When to fast the six days of Shawwal

24-12-2002 | IslamWeb

Question:

When are we supposed to fast the six days of Shawwal? Is it right after ‘Eed? Do we have to fast them successively or can we fast them separately? Thank you

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

 

Fasting six days in Shawwal is desirable according to the view of the majority of the scholars for the following Hadeeth. The Prophet said: “Whoever fasts Ramadan and follows that by fasting six days of Shawwal, it is as if he had fasted for the whole year.” [Muslim] Therefore, you can start from the second day after ‘Eed or any other day as it is also lawful to you to fast them successively or separately.

Imam Ibn Qudama said: “There is no difference between fasting these days consecutively or fasting them separately; at the beginning of the month or at its last days because the Hadeeth is general and does not limit fasting these days within a given period of time during the month.”

Finally, it should be mentioned that it is forbidden to fast on the first day of Shawwal, i.e. on ‘Eed day.

Allah knows best.