Q. When I came to my new home in Canada I found that people have two different views on whether a woman can make up for her fasting in Ramadan by fasting the six days in Shawwal. Could you please explain whether such fasting counts double, making up the missed fast and adding the six voluntary days.
S. Tuku
A. The short answer is that these are two different fasts and cannot be combined. You have to remember that the Hadith that encourages fasting six days after Ramadan tells us that fasting these six days, which are not specified to allow us to choose them according to what suits us best, make up the fasting so as to earn the reward of fasting the whole year.
The Hadith says: “Anyone who fasts the month of Ramadan and follows it with six days from Shawwal will have the reward for fasting the whole year.” This is based on the fact that God rewards every good deed with ten times its value. Thus for the month of Ramadan you receive the reward of fasting ten months, and for the six days you get the reward of fasting sixty days, which are the equivalent of two more months. This makes up a year.
It is useful to add here that although the majority of people take the Hadith to mean fasting six days during the month of Shawwal, some scholars point out that it speaks of “six days from Shawwal” which means “beginning from Shawwal but not necessarily in it.” This means that they can be offered anytime during the year up to the following Ramadan.
When a woman fasts to make up the month of Ramadan, she is completing her compulsory fasting, and on completing the month, she will have the reward for fasting ten months. The fast does not count as double. The above explanation makes better understanding, especially in the case of Muslim women who would have a very limited room for maneuver if they wish to fast the six days.
They have first to make up the compulsory fasting, which means that a woman will need to fast six or seven days, probably eight in compensation. Then if she wants to add six days this makes up 13 days. She will also have a new period when she cannot fast. This brings the number to 20 days, and if you count out the three days of Eid as inconvenient to fast, this leaves her only 7 days for rest in practically two months of fasting. This is going to be very difficult. Hence the interpretation that this voluntary fast can be anytime during the next 11 months makes things much easier for women.
On Prayer
Q. Could you please explain how many rak’ahs of Fard, Sunnah and Nafl should be offered in our prayers, and in which order. Why do we read aloud in some prayers and silently in others? Why people in congregation say Ameen aloud here and silently in Pakistan?
Siddique
A. The very phraseology of the first question is wrong. When we speak of Sunnah and Nafl, we are speaking of voluntary prayer, which we offer by choice, not obligation. Thus, we do not have to offer it. The only obligatory prayers are those that we call Fard.
These are 2 rak’ahs in Fajr or dawn prayer, 4 each in Zuhr and Asr, or noon and mid-afternoon prayers, 3 in Maghrib, or sunset, and 4 in Isha or night prayer. That makes 17 rak’ahs daily in five prayers.
Sunnah, which is a voluntary prayer the Prophet (peace be upon him) used to offer regularly, adds 2 rak’ahs before Fajr, 4 before Zuhr and 2 after it, and 2 each after Maghrib and Isha, which makes up 12 rak’ahs.
In addition Witr, which is the last prayer of the day, is normally 3 rak’ahs. People speak of Nafl, which is voluntary but less regularly offered. These vary according to schools of thought, but we may mention 2 or 4 rak’ahs before Asr, and 2 each before Maghrib and Isha.
We offer our prayers according to the way the Prophet offered them. He said: “Pray as you have seen me pray.” He read the Qur’an aloud in the two rak’ahs of Fajr, and in the first two of Maghrib and Isha, and we follow his example. Sometimes he did certain things in more than one way in order to indicate their acceptability. His companions reported what they noticed him doing in most cases. The reports differ according to what the person reporting noticed more frequently. Hence, it is acceptable to say Ameen aloud or silently, according to different schools of thought. In Saudi Arabia most people follow the Hanbali school of thought, while in Pakistan the Hanafi School is the predominant one.
