Is it permissible to perform the six days of Shawwal before making up the fasts of Ramadan?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Making up the obligatory fasts, for example, performing the six days of Shawwal... Does one start with Shawwal, or is it necessary to start with making up what is owed?
The Shaykh : One starts with what is owed; because this is more obligatory for him than fasting the six days of Shawwal. However, if he does it—meaning he fasts the six days of Shawwal—and then follows that with making up the fasts of Ramadan, there is no prohibition. But in terms of what is better, the more obligatory is prioritized, and the more obligatory is making up the fasts.
The questioner : The rule states that it was... except in Sha'ban; does what you mentioned mean that the voluntary fasts were abandoned?
The Shaykh : Who is...?
The questioner : Aisha said... fasting Ramadan... except in Sha'ban; is this hadith authentic?
The Shaykh : No, I am trying to remember the wording of the hadith. Does the hadith not mention the occupation with the Messenger of Allah? Okay; that was her situation, whereas we are discussing our case.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : What do we have to do with that? The important thing is that she said the occupation with the Messenger of Allah prevented her from fasting; so here there is an excuse, and the issue raised earlier is one where there is no excuse.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : This—may Allah bless you—is something that has been made up; is that not so? I mean, her hadith does not address the aspect you are asking about; correct or not?
The questioner : Correct.
The Shaykh : Okay; so do we speak by guessing and say: she used to fast or she did not fast? We know that she was not able to make up what was owed to her except in Sha'ban, "the occupation with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)," so there is an excuse here, and what concerns us are the details thereafter.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : How?
The questioner : The weakness... they do not see the permissibility of making up the voluntary fasts until he has completed what is owed to him from...
The Shaykh : And what did I say?
The questioner : You said it.
The Shaykh : It is permissible, yes. The best is to hasten; because Allah says:, but if a man finds it easy to fast the six days of Shawwal, and then follows it with what he owes from Ramadan, so he performs the obligatory and performs the voluntary, this would be better. But out of fear that he might miss making up the fasts because of his preoccupation with the voluntary, we say: the best is to prioritize what he owes from the obligatory.
The questioner : In fasting... meaning it necessitates for him to delay, but the issue of the six days of Shawwal or Ashura or whatever it may be...
The Shaykh: I did not understand you.
The questioner : The preference... or his saying a few days... a period of one month of Shawwal...
The Shaykh : And this is a repetition of what has passed; meaning, do we repeat the same speech?
The questioner: No.
The Shaykh: So then?
The questioner : So...
The Shaykh : We do not say it is correct—may Allah bless you—these are matters of independent legal reasoning on which there are no explicit texts. There are no explicit texts; rather, it is from the places of disagreement, as they say. We do not say that it is correct, but we say we see that the best is to start by making up what he owes from the obligatory; because if he is preoccupied with the voluntary and an obligatory remains upon him, he will be held accountable.
Yes?
The questioner : ... because even... in the month of goodness...
The Shaykh : Is it permissible? If he is not held accountable, then is he held accountable if he fasts the voluntary?
The questioner : No, I did not say that.
The Shaykh : You are saying that the scholars do not permit preoccupation with the voluntary.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Okay; do they permit delaying the making up? How is that then?
The questioner : Meaning it is not permissible until...
The Shaykh : In any case, I do not know what you are attributing to the scholars. Are you certain now that the scholars say this statement?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Okay; I heard your statement, but as for the scholars, yes, that is possible.
In any case, we ask Allah (Mighty and Majestic) to guide us to the truth in which there is disagreement, by His permission. Indeed, He guides whom He wills to a straight path.
The questioner : O Shaykh, is there a text?
The Shaykh : No, there is no text. If there were a text, all this discussion would not have taken place.
Please proceed.
The Shaykh : One starts with what is owed; because this is more obligatory for him than fasting the six days of Shawwal. However, if he does it—meaning he fasts the six days of Shawwal—and then follows that with making up the fasts of Ramadan, there is no prohibition. But in terms of what is better, the more obligatory is prioritized, and the more obligatory is making up the fasts.
The questioner : The rule states that it was... except in Sha'ban; does what you mentioned mean that the voluntary fasts were abandoned?
The Shaykh : Who is...?
The questioner : Aisha said... fasting Ramadan... except in Sha'ban; is this hadith authentic?
The Shaykh : No, I am trying to remember the wording of the hadith. Does the hadith not mention the occupation with the Messenger of Allah? Okay; that was her situation, whereas we are discussing our case.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : What do we have to do with that? The important thing is that she said the occupation with the Messenger of Allah prevented her from fasting; so here there is an excuse, and the issue raised earlier is one where there is no excuse.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : This—may Allah bless you—is something that has been made up; is that not so? I mean, her hadith does not address the aspect you are asking about; correct or not?
The questioner : Correct.
The Shaykh : Okay; so do we speak by guessing and say: she used to fast or she did not fast? We know that she was not able to make up what was owed to her except in Sha'ban, "the occupation with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)," so there is an excuse here, and what concerns us are the details thereafter.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : How?
The questioner : The weakness... they do not see the permissibility of making up the voluntary fasts until he has completed what is owed to him from...
The Shaykh : And what did I say?
The questioner : You said it.
The Shaykh : It is permissible, yes. The best is to hasten; because Allah says:
and hasten to [seek] forgiveness
وسارعوا إلى مغفرةThe questioner : In fasting... meaning it necessitates for him to delay, but the issue of the six days of Shawwal or Ashura or whatever it may be...
The Shaykh: I did not understand you.
The questioner : The preference... or his saying a few days... a period of one month of Shawwal...
The Shaykh : And this is a repetition of what has passed; meaning, do we repeat the same speech?
The questioner: No.
The Shaykh: So then?
The questioner : So...
The Shaykh : We do not say it is correct—may Allah bless you—these are matters of independent legal reasoning on which there are no explicit texts. There are no explicit texts; rather, it is from the places of disagreement, as they say. We do not say that it is correct, but we say we see that the best is to start by making up what he owes from the obligatory; because if he is preoccupied with the voluntary and an obligatory remains upon him, he will be held accountable.
Yes?
The questioner : ... because even... in the month of goodness...
The Shaykh : Is it permissible? If he is not held accountable, then is he held accountable if he fasts the voluntary?
The questioner : No, I did not say that.
The Shaykh : You are saying that the scholars do not permit preoccupation with the voluntary.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Okay; do they permit delaying the making up? How is that then?
The questioner : Meaning it is not permissible until...
The Shaykh : In any case, I do not know what you are attributing to the scholars. Are you certain now that the scholars say this statement?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Okay; I heard your statement, but as for the scholars, yes, that is possible.
In any case, we ask Allah (Mighty and Majestic) to guide us to the truth in which there is disagreement, by His permission. Indeed, He guides whom He wills to a straight path.
The questioner : O Shaykh, is there a text?
The Shaykh : No, there is no text. If there were a text, all this discussion would not have taken place.
Please proceed.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.