who are with him are the ones most closely linked to the earlier prophets. As Allah says: “Indeed, the people who are nearest to Abraham are those who followed him—together with this Prophet and those who believe; and Allah is the Protector of the believers.” Hence the Messenger of Allah ﷺ has a greater claim to Moses than the Jews, for the Jews denied Moses, denied Jesus, and denied Muhammad. He therefore fasted that day and commanded the people to fast it as well, but he also ordered them to differ from the Jews, who fast only the tenth. We, then, are to fast either the ninth with the tenth, or the eleventh with the tenth, or all three days.

For this reason some scholars, such as Ibn al-Qayyim and others, have said that fasting ʿĀshūrāʾ falls into three categories:

1. Fasting the day of ʿĀshūrāʾ together with the ninth. This is the best option.
2. Fasting ʿĀshūrāʾ together with the eleventh. This is a lesser option.
3. Fasting ʿĀshūrāʾ by itself. Some scholars disliked this because the Prophet ﷺ instructed us to differ from the Jews, while others deemed it permissible.

Another set of recommended fasts are the six days of Shawwāl. In the hadith of Abū Ayyūb the Prophet ﷺ said: “Whoever fasts Ramadan and then follows it with six days of Shawwāl, it is as though he has fasted the whole year.” The scholars explain this on the basis that each good deed is rewarded tenfold: the month of Ramadan counts for ten months, and the six days count for sixty days—that is, two months. Accordingly, once a person has completed the fast of Ramadan, it is recommended for him to fast six days from Shawwāl.

One must also know that these six days are not to be observed before making up any missed fasts. If someone still owes a single day of Ramadan and proceeds to fast the six, he will not attain the promised reward, because the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Whoever fasts Ramadan,” and whoever still owes even one day of Ramadan has not