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﴿ فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِن كُنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ ﴾

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Is it prescribed to fast the six days of Shawwal for one who has missed days to make up?

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Your Eminence! This question is from a sender (J. S. K). Is it prescribed to fast the six days of Shawwal for one who has days from Ramadan to make up, before making up what he owes? Because I have heard some people issue a ruling to that effect, saying: Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) used not to make up the days she owed from Ramadan except in Sha'ban, and it appears that she used to fast the six days of Shawwal, given her known eagerness for good?
Answer: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, and may Allah send blessings and peace upon the Messenger of Allah, upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow his guidance.
As for the answer: In our view, it is not permissible to fast voluntary fasts before obligatory ones, for two reasons:
The first is that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
He who observed the fast of Ramadan and then followed it with six (fasts) of Shawwal. it would be as if he fasted perpetually.من صام رمضان ثم أتبعه ستاً من شوال كان كصيام الدهر
Sahih Muslim 1164a
One who has missed days from Ramadan to make up does not follow the six days of Shawwal after Ramadan; because some of Ramadan remains for him, so he does not follow them after Ramadan until he completes what he owes from Ramadan. So if a man has fasting from Ramadan to make up because he was traveling or ill, and then Allah heals him, he begins by making up Ramadan, then he fasts the six days if he is able to do so. And so it is with the woman who broke her fast because of menstruation or post-natal bleeding; she begins by making up the days she owes, then she fasts the six days of Shawwal if she is able to do so, if she makes them up in Sha'ban. As for beginning with fasting the six days of Shawwal, or the man who has fasting from the six days of Shawwal beginning with that, this is not appropriate and is not recommended.
The second aspect is that the debt to Allah is more deserving of being paid off, and that the obligatory is more deserving of being started and hastened to than the voluntary. Allah the Exalted has made fasting Ramadan obligatory upon him, and has made fasting Ramadan obligatory upon the woman, so it is not fitting to begin with the voluntary before performing the obligatory. And by this it is known that there is no basis for the ruling to fast the six days for one who has missed days to make up before making them up. Rather, he begins by making them up, so he fasts the obligatory. Then, if something remains of the month and he is able to fast the six days, he does so; otherwise, he leaves them; because they are voluntary, praise be to Allah. As for making up the fasting he owes from Ramadan, it is obligatory and a duty, so it is obligatory for him to begin with the obligatory before the voluntary, and to be cautious regarding his religion for the two aforementioned reasons:
The first is that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
then follows it with six from Shawwalثم أتبعه ستاً من شوال
Jami` at-Tirmidhi 759Sahih (Darussalam)
One who has days from Ramadan to make up does not follow the six days after Ramadan, rather, something remains for him, so it is as if he fasted them in the middle of the month, as if he fasted them between the days of Ramadan, not making them follow Ramadan.
The second matter is that the obligatory is more deserving of being started and more deserving of being paid off than the voluntary. For this reason, it came in the authentic hadith:
The debt of Allah deserves its payment more than (the payment of anyone else).دين الله أحق بالقضاء
Sahih Muslim 1148a
,
So, pay Allah's debt as He has more right to be paid.اقضوا الله، فالله أحق بالوفاء
Sahih al-Bukhari 1852
(Glorified and Exalted is He). Yes.
As for his statement regarding Aisha, Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) used to delay fasting until Sha'ban. She said: Because of my preoccupation with the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). So if she delayed the obligatory for the sake of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), then it is even more fitting and more fitting that she delay the voluntary for the sake of her preoccupation with the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).
So the conclusion is: There is no proof in Aisha's action for prioritizing the six days of Shawwal over making up Ramadan; because she delayed fasting Ramadan for the sake of her preoccupation with the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), so it is even more fitting and more fitting that she delay the six days of Shawwal.
Then, even if she did it and prioritized the six days of Shawwal, her action is not a proof in what contradicts the apparent texts. Yes.
Source binbaz.org.sa

The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.

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