The ruling on fasting the six days of Shawwal consecutively or separately, and on fasting them or leaving them

Question: The first message in this episode: Shaykh 'Abd al-'Aziz, a message reached us from Jordan, Karak Governorate, sent by our brother Sa'id 'Ayd Abu 'Abdun. Our brother says: Is it permissible for a person to choose to fast six days from the month of Shawwal, or is there a specific time for fasting these days? And if a Muslim fasts these days, do they become obligatory upon him, and is he required to fast them every year?

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, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow his guidance.
As for what follows:
It is established from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: , narrated by Imam Muslim in his Sahih. These six days do not have specific, designated days; rather, the believer chooses them from the entire month. If he wishes, he fasts them at the beginning of the month; if he wishes, he fasts them in the middle; if he wishes, he fasts them at the end; and if he wishes, he separates them, fasting some at the beginning, some in the middle, and some at the end. The matter is broad, praise be to Allah. If he hastens to them and fasts them consecutively at the beginning of the month, that is better in the sense of hastening to good. However, there is no strictness in this, praise be to Allah; rather, the matter is broad: if he wishes, he fasts them consecutively, and if he wishes, he separates them. Then, if he fasts them in some years and leaves them in other years, there is no harm; because they are a voluntary act, a supererogatory deed, not an obligation. So if he fasts them in some years and leaves them in other years, or fasts some of them and leaves some, there is no blame on him, and praise be to Allah.