Shawwal: The fast of a lifetime!! [Fasting the 6 days of Shawwal] Now that the days of Ramadan are over for this year, the days of accruing great rewards are not. Fasting six days of Shawwaal after the obligatory fast of Ramadaan is Sunnah Mustahabbah, not waajib. It is recommended for the Muslim to fast six days of Shawwaal, and in this there is great virtue and an immense reward. Whoever fasts these six days will have recorded for him a reward as if he had fasted a whole year, as was reported in a saheeh hadeeth from the Prophet (Sallahu ‘alayhi wa salam). Abu Ayyoob (may Allaah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allaah (Sallahu ‘alayhi wa salam) said: “Whoever fasts Ramadaan and follows it with six days of Shawwaal, it will be as if he fasted for a lifetime.” [Narrated by Muslim, Abu Dawood, al-Tirmidhi, al-Nisaa’i and Ibn Maajah] Virtues of Fasting The fasting of Shawwal is like fasting in Sha’ban, both of these months are wedded to Ramadan. Whilst the fasting in Sha’ban serves to prepare the believer for Ramadan, Shawwal is like demonstrating gratitude to Allah for bestowing us with Ramadan.The one who fasts the six days of Shawwal after completing the fasts of Ramadan is like one who has fasted continuously, as a good deed is multiplied by 10 (i.e. 36 days of fasts is equivalent 360 days – a full year). The Prophet (Sallahu ‘alayhi wa salam) said “Fasting Ramadan is like fasting ten months, and fasting six days is like fasting two months. That is like fasting a whole year.” [Ahmad and Ibn Majah] Benefits of fasting straight after Ramadan Firstly, fasting the 6 days of Shawwal after completing the days of Ramadan is like fasting for the entire year. Secondly, fasting in Sha’ban and Shawwal is like praying the voluntary prayers that come before and after an obligatory prayer. Similar to those prayers, the Sha’ban fasts prepares the believer for Ramadan whilst the Shawwal ones compensates for any deficiencies of the obligatory Ramadan fasts. For this reason, ‘Umar ibn ‘Abdil Aziz is reported as saying , “Whoever finds nothing to give charity with, let him fast.” Just as one of the wisdoms of Zakatul-Fitr is to make up for any defects for the Ramadan fasts, ‘Umar ibn ‘Abdil Aziz suggests that if a person cannot afford this, then he should fast in its place as is done for other legislated acts such as violated oaths and so on. Thirdly, it is a sign that the fasts of Ramadan have been accepted. If Allah accepts an act of worship, surely He will give the believer an opportunity to perform an act similar to it. One of the scholars said: “The reward for a good deed is the good deed that follows it. So, whoever does a good deed and then follows it up with another one, that (the second good deed) is a sign of acceptance for the first good one.” Fourthly, the fasting of these six days represents thankfulness to Allah for giving us Ramadan. One of the Muslims in the early generations would fast as an act of thankfulness to Allah when he was given the opportunity to spend the night in prayer. Likewise, Wahayb bin al-Ward was asked about the reward for actions such as Tawaf or something like it. He responded, “Do not ask about its reward. Rather, ask about what form of thankfulness is incumbent upon one who was blessed to undertake the act.” And this is at odds with one who planned to return back to sin whilst fasting in Ramadan, for this is a sign of a rejected Ramadan. Fifthly, this helps the slave to continue to do the acts that he started in Ramadan. The Messenger of Allah said: “The best deed in the sight of Allah is that which is done regularly.” [A- Bukhari] Do not let the fasting of Ramadan be like how many of us recite the Qur’an – we begin reciting it in Ramadan and end it there, not returning to it for another year! Rather our endeavours should be continuous such that the recitation of Surah As-Naas is followed by Al-Fatiha and Al-Baqarah. Every time we complete the Quran, we begin it again. by Asif Uddin [with some sort of addition] Source: islam21c
Posted on: Thu, 07 Aug 2014 09:10:05 +0000
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