I asked 'Aishah: Would the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) fast three days every month ? She replied: Yes. I asked: Which days in the month he used to fast ? She replied: He did not care which days of the month he fasted.
When the Prophet (ﷺ) entered upon me, he would ask: Do you have food ? When we said: No, he would say: I am fasting. Waki' added in his version: Another day when he entered upon us, we said: Messenger of Allah, some pudding (hair) has been presented to us and we have retained it for you. He said: Bring it to me. Talhah said: He fasted in the morning, but broke his fast (that day).
On the days of the conquest of Mecca, when Mecca was captured, Fatimah came and sat on the left side of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), and Umm Hani was on his right side. A slave-girl brought a vessel which contained some drink; she gave it to him and he drank of it. He then gave it to Umm Hani who drank of it. She said: Messenger of Allah, I have broken my fast; I was fasting. He said to her: Were you making atonement for something? She replied: No. He said: Then it does not harm you if it was voluntary (fast).
Some food was presented to me and Hafsah. We were fasting, but broke our fast. Then the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) entered upon us. We said to him: A gift was presented to us; we coveted it and we broke our fast. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: There is no harm to you; keep a fast another day in lieu of it.
It is not allowable for a woman to keep (voluntary) fast when her husband is present without his permission, and she may not allow anyone to enter his house without his permission.
A woman came to the Prophet (ﷺ) while we were with him. She said: Messenger of Allah, my husband, Safwan ibn al-Mu'attal, beats me when I pray, and makes me break my fast when I keep a fast, and he does not offer the dawn prayer until the sun rises. He asked Safwan, who was present, about what she had said. He replied: Messenger of Allah, as for her statement "he beats me when I pray", she recites two surahs (during prayer) and I have prohibited her (to do so). He (the Prophet) said: If one surah is recited (during prayer), that is sufficient for the people. (Safwan continued:) As regards her saying "he makes me break my fast," she dotes on fasting; I am a young man, I cannot restrain myself. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said on that day: A woman should not fast except with the permission of her husband. (Safwan said:) As for her statement that I do not pray until the sun rises, we are a people belonging to a class, and that (our profession of supplying water) is already known about us. We do not awake until the sun rises. He said: When you awake, offer your prayer.
When one of you receives an invitation (for a meal), he should accept it. If he isn to fasting, he should eat, and if he is fasten, he should pray. Hisham said: The word salat means to pray (for him to Allah). Abu Dawud said: This tradition has also been narrated by Hafs b. Ghiyath from Hisham.
حَدَّثَنَا قُتَيْبَةُ بْنُ سَعِيدٍ، حَدَّثَنَا اللَّيْثُ، عَنْ عُقَيْلٍ، عَنِ الزُّهْرِيِّ، عَنْ عُرْوَةَ، عَنْ عَائِشَةَ، أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم كَانَ يَعْتَكِفُ الْعَشْرَ الأَوَاخِرَ مِنْ رَمَضَانَ حَتَّى قَبَضَهُ اللَّهُ ثُمَّ اعْتَكَفَ أَزْوَاجُهُ مِنْ بَعْدِهِ .
The Prophet (ﷺ) used to observe retirement (i'tikaf) to the mosque during the last ten days of Ramadan till Allah took him, and then his wives observed retirement to the mosque after his death.