Whoever fasts six days in Shawwal after Ramadan that s/he has passed fasting, is

like having passed the whole year by fasting. (Riyad as-Salihin, Vol.2,P.510,2.)

The Three Months (Rajab, Shaban Ramadan of the Lunar Calendar based on Hijrah/the
Migration from Mecca to Madinah), is a time of great spiritual bounties and
rewards. The spiritual 'endeavors' that we put forth at that time open up special
horizons in our inner worlds. However, the state of spiritual discipline acquired
in those months should be continued after that time, too. There is no certainty
that we will make it to the next three months.

While leaving the three months behind which drop by each year and enlighten our
spiritual worlds, we cannot ever forget the eternal bliss that they have brought
about. How can we forget the flood of light flowing in radiant streets at the Night
of Power (Laylat al-Qadr)?

Do we not yearn for the bounty of iftar tables (meals eaten to break fast after
sunset) all year long? Can we forget the abundance in sahur (meal eaten before
starting fast)? Of course, we cannot forget those sacred memoirs. We yearn and wait
for them.

However, we definitely do not find a plain waiting and yearning enough, but try to
maintain the spiritual discipline we have obtained in the three months and
especially in Ramadan throughout the year.

We still perform the prayers, fast from time to time and help others. We mobilize
with our property, life and tongue for Jihad for Allah's sake. We do not heed our
lustful feelings and desires. We endeavor to continue the spiritual aura that we
have attained in the sacred three months, the peaceful memoirs of which we keep
inside ourselves.

We continue with the preparations for the Hereafter, not forgetting that the
capital of life is continuously leaving us, and always feeling the hope for and the
doubt about whether we will reach the next time of light and peace.

We thus hope to attain the sacred times of the following year with the same spirit
and clean conscience. In that spirit, our life undergoes a constant change and
improvement. We progress continuously on the way of attaining Allah's acceptance
and that progress continues, God willing, till the last breath.

The Fast of Shawwal

Fasting in the month of Shawwal, which comes after the month of Ramadan, is a good
tradition handed down to us.

Muslims, who have got used to fasting for a month in Ramadan, have shown great
interest in fasting six days in Shawwal, and even have retained that tradition with
as much warm interest as that of Tarawih (the Prayer performed in Ramadan after the
Night Prayer). Of course, that warm interest is not weakly grounded. Indeed,
Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, announced that the fast of
Shawwal will be a means of earning such a reward as if having fasted for a year,
and therefore those who fasted a month in Ramadan do not wish to miss the reward of
having fasted a year by fasting six days in Shawwal. Here is the hadith about that
subject and its explanation:

Whoever fasts six days in Shawwal after Ramadan that s/he has passed fasting, is
like having passed the whole year by fasting. (Riyad as-Salihin, Vol.2,P.510,2.)

So, the person who fasts a month in Ramadan and fasts six more days in the
following Shawwal and thus increases his/her fast to thirty six, acquires such a
reward as if s/he has passed the whole year by fasting.

Our scholars explain 'earning the reward as if having passed the whole year by
fasting' as follows:

If the person who fasts the whole Ramadan gets ten rewards for each day of his/her
fast, the total is three hundred. And when s/he gets again ten rewards each for the
six days of fast in Shawwal and thus gets sixty rewards, then the amount reaches
three hundred and sixty, in other words one year. So, the point indicated in the
hadith is attained. S/he may get a spiritual gain as if s/he fasted the whole year.

Actually, what is essential in such spiritual issues is to perform that deed with
sincerity and to be in a heartfelt expectation. Sometimes there may be such fasts
that, because of the deep and pure sincerity felt in the heart of the fasting
person, cause a person to gain, let alone the reward of 360 days, but that of 360
years of extra fasts. Whoever wishes something with sincerity, our Lord may give it
to him/her. That is a matter of intention.

Just like the intentions of two people one of whom brings a rock next to a road
from afar with much difficulty, and the other of whom removes that rock from there
with the same difficulty:

Somebody thought as follows:

- If an old man wants to get on his mount in the middle of the desert, there is not
any high place which he could climb and embark his mount. So let me roll that stone
next to the road so that old people and children passing by can jump on their mount
easily by climbing the rock and thus I will earn its reward (for the Hereafter).

Our Lord was pleased with that man because of his sincere intention and gave him
the reward he asked for.

The man who angrily rolled and removed that stone which was brought with such good
intentions thought this way:

- What a wrong idea it is to bring that stone here. He apparently did not think
that the blind and those who are unaware of it in the dark may stumble over the
stone and fall down. Let me remove that stone from here so that nobody stumbles and
falls down, and I will receive its reward.

And that man, too, earned Allah's pleasure because he removed the stone from there,
and attained the reward he hoped for. Both of those two people had sincere
intentions.

And if we fast six days with a pure intention, for the sake of our intention and
loyalty, our Lord may grant us rewards as if we fasted the whole year and may
forgive our sins and mistakes. There is no border to our Lord's unlimited mercy.
Nobody can extend his/her stinginess to Him.

It is not compulsory to fast six days on end. It is enough that to fast six days in
the month of Shawwal.

In addition, if one has fasts to compensate for because one could not fast certain
days during Ramadan, it is more appropriate and lawful to perform those missed
fasts. Of course, it is much appropriate to get free from debts as soon as
possible. However, one may also intend to fast the missed fasts later. It is up to
the person. Both ways are permissible.

Another point is that there is an assertion that in the month of Shawwal, that is,
in between two festivals (Festivals of Ramadan and Sacrifice), marriage cannot be
carried out. That superstitious assertion is losing its effect. The marriage of our
mother Aisha (The Prophet's wife) was performed in Shawwal, that is, in between two
festivals, and neither bad luck nor a religious drawback was in question. That
wrong idea might have stemmed from this: If the festival happens to be on Friday,
then, the time between the Festival Prayer and the Friday Prayer is a time in
between two festival prayers (as Friday is also accepted as a festival by Muslims).
One may also assume that some people mistook that advice which says do not squeeze
your marriages in such a short time and perform your marriages outside the time in
between two festival prayers and wrongly understood it as referring to such a long
interval as between Festivals of Ramadan and Sacrifice and caused that
misunderstanding.

A Story

Sufyan-i Thawri narrates:

- I lived in Mecca for three years. Every day, one of the Meccans would come to the
Kaaba, circumambulate it, perform prayers and would leave after saluting me. I got
to know that person. One day he called me and said:

- When I die, you wash me with your own hands, perform my funeral prayer and bury
me. That night do not leave my grave and do pass the night there. Inculcate me with
Allah's oneness and unity during the questioning of Munkar and Nakir (angels
assigned to question dead people).

I accepted to do what he asked for. I did what he asked me to: I spent the night by
his grave. That night, half awake and half asleep, I heard:

- O Sufyan! There is no need any more for your protection and inculcation.

Then I said:

- On what grounds did you achieve this blessing?

He said as a reply:

- On the grounds that I fasted in Ramadan and added to it six more days from
Shawwal.

Then I woke up. I could not see anybody nearby. I got ablution, performed my prayer
and slept; I saw it three more times. I knew then it was Divine not from the Satan.
I left the grave and supplicated: O my Lord! Make me succeed in fasting Ramadan's
fast and in fasting six days of Shawwal. And Allah made me succeed.