566 – Abu Ayyub al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Whoever fasts the month of Ramadan and then follows it with six days of Shawwal, it is as though he has fasted the whole year.” Narrated by Muslim (1).
Glossary of terms
– atbaʿahu (he followed it up): to attach something to another, making it its follower.
– Shawwal – the tenth month of the lunar Hijri year and the first of the months of pilgrimage. It was so named, according to one view, because when the months were first named it coincided with the season when camels’ udders dry up (tashwīl). Plural: Shawwālat.
– al-dahr: a span of time; while it can denote various lengths, here it refers specifically to the lunar year, as will be explained below.
Lessons derived from the hadith
- The hadith is explicit and sound proof of the recommendation to fast six days in Shawwal. Besides the chain recorded by Muslim, it is transmitted through three additional routes: Ahmad (22433), Abu Dawud (2078) and al-Tirmidhi (690). These three independent chains have led some scholars to label the report mutawātir, for al-Dimyati gathered its routes and traced it back through more than twenty Companions, most of whom were reliable ḥuffāẓ.
- The desirability of fasting these six days is the position of the early and later generations and the majority of jurists, including the three imams: Abu Hanifa, al-Shafiʿi and Ahmad.