Fasting in Shawwaal before missed days of Ramadan

08/09/2010| IslamWeb

 

Question:

I was told that I can fast 6 days in Shawwaal, and later to fast missed days in Ramadan. Is that correct?

Fatwa:

 

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, may Allah exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.

 

The Prophet said: “Whoever fasts during the month of Ramadan and then follows it with six days of Shawwaal will be [rewarded] as if he had fasted the entire year.” [Muslim]

In another Hadeeth the Prophet said: “Whoever fasts six days after Eed al-Fitr will be rewarded as if he had fasted the entire year. Whoever does a good act he will be rewarded ten times.” [Ibn Maajah, Al-Albaani-Saheeh]

 

Fasting the missed days of Ramadan first is preferable as the reward in the aforementioned narrations is for the one who fasts all the month of Ramadan and then fasts six days of Shawwaal. Therefore, make up the missed days of Ramadan first and then fast the six days of Shawwaal.

 

However, it is lawful to fast the six days of Shawwaal before making up the missed days of Ramadan.  Scholars from the Maaliki and Shaafi’i schools of jurisprudence  dislike doing so, while scholars from the Hanafi school believe it is lawful and there is no objection to it.  Nevertheless, scholars from the Hanbali school think that it is unlawful.  But the most preponderant and most sound opinion is that it is lawful to fast the six days of Shawwaal delaying the missed days of Ramadan.

 

The above rule concerns only the missed days of Ramadan that were not fasted for some (slamicaly) legal reason.  However, if the person did not fast some days in Ramadan with no legal excuse, then he/she should make up those days before any supererogatory fasting. This is so because in the last case, the person has actually  transgressed the limits of Allah by breaking the fast without any legal reason.

 
Allah knows best.

Fatwa answered by:The Fatwa Center at Islamweb