Hadith 24116

حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ ، عَنِ ابْنِ أَبِي لَبِيدٍ ، عَنْ أَبِي سَلَمَةَ ، قُلْتُ لِعَائِشَةَ : أَيْ أُمَّهْ ، أَخْبِرِينِي عَنْ صَلَاةِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ ؟ قَالَتْ : " كَانَتْ صَلَاتُهُ فِي رَمَضَانَ وَغَيْرِهِ سَوَاءً ثَلَاثَ عَشْرَةَ رَكْعَةً منهَا رَكْعَتَا الْفَجْرِ " ، قُلْتُ : فَأَخْبِرِينِي عَنْ صِيَامِهِ ؟ قَالَتْ : " كَانَ يَصُومُ حَتَّى نَقُولَ قَدْ صَامَ ، وَيُفْطِرُ حَتَّى نَقُولَ قَدْ أَفْطَرَ ، وَمَا رَأَيْتُهُ صَامَ شَهْرًا أَكْثَرَ مِنْ صِيَامِهِ فِي شَعْبَانَ ، كَانَ يَصُومُهُ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا " .
Abu Salamah (may Allah have mercy on him) says that I asked Hazrat Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), "Mother! Tell me something about the prayer of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)." She replied, "The (tahajjud) prayer of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was the same in Ramadan and outside of Ramadan, that is, thirteen rak‘ahs, which included the two sunnah of Fajr." I asked, "Now tell me about his voluntary fasts." She replied, "Sometimes the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would fast so much that we would say, 'Now the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) will keep fasting continuously,' and sometimes he would leave fasting for so many days that we would say, 'Now the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) will keep leaving fasting.' And I have not seen the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) fast in any month as much as I saw him fast in Sha‘ban. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would fast almost the entire month, leaving only a few days."
Hadith Reference مسند احمد / مسند النساء / 24116
Hadith Grading حکم دارالسلام: إسناده صحيح، خ: 738، م: 1156