Question:
Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatu Allahi Wa Barakatuh
I hope you’re doing well and staying healthy. I wanted to write to you about a question I have been pondering for quite some time. As we know, it is the month of Shawwal, and the person who fasts for six days during this month gets the reward that is equivalent to fasting the entire year. If you miss the Shawwal fast, will you have to wait an entire year for the next Shawwal or are you able to delay it and continue it even after the month of Shawwal? I hope this message finds you in good health In Sha Allah.
Baraka Allah Fik
Assalamu Alaikum
Answer:
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Fasting for six days in the month of Shawwāl is recommended (Mandūb) due to the significant rewards it offers.[i] In principle, the six fasts of Shawwāl are special because they have been designated specifically by Nabīﷺ to be similar in reward to the fasts of Ramaḍān for the entire year. This is because we understand that each day of fasting will be rewarded equivalently to fasting for ten days, as indicated by the following verse:
مَن جَاءَ بِالْحَسَنَةِ فَلَهُ عَشْرُ أَمْثَالِهَا[1]
Translation:
“Whoever brings forth a good deed will be multiplied by ten folds”
This then will only bring us to the reward of fasting sixty days (two months). However, when we do the same math to the fast of the whole month of Ramaḍān, it gets us the reward of fasting three hundred days (ten months). Once we add these two together, we will get three hundred and sixty days of fasting which is a whole year.[ii] Since there is a fixed Ḥadīth that brings fasting of Ramaḍān and fasting of Shawwāl together, scholars have linked the reward of fasting six days in Shawwāl equivalent to fasting the entire year as Fard (obligatory) fast. This reward is specifically for fasting six days in Shawwāl.[iii]
: «مَنْ صَامَ رَمَضَانَ ثُمَّ أَتْبَعَهُ بست مِنْ شَوَّالٍ، فَذَلِكَ صِيَامُ الدَّهْرِ».
Translation:
“Whoever fasts in Ramaḍan then follows it with six from Shawwāl, then that is (equal to) fasting of a whole year.”
Conclusion:
Fasting for six days during the month of Shawwāl entitles one to the reward equivalent to that of fulfilling a Fard fast for the entire year. To achieve this, it is necessary to fast for six days during the month of Shawwāl. Fasting for six days outside of Shawwāl will result in the reward of a Nafl fast for sixty days (two months).
And Allah Taʿāla Knows Best.
Rukunuddin Bin Jahangir
Student –Darul Iftaa
Milwaukee, WI, USA
Checked and Approved by
Mufti Muhammad Zakariyya Desai
Can one get the reward of fasting six days of Shawwal outside of Shawwal?
