❀ Recommended Fasts of Shawwāl and 9th Dhul-Ḥijjah ❀
✍ Written by: Imran Ayyub Lahori
① Abū Ayyūb رضي الله عنه narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
من صام رمضان ثم أتبعه ستا من شوال فذاك كصيام الدهر
“Whoever fasts during Ramaḍān and then follows it with six days of Shawwāl, it is as if he fasted the entire year.”
[Muslim: 1164; Kitāb al-Ṣiyām: Bāb Istiḥbāb Ṣawm Sitta Ayyām min Shawwāl; Abū Dāwūd: 2433; Tirmidhī: 756; Ibn Mājah: 1716; Bayhaqī: 4/292; Ibn Khuzaymah: 2114; Aḥmad: 3/308]
➤ This equivalence is due to the principle that:
“Whoever performs one good deed will have ten times its reward.”
Thus, Ramaḍān (≈10 months) + six days of Shawwāl (≈2 months) = one full year.
② Thawbān رضي الله عنه reported the Prophet ﷺ said:
من صام ستة أيام بعد الفطر كان تمام السنة، من جاء بالحسنة فله عشر أمثالها
“Whoever fasts six days after ʿĪd al-Fiṭr, it is as though he fasted the entire year, for one good deed is rewarded tenfold.”
[Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Mājah: 1392; Ibn Mājah: 1715; Aḥmad: 5/280; Dārimī: 2/21; Bayhaqī: 4/293; Ibn Khuzaymah: 2115]
Note: These six days can be fasted at any point in Shawwāl — beginning, middle, end; consecutively or non-consecutively.
① Abū Qatādah رضي الله عنه reported that the Prophet ﷺ said:
صوم يوم عرفة يكفر سنتين
“Fasting on the Day of ʿArafah expiates the sins of the previous and the coming year.”
As for ʿĀshūrāʾ (10th Muḥarram), it expiates the sins of the past year.
[Aḥmad: 5/296; Muslim: 1162; Abū Dāwūd: 2325; Ibn Mājah: 1730; Ḥumaydī: 429; ʿAbd al-Razzāq: 8726; Bayhaqī: 4/286; Ibn Abī Shaybah: 3/57]
② In another narration from Abū Dāwūd, it is reported:
كان رسول الله يصوم تسع ذي الحجة ويوم عاشوراء وثلاثة أيام من كل شهر
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to fast the first nine days of Dhul-Ḥijjah, ʿĀshūrāʾ, and three days of every month.”
[Ṣaḥīḥ Abū Dāwūd: 2129; Kitāb al-Ṣiyām: Bāb fī Ṣawm al-ʿAshr; Abū Dāwūd: 2437]
✔ Six fasts of Shawwāl carry the reward of a full year of fasting.
✔ Fasting on the Day of ʿArafah is highly meritorious — expiating sins for two years.
✔ These fasts are voluntary (nafl) yet strongly recommended for immense reward.
✍ Written by: Imran Ayyub Lahori
❖ Fasting Six Days in Shawwāl is Mustaḥabb
① Abū Ayyūb رضي الله عنه narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
من صام رمضان ثم أتبعه ستا من شوال فذاك كصيام الدهر
“Whoever fasts during Ramaḍān and then follows it with six days of Shawwāl, it is as if he fasted the entire year.”
[Muslim: 1164; Kitāb al-Ṣiyām: Bāb Istiḥbāb Ṣawm Sitta Ayyām min Shawwāl; Abū Dāwūd: 2433; Tirmidhī: 756; Ibn Mājah: 1716; Bayhaqī: 4/292; Ibn Khuzaymah: 2114; Aḥmad: 3/308]➤ This equivalence is due to the principle that:
“Whoever performs one good deed will have ten times its reward.”
Thus, Ramaḍān (≈10 months) + six days of Shawwāl (≈2 months) = one full year.
② Thawbān رضي الله عنه reported the Prophet ﷺ said:
من صام ستة أيام بعد الفطر كان تمام السنة، من جاء بالحسنة فله عشر أمثالها
“Whoever fasts six days after ʿĪd al-Fiṭr, it is as though he fasted the entire year, for one good deed is rewarded tenfold.”
[Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Mājah: 1392; Ibn Mājah: 1715; Aḥmad: 5/280; Dārimī: 2/21; Bayhaqī: 4/293; Ibn Khuzaymah: 2115] Note: These six days can be fasted at any point in Shawwāl — beginning, middle, end; consecutively or non-consecutively.❖ Fasting on the 9th of Dhul-Ḥijjah (ʿArafah) is Mustaḥabb
① Abū Qatādah رضي الله عنه reported that the Prophet ﷺ said:
صوم يوم عرفة يكفر سنتين
“Fasting on the Day of ʿArafah expiates the sins of the previous and the coming year.”
As for ʿĀshūrāʾ (10th Muḥarram), it expiates the sins of the past year.
[Aḥmad: 5/296; Muslim: 1162; Abū Dāwūd: 2325; Ibn Mājah: 1730; Ḥumaydī: 429; ʿAbd al-Razzāq: 8726; Bayhaqī: 4/286; Ibn Abī Shaybah: 3/57]② In another narration from Abū Dāwūd, it is reported:
كان رسول الله يصوم تسع ذي الحجة ويوم عاشوراء وثلاثة أيام من كل شهر
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to fast the first nine days of Dhul-Ḥijjah, ʿĀshūrāʾ, and three days of every month.”
[Ṣaḥīḥ Abū Dāwūd: 2129; Kitāb al-Ṣiyām: Bāb fī Ṣawm al-ʿAshr; Abū Dāwūd: 2437]✔ Summary
✔ Six fasts of Shawwāl carry the reward of a full year of fasting.
✔ Fasting on the Day of ʿArafah is highly meritorious — expiating sins for two years.
✔ These fasts are voluntary (nafl) yet strongly recommended for immense reward.
