Mention of the best fasting, night prayer, and recitation of the Qur'an.

The Shaykh : So this is a special case, and therefore the most devout person of his time, 'Abd Allah ibn 'Amr ibn al-'As, was told this with a very gentle answer: "I married him so that he would not remain a bachelor." He said to him, (peace be upon him): . He said: "That was the case, O Messenger of Allah." He said: "Twelve years, each month having thirty days, what? Thirty, yes. So it is as if you fasted the whole year. He used to stand in night prayer and complete a recitation of the Qur'an every night, a complete recitation of the Qur'an every night. He said to him: . He used to say, and what a difference there is between what he said and what the young people of today say! The young people of today leave the obligatory acts; you advise them and remind them, and they say to you, 'It is early, it is early for us, why?' If the father, for example, is righteous, he advises his son, and he is fifteen or sixteen, and he says, 'No, it is early.' This is our companion 'Abd Allah ibn 'Amr ibn al-'As; on the contrary, he said to him: . He used to lighten it... but he would respond to him regarding fasting. This young man was not pleased with the advice of the Messenger, (peace be upon him), because he felt that it was mercy from him toward him, not an obligation upon him, so he hoped for more. So (peace be upon him) kept increasing for him regarding fasting until he said to him: . He went down from three days a month to half the month, fasting half the month. Finally, he said to him: . It is as if he was reminding him that you have a right over yourself. If you fast the whole year, you will become thin, weak, and sick. If you encounter the enemy, you will flee from them; therefore, combine the two rights: the right of the body and the right of the Lord, (Blessed and Exalted is He), and worship. This is regarding fasting. Regarding standing in prayer, he said to him: . And he parted from him on this basis. The Messenger, (peace be upon him), moved to the highest companion, and Ibn 'Amr lived a long time after him. He became an old man, like in my story, his strength waned, and the vitality he used to boast of when he was young... he used to say: . So the Messenger of Allah, (peace and blessings be upon him), has special characteristics that are not to be followed, but it is not permissible for us to reverse this and say that in everything established from us that the Messenger did, perhaps this is one of his special characteristics. We say to him: "Make it perhaps," because the principle is . You saw 'Aishah, the pure, intelligent, wise, knowledgeable woman, in whom is all good. She saw the Messenger praying inside the Ka'bah. She wanted to pray inside the Ka'bah. No command came to her from the Messenger; a command came to her in her mind: . Therefore, she did not need a specific reminder about this particular example. She took the rule and the principle. But the Messenger, (peace be upon him), said to her, "Why do you exhaust yourself, and you are a woman, and go up to pray on top and so on. And perhaps we will end this session so that our brothers can leave, and especially since Abu Hammam is not in the habit of dozing off, his eyes closing and becoming small, but now his excuse is with him, so he will leave to his wife, because his wife gave birth yesterday; therefore, you will congratulate him, if Allah wills, and may Allah be a helper to everyone.

The questioner : Glory be to You, O Allah, and praise be to You.