After Ramadan: Following the Obligatory with the Voluntary, and Fasting Six Days of Shawwāl

Occasion: Transcription of a Fajr khatira delivered on May 14, 2021, after the month of Ramadan 1442 AH Source: A transcription of a video khatira by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — Watch the original video on YouTube

O Allah, we ask You for the good of this day, the good of what is in it and the good of what comes after it, and we seek refuge in You from the evil of this day, the evil of what is in it and the evil of what comes after it. O Allah, set right for us our religion, which is the safeguard of our affairs; set right for us our worldly life, in which is our livelihood; set right for us our Hereafter, to which is our return; make life an increase for us in every good, and make death a rest for us from every evil, O Lord of the worlds.

Now then, we have learned that one of the signs of an act of obedience being accepted is that it is followed by its like. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ established for us, after the fasting of Ramadan, six days of Shawwāl, which the Muslim fasts consecutively or separately, and through them Allah the Almighty records for him the reward of fasting the whole year together with Ramadan^[1]. So seek help from Allah, Blessed and Exalted, in this, and make them a means of drawing near to Allah, Blessed and Exalted, and an intercessor in His presence, the Mighty and Majestic, that Allah may, through them, relieve the distress of the Muslims, and make them a path to the answering of our supplication when we supplicate for good for ourselves and our brothers.

And when the servant sets out to follow the obligatory act with a voluntary one, that is a sign of greater love for what he has done, not an attempt to be rid of it. And when he sets out to do the voluntary act after the obligatory one, that is an indicator of turning toward obedience for its own sake, not of turning away from it. And when the servant turns to the voluntary act after the obligatory one, that is a sign of his desire for more good deeds in the presence of Allah, Blessed and Exalted, and an indicator that the heart has responded to what Allah the Almighty wanted by the performance of the obligatory act.

I seek help from Allah, Blessed and Exalted, to fast the six days of Shawwāl, and I ask Him to help us complete the sunnahs of the Prophet ﷺ in fasting throughout the blessed year. May Allah keep you safe, may Allah be pleased with you and make you pleased, may Allah reward you with good, and peace be upon you from Allah.

--- ^[1]: Editor's documentation: The origin of the ḥadīth is in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, on the authority of Abū Ayyūb al-Anṣārī (may Allah be pleased with him): «من صام رمضان ثم أتبعه ستًّا من شوال كان كصيام الدهر» (“Whoever fasts Ramadan and then follows it with six days of Shawwāl, it is as if he fasted the whole of time”); and it is stated explicitly that this is the fasting of the year in the ḥadīth of Thawbān (may Allah be pleased with him) in Ibn Mājah and elsewhere. The speaker narrated it by meaning.