Fasting In Shawwal & Muharram
[9. Surah Tauba : Ayah 129]
Allah is sufficient for me, there is no god but He; on Him do I rely, and He is the Lord of mighty power.
Fasting in Shawwal & Muharram
[Sahih Muslim : Book 6 Kitab Al-Sawm, Number 2614]
Abu Ayyub al-Ansari (Radi Allah Anhu) reported Allah’s Messenger (sal-allahu-alleihi-wasallam) as saying: He who observed the fast of Ramadan and then followed it with six (fasts) of Shawwal. it would be as if he fasted perpetually.
[Sahih Muslim : Book 6 Kitab Al-Sawm, Number 2612]
Abu Huraira (Radi Allah Anhu) reported that He (sal-allahu-alleihi-wasallam) was asked as to which prayer was most excellent after the prescribed prayer, and which fast was most excellent after the month of Ramadan. He said: Prayer is offered in the middle of the night and the most excellent fast after (fasting) in the month of Ramadan is the fast in God’s month al-Muharram.
Our Lord! surely we have heard a preacher calling to the faith, saying: Believe in your Lord, so we did believe; Our Lord! forgive us, therefore, our faults, cover our evil deeds, and make us die with the righteous.
1. Based on this, the majority of the fuqaha, including the Hanafi, Shafi’i, and Hanbali school, have held that it is recommended to fast six days of the month of Shawwal. [Radd al-Muhtar; Mughni al-Muhtaj Shah al-Minhaj; Kashshaf al-Qina’]
2. It is permitted to fast these six days separately throughout the month, or consecutively, after Eid al-Fitr.
3. It is prohibitively disliked (makruh tahriman) and sinful to fast on Eid day itself. [Radd al-Muhtar]
4. The Shafi’is and Hanbalis state that it is superior to make the six fasts consecutive [Minhaj, Ghayat al-Muntaha]. Khatib al-Shirbini explains the reasoning as being,