FOLLOWING RAMADHAAN WITH SIX FASTS OF SHAWWAAL

Abu Ayyoob al-Ansaari رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ narrates that Rasulullaah صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم said, “The person who fasts in Ramadhaan and follows it with six fasts in Shawwaal is like a person who kept fast throughout the year.”(Muslim no. 1164)

These fasts can be kept consecutively or separately throughout the month.

Fasting in Ramadhaan and following it with six fasts in Shawwaal is equal to fasting throughout the year because the reward of a good deed is multiplied ten times. This is clearly explained in the hadeeth of Thaubaan رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ that Rasulullaah صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم said, “Fasting in Ramadhaan is equal to fasting for ten months. Fasting for six days in Shawwaal is equal to fasting for two months. This equals fasting for a full year.” (ibn Hibbaan no. 3627)

Someone could make the objection that if a person keeps these six fasts in any month apart from Shawwaal, he will still receive this reward. Why, then, is fasting specified in Shawwaal? The reply to this is that fasting in Shawwaal is attached to the virtue of fasting in Ramadhaan. The person will therefore receive the reward of keeping compulsory fasts for a full year. This is stated by Ibn al-Mubaarak. It is stated that Imam Tirmidhi narrated it from him in a part of a hadeeth (see under hadeeth 759).

The difference in reward for Fardh and Nafl deeds - Allamah Nawawi has cited Imamul Haramayn Al-Juwayni to have quoted from certain ‘Ulama that the reward of a fardh act is actually equal to 70 nafl (voluntary) deeds!! (Sharh Sahih Muslim, vol.1 pg.324) Mujaddid Alfe-Thaani is of the opinion that a person’s nafl acts of his whole life cannot equal one fardh.

THE BENEFITS OF KEEPING THESE SIX FASTS

1. Keeping six fasts in Shawwaal after fasting in Ramadhaan enables one to acquire the reward of fasting for a full year.

2. The fasts of Sha‘baan and Shawwaal are like the Sunnah salaahs which are performed before and after the compulsory salaahs. These serve to fill the shortcomings and gaps which were committed in the compulsory act. Compulsory acts will be filled and perfected by the optional acts on the day of Resurrection as narrated from Rasulullaah صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم in many narrations. The majority of people have some shortcomings and gaps in their compulsory fasts and these need to be filled and mended.

3. Being in the habit of fasting after the fast of Ramadhaan is a sign of acceptance of the Ramadhaan fasts. This is because when Allaah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى accepts a deed from a servant, He enables him to follow it with another good deed. A person said, “The reward of a good deed is following it with another good deed.” So if a person does a good deed and follows it with another good deed after it, it is an indication of the acceptance of his first deed. If a person does a good deed and follows it with an evil deed, it is a sign of rejection of the good deed and its non-acceptance.

4. The fasts of Ramadhaan enable the forgiving of past sins, as mentioned previously. Those who kept fast in Ramadhaan are given their full reward on the day of Eid which is the day of prize-giving. Fasting habitually after the month of Ramadhaan would entail expressing gratitude for this bounty. There is no bounty greater than the forgiveness of sins. Rasulullaah صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم used to remain standing in night worship to the extent that his feet would become swollen. He was asked, “Why do you do this when Allaah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى has forgiven you your past and future sins?”
He replied, “Should I not be a grateful servant?” (Muslim no. 1130, Muslim no. 2819).

Allaah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى ordered His servants to be grateful for the bounty of fasting in Ramadhaan by engaging in His remembrance and through other forms of expressing gratitude. He says, “that you may complete the number, you may magnify Allaah for His having guided you, and so that you may be thankful.” (Surah al-Baqarah verse 185) One of the ways a person can give thanks to Allaah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى for enabling him to fast in Ramadhaan, helping him in this regard and forgiving him his sins is for the servant to fast in gratitude after the month. Whenever a pious predecessor was inspired to engage in night worship, he would follow it with fasting the next day as a way of thanks for the inspiration to engage in night worship.

As for returning the bounty of fasting in Ramadhaan with committing sins, this amounts to changing the bounty of Allaah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى with disbelief. The person who resolves to return to sins after the expiry of Ramadhaan shall have his fast rejected, and the door of mercy is shut to him. Ka’b Rah said, “The person who fasts in Ramadhaan while thinking to himself that he will not disobey Allaah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى after Ramadhaan shall enter Jannah without questioning and accounting. The person who fasts in Ramadhaan while thinking to himself that he will disobey Allaah after Ramadhaan, his fast is rejected.”

5. The deeds with which a person was gaining proximity to Allaah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىdo not end with the expiry of Ramadhaan. Rather, they continue after its expiry as long as the person is alive. This is the meaning of the hadeeth in which it is stated that the person who fasts after Ramadhaan is like a person who goes back to face the enemy after having fled from the battlefield. Many people express joy over the expiry of Ramadhaan because they consider fasting to be heavy on them, they get tired of it, and they feel that it has prolonged too much. The person who experiences all of this is unable to return quickly to fasting. So the person who returns to fasting soon after the day of Eid shows his desire to fast, and that the entire month of fasting did not make him fatigued, did not bear down on him, and he did not become averse to it.

Rasulullaah صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم said, “The most beloved deeds in the sight of Allaah are those of the person who stops and departs.” (Tirmidhi no. 2948) This refers to the person who recites the Qur’aan from beginning to end, and commences once again when he ends. Each time he comes to the end [of his journey of reciting the Qur’aan], he commences once again. The person who commences fasting soon after the month of Ramadhaan is similar to the person who recites the Qur’aan and returns to its recitation as soon as he completes it. Allaah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى knows best.

Someone said to Bishr, “The people are worshipping and striving hard in Ramadhaan.” He said, “Evil are those who only fulfil the rights of Allaah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى in the month of Ramadhaan. A righteous person is he who worships and strives hard throughout the year.”

سئل الشبلي: أيما أفضل رجب أم شعبان؟ فقال: كن ربانيا ولا تكن شعبانيا
Ash-Shiblee Rah was asked, “Which month is superior, Rajab or Sha‘baan?” He replied, “Be an ardent worshipper of Allaah and do not be a person who confines himself to worship in Sha‘baan (or Rajab) alone.”

There was constancy in the deeds of Rasulullaah صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم. Aa’ishah رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ was asked if Rasulullaah صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم set aside any particular day for any particular act of worship. She replied, “No. there was constancy in his deeds.” (Bukhaari no. 1987)
This means that Rasulullaah صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم worshipped Allaah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىthroughout the year, even though there were some occasions he exerted himself, like the last ten days of Ramadhaan.

May Allaah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى grant us istiqaamah (steadfastness) to continue with worshipping Allaah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى after Ramadhaan, even if not to the level we did in Ramadhaan.

Some of the pious have said,
قال بعض السلف: صم الدنيا، واجعل فطرك الموت، الدنيا كلها شهر رمضان، المتقون يصومون فيه عن الشهوات المحرمات فإذا جاءهم الموت فقد انقضى شهر صيامهم واستهلوا عيد فطرهم
Fast from the world, and make death the breaking of your fast. The whole world is the month of Ramadhaan. The pious abstain (fast) in the world from haraam desires. When death comes to them, the month of their fasting comes to an end, and they celebrate Eid.