There's a particular feeling in the week after Eid. The house is quiet again, the leftover sweets are going stale, and Ramadan already feels like a long time ago. The six fasts of Shawwal are a gentle way to hold on to some of it.
They're voluntary, not obligatory. But the reward attached to them is remarkable, and once you've done them a couple of years running, they start to feel like part of Eid itself.
Where it comes from
The practice comes from a well-known hadith narrated by Abu Ayyub al-Ansari:
"Whoever fasts Ramadan and then follows it with six days of Shawwal, it is as if he fasted for a lifetime."Sahih Muslim 1164 (meaning)
Scholars explain "a lifetime" this way: if you do it every year, it's as though you fasted every day of every year.
The maths behind it
It rests on a principle in the Qur'an that a good deed is rewarded ten times over (6:160).
| Fast | Days | Rewarded as |
|---|---|---|
| Ramadan | 30 | 300 days, about ten months |
| Shawwal | 6 | 60 days, about two months |
| Together | 36 | 360 days, a full year |
That explanation is reported from the Prophet ﷺ himself in a narration from Thawban in Sunan Ibn Majah (1715).
When you can fast them in 2027
Not on Eid. Fasting on 1 Shawwal is forbidden, so the earliest you can start is the second day. In 2027 that's Wednesday 10 or Thursday 11 March, depending on when your community celebrates Eid.
Any six days you like. Most scholars say they can be back to back or spread across the month. Starting straight after Eid is seen as rushing to good, but spacing them out is completely valid, and for a lot of people it's more realistic.
Before the month ends. Shawwal 1448 is expected to finish around 6 or 7 April 2027.
Some people pair them with the Monday and Thursday fasts, or with the "white days" in the middle of the lunar month (the 13th, 14th and 15th), which fall around 21 to 23 March 2027.
What if you missed days in Ramadan?
Lots of people miss some days of Ramadan for good reasons: illness, travel, pregnancy, breastfeeding or periods. Those days have to be made up at some point before next Ramadan. How they fit with the Shawwal fasts is something scholars discuss:
- Many advise making up the missed Ramadan days first. The hadith talks about someone who "fasts Ramadan and then follows it", and an obligation comes before something voluntary.
- Others allow you to do the six days first, as long as the missed days get made up before the next Ramadan.
- Whether one day can count as both a make-up fast and a Shawwal fast is also debated. The safer option is to keep them separate.
If you're torn, ask a scholar you trust. Either way, don't let the obligatory make-up fasts slide.
Things that make it easier
Plan the days the week after Eid. Look at your calendar and pick days that avoid family lunches and invitations. It's much easier than deciding each morning.
Fast with someone. A spouse, a sibling, a friend from the mosque. Breaking the fast together makes a big difference when nobody else around you is fasting.
Keep suhoor, even a small one. There's blessing in it, and a glass of water and a couple of dates before dawn makes the afternoon far easier.
Be flexible. If someone invites you to lunch on a day you meant to fast, it's fine to accept and fast another day. Voluntary fasts can move around.
Keep a Ramadan habit alongside. A page of Qur'an a day, two rak'ahs at night, a regular small donation. The six fasts sit nicely with whatever else you managed to keep going.
Six days is a small thing after a whole month. But it's a lovely way to finish the year as one of the people who fast.
These are widely held positions, explained in general terms. If you have a health condition or a lot of missed fasts to make up, please speak to a scholar, and to a doctor where it's relevant.