Fasting Six Days of the Month of Shawwal

The month of Ramadan has ended but did you know that you can fast 6 additional days in the month of Shawwal

Q: What is the significance of fasting in the month of Shawwal?
Taken from islamonline.net

Answered by Mufti: Dr. Muzammil Siddiqi,
President of the Fiqh Council of North America (29/Oct/2006)

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.

Fasting six days of the month of Shawwal is mentioned in a Prophetic hadith. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is reported to have said:

"Whosoever fasted in Ramadan and then followed up with six fasting days of Shawwal, it is like fasting every day." (Muslim)

The meaning is that the reward is like the reward of a person who is always in fast every day of his/her life. [Note: some scholars may interpret this as like fasting for the whole year rather than whole lifetime]

It is highly recommended to fast six days of the month of Shawwal, but it is not obligatory.

Those who want to fast can fast after `Eid Al-Fitr any six days during Shawwal.

It is not required to fast six days continuously without any interruption. One can fast according to convenience any time during the month.

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In additon to the above - just to let you know that you can use normal prayer timestables to indicate the start of fasting (make it ten minutes before Fajr to be safe) and when to break the fast (when it is time for Magrib).