2. VOLUNTARY FASTING
VOLUNTARY FASTING
DAYS ON WHICH FASTING IS RECOMMENDED
It is recommended to fast:
1. on six days of the month of Shawwal, and that they be the six consecutive days immediately following ‘Eid al-Fitr (their being consecutive and their immediately following the ‘Eid are two separate sunnas), though it is permissible to fast them nonconsecutively;
2. on 9 and 10 Muharram;
3. on the full moon (lit. “white”) days of every lunar month, which are the thirteenth and the two days that follow it;
4. on Mondays and Thursdays;
5. on the first nine days of Dhul Hijja;
6. during the inviolable months, which are four: Dhul Qa’da, Dhul Hijja, Muharram, and Rajab;
7. (and on every other day, a fast described by the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) as “the most beloved fast to Allah” (Riyad al-salihin (y107), 466)).
The best fast-days, after Ramadan, are those of Muharram, then Rajab, then Sha’ban. (In general, the best month for fasting, after Ramadan and the inviolable months, is Sha’ban (there being no objection to fasting an entire month or just part of one).)
It is recommended to fast on the Day of ‘Arafa (9 Dhul Hijjah), unless one is a pilgrim present at ‘Arafa, when it is better not to fast. It is not offensive for such a person to fast, though it is better for him not to.
FASTS THAT ARE OFFENSIVE OR UNLAWFUL
It is offensive to fast every day of the year (besides the two ‘Eids and the three days following ‘Eid al-Adha (these being unlawful to fast rather than offensive)) if this harms one (in body or mind) or causes one not to do something one should do (for oneself or others, even if merely recommended). If not, then it is not offensive.
It is unlawful and not valid to fast (whether voluntarily, as a vow, or as a makeup) on the two ‘Eids or the three days following ‘Eid al-Adha.
It is also unlawful and invalid to fast on a day of uncertainty (as to whether it is the first day of Ramadan), meaning that on 30 Sha’ban, someone who does not have the necessary qualifications of a witness mentions having seen the new moon of Ramadan. Otherwise (when no one has mentioned seeing it, or when an acceptable witness has), then it is not considered a day of uncertainty.
Fasting on a day of uncertainty is not valid as a day of Ramadan, though it can validly fulfill a vow or a makeup fast. Voluntary fasting on such a day is only valid when one would have fasted anyway because it falls on a day one habitually fasts, or when one has been fasting each day since before mid-Sha’ban. If neither of these is the case, then it is unlawful and invalid to fast on it.
It is unlawful to fast during the days after mid Sha’ban unless one would have fasted anyway because they fall on days one habitually fasts, or unless one has been fasting each day since before mid-Sha’ban.
(Nawawi: (with commentary by Muhammad Shirbini Khatib» It is offensive to single out Fridays or Saturdays «Shirbini:) or Sundays for fasting, i.e. to single out one of the above-mentioned days when they do not coincide with days one normally fasts. The fast of someone who usually fasts every other day and whose fast coincides with one of these days or with a day of uncertainty is not offensive, because of the hadith related by Muslim,
“Do not single out Friday for fasting unless it happens to coincide with a fast one of you performs,”
similar days being analogous to Fridays in this respect) (Mughni al-muhtaj ila ma’rifa ma’ani alfaz al-Minhaj (y73), 1.447».
Once begun, it is unlawful to interrupt either an obligatory fast-day or an obligatory prayer, whether it is current, a makeup, or vowed; though if it is nonobligatory (whether wholly supererogatory or linked with a particular event or time), then one may interrupt it (but it is offensive to do so if there is no excuse).
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