What is the wisdom behind fasting six days of Shawwal?
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The questioner : What is the wisdom behind fasting six days of Shawwal?
The Shaykh : The wisdom behind fasting six days of Shawwal is the same as the wisdom behind the other voluntary acts of worship that Allah has prescribed for His servants to complete the obligatory ones. Fasting six days of Shawwal is like the regular voluntary prayers (rawatib) that follow an obligatory prayer, serving to make up for any deficiency in the obligatory act. Among the wisdom and mercy of Allah the Exalted is that He established recommended practices (sunnah) for the obligatory acts to complete and patch them. Fasting six days of Shawwal carries this great benefit, and it also completes the fasting of the year, as Muslim narrated in "his Sahih" from the hadith of Abu Ayyub (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Riyad as-Salihin 1254
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The Shaykh : The wisdom behind fasting six days of Shawwal is the same as the wisdom behind the other voluntary acts of worship that Allah has prescribed for His servants to complete the obligatory ones. Fasting six days of Shawwal is like the regular voluntary prayers (rawatib) that follow an obligatory prayer, serving to make up for any deficiency in the obligatory act. Among the wisdom and mercy of Allah the Exalted is that He established recommended practices (sunnah) for the obligatory acts to complete and patch them. Fasting six days of Shawwal carries this great benefit, and it also completes the fasting of the year, as Muslim narrated in "his Sahih" from the hadith of Abu Ayyub (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
He who observes As-Saum (the fasts) in the month of Ramadan, and also observes As-Saum for six days in the month of Shawwal, it is as if he has observed As-Saum for the whole year.
من صام رمضان وأتبعه بست من شوال كان كصيام الدهرThe questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes.