An inquirer says, “I heard that the most beloved type of fasting to Allah Almighty is that of Prophet Dawud (peace be upon him).” Kindly provide an explanation of how this fast is to be observed.

The fast of our master Dawud (David, peace be upon him) is a voluntary fast and one the best types of such fasting. It consists of fasting every other day and it is even superior to fasting continuously every day of the year. ʿAbdullah Ibn ʿAmr (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “The most beloved fasting to Allah is the fast of Dawud, and the most beloved prayer to Allah is the prayer of Dawud, peace be upon him. He would sleep half the night, stand in prayer for a third of it, and sleep for a sixth of it. And he would fast one day and break the fast the next” (recorded by Bukhari and Muslim).

In another wording of the hadith, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) says, “The best fast is the fast of my brother Dawud; he would fast one day and break the fast the next” (recorded by at-Tirmidhi in his Sunan). Al-Qadi ʿIyad noted in Ikmal al-Muʿlim bi Fawa’id Muslim (4:127) that the Prophet’s words mean that ‘the most beloved fasting to Allah’ refers to the fast that is the most meritorious and brings the greatest reward.

Jurists have explicitly stated that the best form of fasting is the fast of Prophet Dawud (peace be upon him):

The luminary al-Shalabi, a Hanafi scholar, stated in his commentary on Tabyeen Al-Haqa’iq Kinz Al-Daqa`iq (1:332), “The best fast is the fast of Dawud, he would fast one day and break the fast the next.”

Shaykh al-Islam Zakariya al-Ansari, a Shafiʿi scholar, noted in Asna Al-Matalib (1:432), “Fasting every other day is superior to perpetual fasting, according to the hadith in the two Sahihs.”

The Hanbali scholar, Imam Ibn Qudama, stated in Al-Muqniʿ (p. 105), “The best voluntary fast is the fast of Dawud, peace be upon him; he would fast one day and break the fast the next.”