant and Messenger, our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. As for what follows, my brothers, to the Honorable Shaykh, Salih ibn Fawzan al-Fawzan. This question is from the Honorable one, who says: I hope for a detailed explanation regarding the issue of fasting in the month of Sha'ban, its virtue, and how to reconcile it with the hadith that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was overtaken by Sha'ban, and the hadith that he never completed a month of fasting except Ramadan.

Answer:
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. May Allah send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions. As for what follows, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to fast a lot in Sha'ban. He would fast most of it. But he did not complete it. So his statement that he fasted Sha'ban means he fasted most of it. And the word "month" may be used to mean most of the month. One refers to the month by saying "most of the month."
So there is no contradiction between his prohibition of completing the fast, or the fact that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) never fasted a complete month except Ramadan, and his frequent fasting in Sha'ban. He would fast from it and fast a lot, but he did not complete it.