The 365 · Sunnah · Day 241 · Fasting
Fasting Six Days of Shawwāl
The hadith
قَالَ النَّبِيُّ ﷺ: «مَنْ صَامَ رَمَضَانَ ثُمَّ أَتْبَعَهُ سِتًّا مِنْ شَوَّالٍ كَانَ كَصِيَامِ الدَّهْرِ»
The Prophet ﷺ said: Whoever fasts Ramadan and then follows it with six days of Shawwāl, it is as if he fasted the entire year. (Muslim)
Svenska: Profeten ﷺ sa: Den som fastar Ramadan och sedan följer det med sex dagar av Shawwāl, det är som om han fastat hela året. (Muslim)
Sahih Muslim 1164, on the authority of Abū Ayyūb al-Anṣārī. The math: 30 fasting days × 10 reward each = 300; six Shawwāl days × 10 = 60; total = 360, the year.
The story
ʿĀʾishah said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to fast such that we would say: he never breaks the fast; and he would break such that we would say: he never fasts (Bukhārī, Muslim). His relationship with fasting was not seasonal; it was integrated. The six of Shawwāl is the Sunnah that prevents Ramadan from becoming a costume worn one month and discarded the next.
Why it's here
The math is elegant. One ḥasanah counts as ten. Ramadan = 30 days × 10 = 300. Six days of Shawwāl × 10 = 60. Total: 360 days, the year. The Prophet ﷺ is telling us that this small follow-up is the act that ensures we entered the new year with our fasting already complete.
Try it today
1) The day after Eid al-Fiṭr, do not break the rhythm: fast the next Monday. 2) Aim for the consecutive six days if your work permits, then schedule them in your calendar before Ramadan ends each year. 3) Hold a private intention: I do this not to be heard about, but because Allah loves consistent worship.
In your day
Within Shawwāl, fast six days. They can be consecutive (the first six after Eid is a common practice) or scattered. Tie them to days you would otherwise be careless. Most importantly: do not let Eid be the death of your taqwā. The six of Shawwāl is the cardio that proves the marathon meant something.
A reflection to carry
There is a quiet difference between the fasting of Ramadan and the fasting of Shawwāl. In Ramadan, everyone is fasting; the masjids are full, the suḥūr is communal, the iftar is celebrated. In Shawwāl, nobody else is fasting with you. The cashier is not fasting. Your colleague is not fasting. Your family at lunch is not fasting. The Sunnah of six is to fast when no one is fasting with you, when nothing structural makes it easier, when the only sustenance is your love for the Lord whose month just ended. That is when worship matures. That is when Ramadan was real.
Read the longer reflection
The Sahaba understood Ramadan differently from us. Ibn al-Jawzī describes them: they would weep when Ramadan ended because they did not know if their fasting had been accepted. They would spend the six months after Ramadan asking Allah to accept it, and the six months before the next Ramadan asking Allah to grant them reaching it. We weep less because we hope less. The six of Shawwāl is the Sunnah that converts the hope into evidence. By keeping the fast in the month that follows, you are saying with your body: my Ramadan was real. The fast that left does not have to take my taqwā with it. The Prophet ﷺ said the six is as if he fasted the year (Muslim). Not 'almost'. As if. That is the kindness of the Sharīʿah. Six days of effort buy an entire year of fasting in the books. And the believer who fasts every year's six days fasts a lifetime. Yā Allāh, let our Ramadan be accepted and our Shawwāl be a proof of that acceptance. Let us join the ranks of those who fasted a lifetime by Your generous arithmetic. Āmīn.
Sources: Sahih Muslim, Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah. The Qur'an and its translation are verified; the scholarship is retold faithfully in our own words and credited to its sources, never reproduced verbatim.
A verse, a healing, and a Sunnah, every morning.
Subscribe, free