a needy person is fed on his behalf; and whoever dies while owing a vowed prayer, fast, pilgrimage, or the like, it is carried out from his estate. If he leaves no estate, it is recommended for his guardian to do so.

Section
(On voluntary fasting and the days whose fasting is disliked or forbidden)

The best form of voluntary fasting is to alternate days. It is recommended to fast three days of every month—preferably the middle “white” days—and likewise Mondays and Thursdays; six days of Shawwal, with the preferable course being to observe them consecutively immediately after Eid; the month of Allah, Muharram, most emphatically the day of ʿAshura, then the day of Tasuʿa; and the first nine days of Dhu al-Hijjah, the most meritorious of which is the Day of ʿArafah for one who is not performing the pilgrimage there, followed by the Day of Tarwiyah.

It is disliked to single out Rajab, or a Saturday or a Friday, or a festival day of the unbelievers (1) for fasting, as well as to fast the Day of Doubt when the preceding night was cloudless.

It is unlawful to fast on either Eid day under any circumstance, and during the Days of Tashriq, except for someone who must fast in place of the sacrificial offering owed for a tamattuʿ or qirān pilgrimage.

Whoever embarks on an obligatory act is forbidden to interrupt it, whereas completing a voluntary one is not binding, nor is making up a voluntary fast that has been broken—except in the cases of Hajj and ʿUmrah.

[Seeking Laylat al-Qadr]

Laylat al-Qadr is most earnestly sought in the last ten nights of Ramadan, especially on the odd nights, and the night most likely to be it is the twenty-seventh. Among the supplications to be offered on that night is:

“O Allah, You are Pardoning and You love to pardon, so pardon me.” (2)