❖ What is the Ruling on Fasting Six Days of Shawwāl?
In the Light of Authentic Hadiths
Source: Fatāwā Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri
❖ Question:
What is the Islamic ruling on fasting six days in the month of Shawwāl?
❖ Answer:
There is consensus among the scholars that fasting six days in Shawwāl is prescribed (mashrūʿ) and recommended (mustaḥabb).
Numerous authentic and widely transmitted (mutawātir) narrations confirm its legitimacy.
✔ ʿAllāmah al-Kattānī رحمه الله included this practice in his work Naẓm al-Mutanāthir min al-Ḥadīth al-Mutawātir (p. 134).
❀ Sayyidunā Abū Ayyūb al-Anṣārī رضي الله عنه narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
مَنْ صَامَ رَمَضَانَ، ثُمَّ أَتْبَعَهُ سِتًّا مِنْ شَوَّالٍ، كَانَ كَصِيَامِ الدَّهْرِ
“Whoever fasts in Ramadan and then follows it with six days of Shawwāl, it is as if he fasted for an entire year.”
Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 1164❀ In another narration, Abū Ayyūb رضي الله عنه asked:
بِكُلِّ يَوْمٍ عَشْرٌ؟ قَالَ: نَعَمْ
“Ten rewards for each day?”
He ﷺ replied, “Yes.”
Muṣannaf ʿAbd al-Razzāq: 7918; Muʿjam Ibn al-Muqri’: 615; Ṣaḥīḥ Abū ʿAwānah: 2699 – All with authentic chains✔ Imām al-Tirmidhī رحمه الله said:
“Based on this ḥadīth, a group of scholars considered fasting six days of Shawwāl to be mustaḥabb (recommended).”
Sunan al-Tirmidhī, under ḥadīth: 759✔ Imām ʿAbd al-Razzāq رحمه الله said:
“We act upon this ḥadīth.”
Muṣannaf ʿAbd al-Razzāq: 7918✔ Imām ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Mubārak رحمه الله said:
“It is a good practice, similar to fasting three days of every month.”
Sunan al-Tirmidhī, under ḥadīth: 759❀ Sayyidunā Abū Hurayrah رضي الله عنه narrated:
مَنْ صَامَ رَمَضَانَ، وَأَتْبَعَهُ بِسِتٍّ مِنْ شَوَّالٍ، فَكَأَنَّمَا صَامَ الدَّهْرَ
“Whoever fasts in Ramadan and follows it with six from Shawwāl, it is as if he fasted for a lifetime.”
Musnad al-Bazzār [Kashf al-Astār]: 1060 – Chain is ḥasan❀ Sayyidunā Thawbān رضي الله عنه narrated:
مَنْ صَامَ سِتَّةَ أَيَّامٍ بَعْدَ الْفِطْرِ، كَانَ تَمَامَ السَّنَةِ، مَنْ جَاءَ بِالْحَسَنَةِ فَلَهُ عَشْرُ أَمْثَالِهَا
“Whoever fasts six days after Eid al-Fiṭr, it will be as though he has fasted a complete year. Whoever brings a good deed will have ten times its reward.”
Sunan Ibn Mājah: 1715 – Chain is ḥasan❀ Another narration states:
جَعَلَ اللَّهُ الْحَسَنَةَ بِعَشْرٍ، فَشَهْرٌ بِعَشَرَةِ أَشْهُرٍ، وَسِتَّةُ أَيَّامٍ بَعْدَ الْفِطْرِ تَمَامُ السَّنَةِ
“Allah multiplies one good deed by ten. Thus, the month (of Ramadan) equals ten months, and six days (of Shawwāl) equal two months—making it a full year.”
al-Sunan al-Kubrā by al-Nasā’ī: 2874 – Chain is authentic Also in Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Khuzaymah: 2115 (authentic chain):صِيَامُ رَمَضَانَ بِعَشْرَةِ أَشْهُرٍ، وَصِيَامُ السِّتَّةِ أَيَّامٍ بِشَهْرَيْنِ، فَذَلِكَ صِيَامُ السَّنَةِ
“Fasting of Ramadan is equal to ten months, and fasting six days is equal to two months; thus it completes a full year of fasting.”
✔ Imām al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī رحمه الله used to say:
Whenever the six fasts of Shawwāl were mentioned before him, he would say: ‘Indeed, Allah has accepted the fasting of the whole year from the servant through these days.’
Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah: 3/96 – Chain is authentic❖ Scholarly Consensus:
✔ Imām al-Shāfiʿī (as quoted in Sharḥ al-Nawawī: 1/369),
✔ Imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal (al-Mughnī by Ibn Qudāmah: 3/172),
✔ Shāh Walīullāh ad-Dihlawī (Ḥujjatullāh al-Bālighah: 2/85)
—all affirmed that these fasts are prescribed and recommended.
The view attributed to Imām Abū Ḥanīfah of disliking them is not authentically established. No reliable imam has denied their validity. Any opinion to the contrary is weak and unsupported.
✔ ʿAllāmah al-Kāsānī al-Ḥanafī رحمه الله wrote:
لَيْسَ بِمَكْرُوهٍ، بَلْ هُوَ مُسْتَحَبٌ وَسُنَّةٌ
“It is not disliked; rather, it is recommended and a Sunnah.”
Badā’iʿ al-Ṣanā’iʿ: 2/78✔ Ḥanafī Fiqh sources also state:
لَكِنْ عَامَّةُ الْمُتَأَخِّرِينَ لَمْ يَرَوْا بِهِ بَأْسًا
“Most of the later Ḥanafī scholars did not see any objection to fasting these days.”
al-Baḥr al-Rā’iq: 2/278; Minhah al-Khāliq by Ibn ʿĀbidīn: 2/278✔ Shaykhī Zādah al-Ḥanafī رحمه الله (d. 1078 AH) wrote:
“The six fasts of Shawwāl after Eid al-Fiṭr are not disliked; this is the preferred view. The presence of the Eid day between Ramadan and these fasts removes resemblance with the People of the Book. Since a ḥadīth has been reported regarding them, they are not disliked but rather recommended Sunnah.”
Majmaʿ al-Anhur: 1/255
Summary:
① Fasting six days in Shawwāl after Ramadan is recommended (mustaḥabb).
② It is based on multiple authentic ḥadīths, many of them mutawātir.
③ The reward equals that of fasting for an entire year.
④ The practice is endorsed by all major scholars and jurists, including those of the Ḥanafī, Mālikī, Shāfiʿī, and Ḥanbalī schools.
⑤ There is no authentic report of it being disliked.
