Month of Shawwal starts after the blessed month of Ramadan that is followed by the auspicious occasion of Eid celebrations. Eid is the merry occasion of festivity for Muslims to be thankful to Ar Rehman for the blessings He has bestowed upon them in the sanctified month of Ramadan. It is one of the meritorious aspects of Shawwal that it has chosen by Allah Almighty for the carnival of Eid ul Fitar, a communal joyous notion for the termination of Ramadan. Instead of commemorating the decree of Ramadan as an obligation followed by our ancestors, Shawwal is the month to worship Allah the glorious and to Dua for His forgiveness to emancipate sins and evil deeds. It holds significance because Allah has asked his people in His divine Scripture of Quran. to prostrate in front of Him in order to thank Him for His countless bounties. Allah says: “So remember Me; I will remember you. And be grateful to Me and do not deny Me.” [2:152] Fasting in Shawwal The upright deed that is highly recommended in the month of Shawwal is fasting. Fasting on the six days of Shawwal has comprehended as a ritual of fasting every day for entire year. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) stated in Hadith that: “Whoever fasts Ramadan, then follows it with six from Shawwal, then that is (equal in reward) to fasting every day." [Tirmidhi] It was highly favorable Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) to fast in the six days of Shawwal. It is an opportunity to grab immense virtues by following the Sunnah of our beloved Prophet and to emulate our character and Islamic deeds. Hadith states: “The fast of Ramadan is like observing ten months of fasting. Fasting six days of Shawwal is like observing two months of fasting. This together is like fasting throughout the year." [Sunan an-Nasa’i] To the scholars perspective, one deed is multiplied ten folds hence fasting in the month of Ramadan makes the reward for 10 months and the rest six days of Shawwal makes it to the entire year. Intention for fasting in Shawwal Shawwal can be taken a month of compensation for the bygone deeds and obligatory rituals. Those Muslims who have missed their fasts due to any reason can compensate it in the month of Shawwal. The intention to be made can either be for Qada (missed) fasts or for voluntary ones keeping the Zamman (time constraint) or makkaan (location constraint) intact. Whatever the intention is, should be pure encapsulated in sheer faith. It is permissible to fast on the separate days of Shawwal as no such explicit source recommends fasting consecutively except on Eid day. The book of Allah though emphasizes on competing deeds hence sooner the better. “… so race to [all that is] good.” [5:48] Summing, Shawwal is the month to tie us to the virtuous acts we followed in entire Ramadan. Holding to the customs one should revert to the foretold ways of doing deeds by contemplating the true meanings of Islam in order to plead Allah’s guidance as an absolution on the final Day of Judgment.
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