Suhaib Webb – Fasting The SiX Days of Shawwal An Easier Way To Gain Blessings
AI: Summary ©
The speaker discusses the importance of fasting during the
AI: Summary ©
We begin 1st and foremost by praising Allah
We send peace and blessings upon, our beloved
prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
upon his family, his companions and those who
followed them until the end of time.
Assalamu Alaikum
to everybody. Alhamdulillah. I see everybody giving salaam
so just accept my
intended greetings. 1st and foremost, congratulations
to the Ummah,
of the prophet, peace be upon him, for
completing. Hamda, a blessed month of Ramadan.
Inshallah
and abba Umar ala Sangh.
Abba Umar is someone who I've known now
for so many years, inshallah. We see his
name.
I appreciate you man. Thank you.
Completing the month of Ramadan. May Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala accept it from all of us
and bless us, Alhamdulillah.
And then secondly,
aid Mubarak to everybody.
A delayed aid Mubarak. And then 3rd,
just a, a quick,
encouragement to the students
across this country
who are
actively engaged in amplifying the situation
specifically in Palestine
with respect to all of the other challenges
and situations that we're facing.
We see now in America the draconian,
presence
of academic McCarthyism.
Students are being suspended. Students are being kicked
out of even prominent liberal arts universities
for doing quote unquote what the liberal arts
is meant to teach. I was a professor
for for 6 years
or so on a university, so I understand
what we should be achieving is encouraging
what we're seeing.
And so we
saw today in Columbia
University,
a number of brave
young Americans
as well as people who are
on student visas,
forcibly removed,
and held accountable in ways which are unacceptable.
Yet we don't see the president of Columbia
called to account or punished, say, as the
president of UPenn,
president of Harvard,
and other institutions.
It's upon us and I want to encourage
the imams.
Hachi. What's up, man?
To go to these campuses,
to be a part of this process, to
invigorate
young people who are at the forefront
of really being in a place where you
can
smell
the perfume of
Imam Hussain.
You you smell the scent of Yasser.
You smell the scent of the Sahaba
like Sayna Abi Bakr
who sacrificed
for the truth.
Alhamdulillah.
So those students at UCLA, USC, we see
a sister
Tabassum
She is a source of joy. Hamdah. That's
like her name.
So just a quick message before we get
started,
in our discussion
to
Masuda.
I hope your Quran is still going well.
Alhamdulillah. I didn't forget. Masuda is an amazing
student, guys.
She's here and she used to read the
Quran to me on Zoom in the park.
And she came with her family just from
Afghanistan.
And even though she she just came from
Afghanistan. This is a number of years ago.
Like as soon as she got to the
US,
she just jumped back into the book of
Allah.
To the point that
she would
be in the park reading to me what
she memorized.
So that's why I never forgot you. Masha'Allah.
May Allah bless you.
So just a quick message to those young
people who are actively engaged in
disobedience
and
disruptions across this country on college campuses. I'm
100%
behind you whatever you need me to do.
And I know that there are a number
of
much more qualified
imams and shuh who
support you.
And let's try to coordinate in a way
that we can galvanize the resources of our
community to make sure that you are supported
in ways that, will allow you to maintain
your commitment to justice.
Allah
says about the youth and the sultan calf
that when they stood
when they stood for justice, their hearts were
strengthened.
So may
Allah strengthen all of the hearts of young
people, Muslim and non Muslim,
who are tired of seeing the massacre of
babies,
the destruction of Gaza,
and the
unfortunate hypocrisy
of the United States today who voted against
statehood. So now we understand the truth
behind the words.
So before we start, we make dua
for all of those activists and young people
as well as the old heads
who are at the forefront of amplifying what's
going on,
specifically in Palestine
not neglecting, of course, the other very serious
challenges that are happening in the world.
So the discussion that we wanted to talk
about briefly is, fasting the 6 days of
Shawwal.
We know, like, we all come out of
Ramadan, alhamdulillah, with a lot of excitement.
Sometimes we come out of Ramadan even with
a lot of guilt, which is normal. So
fasting the 6 days of Shawwal is a
way to either con continue that excitement or
maybe even
to make up for some of the shortcomings
that we felt we may have incurred
during the month of Ramadan. I have my
notes here because I wanna make sure that
I I say everything that needs to be
said correctly. So forgive me, like, if I'm
looking this way, and I'm also washing my
daughter's clothes for school tomorrow. So I am,
multitasking
at the moment.
Within within the Maliki Med Heb, we often
hear people say things
attributed to the medheb which is unacceptable. What
is a medheb? A medheb is a
set of
within
SUNY terminology
of authenticated,
peer reviewed, accepted opinions
on potentially what the truth is on an
issue.
And I say potentially what the truth is
on an issue because the word filq itself
means to understand.
So when you hear the word filq, f
I q h, you need to appreciate the
fact that that is synonymous with differences.
The word and that's why sometimes people get
confused like how much is the Mahar? How
far do I have to travel before I
can join prayers? Where do I put my
hand? What do I say?
Because we say in in in Islamic law
and the law college, there's a great axiom
that fiqh, Islamic jurisprudence,
is a a a
presumptive or it it is a a a
that
it is something that's rooted in opinions.
So it's not
It's an attempt to understand what Allah and
his messenger have said.
And that's very important.
Because
I want you to appreciate that. That the
word implies
differences.
That's very important.
Number 2 is those differences are rahma.
Right? Those differences are a mercy because they
provide us layers. They provide us flexibility.
They provide us,
answers for complex situations that we may run
into. And so those kind of differences actually
are commendable within Islam.
That's very important to note. So, if it's
done right, is commendable.
Okay?
When you study in classical text, and this
is for students of religious
knowledge, you find the word called mas'ala.
Maybe you heard this word. Mas'ala means issues.
Within the terminology of Islamic law, mas'ala means
a dispute.
An issue of dispute.
And so when we say that it's an
issue of dispute,
that implies the following. Number 1, that there's
a difference. Number 2, that there's going to
be a back and forth,
a debate.
Number 3, it implies that there's going to
be presentation of evidences.
Number 4, it means that there's going to
be a preference
that's taken.
Right? So that that scholar or that school
is gonna make
they're going to
take an opinion. They're going to say this
is what we think
is the correct opinion.
And the last component of the word
that is extremely important and forgotten, I think
it's on the endangered species list today, is
is etiquette.
So again, when you hear the word,
which means a debated issue,
the word
means that there are opinions.
There are gonna be opinions.
And that implies the following. And I'm keep
saying it because really try to remember this.
Number 1 is there's going to be an
argument.
There is going to be an argument.
Okay?
Number 2. Within that argument there's going to
be banter
back and forth.
Number 3, there's going to be a presentation
of research
of evidences. What do the evidences mean? We
think it means this, you think it means
that.
Fine.
Number 4, there's going to be
Some people are gonna take this opinion.
Some scholars are gonna take this opinion based
on the correct process. And then finally the
cherry on the top which you unfortunately is
rare to find is edham.
And that's why in the Azhar where I
went to school, you know,
up until the sixties,
there was a class called Adab al Baful
Manadura,
the etiquette of debate and research,
specifically in the College of Islamic Law. When
I was in the Azhar,
the last year we took a class called
which
is very similar. Like, we learned about the
Jaffary Methab. We learned about the Ibadi Methab.
We learned about the if we're Maliki. We
learned about the Hanafis. We learned about the
Hanabila
to the extent that we knew who their
important teachers are, what the important books are
that they rely on, what are some of
the controversial opinions that they have that we
Malekis don't agree with.
Not not to amplify the differences,
but to unify
and respect each other.
You know, to unify and respect each other.
There's a great quote of one of the
imams who says,
Muslims are fighting over where to put their
hands in salah,
but the enemies of Islam are cutting off
their hands.
You know, like,
why are we fighting over these issues because
it's not because we don't appreciate
differences. It's not because
we don't,
appreciate
the,
presentation of evidences. It's not because we don't
appreciate the banter. It's not because we don't
appreciate it's
because we do not
appreciate adab.
Etiquette.
Kalasa, when you hear the word mas'ala I
don't want to go on a long rant
here, I want to keep this very short
and succinct.
Is the word masara implies that there is
a
a a
presentation over a disputed issue that involves evidences,
dispute,
preference,
and edeb.
Edek. That's why sometimes you read with the
salaf when people will come to them and
say, I want a debate with you. They
will say, I'm not going to debate with
you until we lay out some conditions and
always the conditions were more about adeb adeb,
how we act with one another. That's why
in the science of hadith,
we we we have a determination for someone
who's,
right, who is
good in their etiquette,
but they may have in their adala, but
they may have issues like in forgetting things
or how they wrote things. But if those
things were authentic, we still take from them.
Why? Because their etiquette was right. But if
we have someone whose etiquette is wrong,
even if they narrate something which might be
okay,
oftentimes scholars of hadith are like no no
no. The character is the problem. Look look
at how
from the epistemological
framework of the Islamic academic tradition,
etiquette and adab are at the forefront of
everything. It's not about how much you know.
Right? The every it's it's easy to know.
But how do you act with what you
know? That's why one of my teachers from
Sanagal, he used to say
that you know that knowledge is like rain
and your etiquette is the soil.
If the earth is corrupted, the blessing of
the rain is gone. If the person's akhlaq
is corrupted,
the rain of the knowledge won't won't bring
anything from them. Then he said to us
Iblis he knows more than most people.
But everyone curses Iblis, the Christians, the Jews,
the atheists, even, right? Even though he has
all that knowledge, even though he has all
that knowledge,
he doesn't have character.
Doesn't have character. Khalas, that's why the hadith
of Sayna Abi of Uruira when
that man taught him to say at
night
before you sleep,
the prophet said he's truthful and he's a
liar. Meaning what he knows is the truth,
but he's a liar. That was shaitan. SubhanAllah.
So remember this issue of masala
And apply that to when you see how
people are acting and engaging one another. It's
not about what you know necessarily but how
you react and engage others.
The third point that I wanna make before
we get started is that oftentimes the masala
of any madhab,
the issues of any school of thought are
rooted in not what you see. The opinions
and the
evidences
what
what scholars are worried about is the axioms
and the principles that guide
how evidences are understood.
We say
their
like their focus is foundational things, principles, axioms,
language,
logic.
That usually with the masses, they just talk
about, like,
you know, like this scholar has this opinion,
this opinion, this opinion, this opinion.
The reason I say that is I I
saw recently someone online saying that, like, imamatic
is not an imam or that imatic imamatic
is jahil.
You know, like, be careful, man.
When you destroy your history that it becomes
his
story. Like, when you destroy
your historical,
heroes and sheroes,
then what are you left with? Right? And
the
has agreed upon the imam of
May Allah bless all of those imams and.
So that takes us now to the discussion
on this issue because I've heard people say
that the Maliki say fasting the 6 days
of Shawwal is Makru.
And I see this a lot. Again, I
said it earlier, the masses, they kind of
are focusing on, like, what they hear as
far as opinions,
but they they they may not be aware
of the depth of
the school, the masala
that I talked about earlier.
Okay?
So this is a masala. So that
means disagreement it's and also when you hear
the word masala, it means it's not something
clear like.
It means that it's debated. Its meaning is
debated. Its understanding, its implications are open for
interpretation.
This is like
really, really important. Like,
I want you to appreciate this because
I don't like to talk a lot. Alhamdulillah.
As I get older, I feel more scared
to talk about these things just because this
is the deen of Allah. When I was
younger, amen, I'm just like I'm about it,
pow, you know, but as you get older
you may be you may be more cautious
because
we don't wanna say something wrong.
But I am hopefully
providing
you with something that is important to your
overall growth
and as you navigate the rapids of online
religious
discussions.
And that is
is a religious
lee in the legal terminology, a legal issue,
which there is
nothing
explicit in the Quran and Sunnah.
So therefore, it leads to fiqh, which is
debated.
So there's that debate, then there's a presentation
of information.
There's going to be arguments around the information.
There's going to be a preference given, and
then finally,
adeb. So now when you hear the word,
if you take what I just gave you
and use it like as a rubric, you
write it down as notes,
you can then look and see, are people
like following this or is it just crazy?
Like someone would say, you know, Imam Malik's
wrong. He's not a scholar and the Malik
you say it's Makru. That's not masala.
That's just like very sloppy.
It's very sloppy
and it leads to irresponsibility
and in fighting.
For example, for those of you who are
students of knowledge, if you went to an
imam
900 years ago
and you said the subject of a sentence
has bum.
It's the same principle as today.
So this is the second point of forgive
me forgiven that advice, man.
And that is that when someone is trained
in these systems,
you find continuity
and you find even you might not agree
with them,
but you find logic. You
find clarity. It's not all over the place.
It's not sloppy.
And very rarely
are those people going to cause debate
and
divide.
Like very rarely because they know
the sin of dividing the Ummah.
Like they know, like, this is a very
serious crime that Allah will hold them accountable
for.
So if you went to someone
900 years ago and you said
Is the subject?
The subject to why? Because they learned that.
It's a principle.
So we wanna talk about this briefly just
to unpack the idea that the Marrakis have
said
that fasting the 6 days of Shawwal
is is disliked.
Is permissible
within the.
And then I wanna talk to you about
the opinion of the that
you have the entire
year
to fast these 6 days.
Not just this month.
And why
it has this opinion. You don't have to
agree with me. It's a.
When we teach a we should expect
that people won't agree. So that's fine. But
I think it's important. The second point for
people who want to make up their days
of Ramadan
for for women who may have been menstruating
in the month of Ramadan.
A young person contacted me and said that
they have a eating disorder that's triggered by
continually fasting so they had to break up
their fasting in the month of Ramadan.
And now the way people are framing
fasting the 6 days of Shawwal as though
it's a fardt,
like it's an obligation.
So it again has triggered this person.
Right? So that second piece, I think, will
be very important, And I don't think it
will take very long inshallah.
First of all, we have the famous hadith
related by Imam Muslim and a Tirmidi and
a
from Abu Ayub Al Ansari, the great Sahabi.
That the prophet, peace be upon him, said
whoever fast and follows it
with 6 days from Shawwal,
the Malekis, we don't say from Shawwal, we
say starting in Shawwal and we'll talk about
that later.
It will be as though that person fasted
a year. The other narration says fasted a
lifetime.
Okay? So this is the hadith
that all of us are aware of. It's
a beautiful hadith. It's very invigorating. Alhamdulillah that
whoever fasts Ramadan
and then follows that with
6
days from or starting
in Shawwal, it will be as though that
person fasted a year or a lifetime.
This hadith, I get again I said is
related by Imam Muslim and others. So then
the question comes, if you have this hadith,
how does Imam Malik and the
school disapprove
of fasting
the 6 days that show up. Because when
people hear this, we have to be very
careful of agents in the community.
And and when I mean agents, I also
mean agents who are not like government agents,
but just uninformed.
Because ignorance is a enemy.
Right? Ignorance is an enemy. SubhanAllah.
And and
when they hear this, I kind of think,
wow, they're not maybe aware
of what I'm about to share with you.
So, the first is that there are other
texts,
right, of the prophet
which are authentic.
For example, and pay attention, please. The prophet
said, whoever fast for 6 days after Eid
al Fitr
has completed the year of fasting.
Because whoever does one good deed is equal
to 10. So if you fasted 30 days
of Ramadan, that's times 10, that's 300, and
then you follow that with 6 days within
the year and that's multiplied by 10, You
basically equal the lunar year for fasting.
He doesn't mention in
this narration, and this narration is authentic narration.
Also, the narration Allah has made for each
hasanah,
tin
like it.
So a month is like fasting 10 months
and fasting
6 days completes the year.
The
third
hadith is fasting for the month of Ramadan
brings the reward of 10 months
and fasting for 6 days brings the reward
of 2 months and that is the fasting
of the whole year. So the all 3
of these narrations do not specifically mention Shawwal,
and all 3 of these narrations
are acceptable related by Imam and the Sa'i,
Imam, and
others. We have an axiom
specifically in the that
what does that mean? That means that when
we have these different narrations,
designating something specific becomes impossible.
So you have sit them in a show
well, Okay. 6 days of shawl. Then you
have these other narrations doesn't mention anything about
shawl. So this is called Ihtimarat
with the mufti
with the faqih.
Right? So so now I have these potentials.
Am I gonna go with this or that?
So it's open. So this is why it's
a Mas'allah.
Now you can see why now. I hope
I'm I'm explaining this well. I know maybe
some people told me don't teach like this
on Instagram.
But if you pay attention what has happened
now we went from it being like this
now it's wide.
Now you can see why it's a masala.
And I want you to understand something.
The word masala,
a jurisprudence
issue
implies
expanse,
usually
expanse.
And that's why we frame
differences as a rahma
because of that expanse, which is founded in
the Sharia. It's not a it's not a
an expanse
related to nafs. It's an expanse related to
texts.
These opinions are rated related to evidence. So
the first reason that Imam Malik and his
met have considered
is because you have these other texts.
But that's not the whole picture.
These other texts are gonna come important it
come become important
later on. And if you have any questions,
I'm watching you. I see you. I want
to encourage you to ask questions.
I don't believe that a good teacher is
someone that you respect so much you don't
ask questions of. That's a cult.
A good teacher is someone who you feel
so comfortable with, you can ask questions.
That's very important. So if I failed to
do that, I I ask you to forgive
me. That's my fault.
So the prophet sallallahu alaihi sallam, the hadith
of Abu Ayub Al Ansari, and I'm recording
this professionally
and I'll post it on my YouTube page
later. Inshallah,
if Allah allows me that the prophet said
whoever fast Ramadan and then follows it with
the 6 days of Shawwal, it will be
as though he fasted a lifetime of the
narration, say, a year.
And don't mention Shawwal. Imam Malik
and Hizmet Heb
has
really
three concerns
related to this issue
that I want you to think about that
lead to the conditions
for it being McCru.
First of all, the mistaken
understanding
that Shawwal is equal to Ramadan.
So like to immediately follow Ramadan with Shawwal
people may begin to think that oh it's
like Farud
or that it's on par with the blessed
month of Ramadan. Ramadan is which he did
the Quran. Ramadan was acting on by all
of the salaf.
The 6th
days of Shawwal
was not acted on by all of the
salaf.
That's very important.
Gaslighting people by saying salaf
is not acceptable. It's it's a it's a
and I'm not attacking
our sincere Salafi brothers and sisters at all
because people all kind of people do this.
But very rarely did the Salaf concur on
an issue. Very rarely except the issues of
foundational importance.
So that's the first.
The second thing that Imam Malik was concerned
about is that this would
make things
hard on people.
And the dean is the dean of ease
and facilitation. So the questions that are coming
like this, if we can wait till the
end, be really helpful, but I'm so thankful
that you're asking questions. That means you feel
comfortable, alhamdulillah.
So the prophet
said in the hadith related by Imam Muslim
in the the deen is ease.
Right? So Imam Malik also where now you're
you're you're you're making something
hard on people that Islam didn't make hard
on them. You're making something difficult on people
that Allah and his messenger didn't make difficult
upon them.
And that can lead to harm.
And there are 2 important axioms within our
med hub
that are used to support this logic. Number
1,
protection from harm
comes before achieving benefit.
It's a very important principle in the that
protecting from harm comes before bringing
benefits.
It's You can apply that
to now and how everybody has an excuse
at a political level not to protect them
from harm. They're acting against this axiom.
Protecting from harm comes first
before achieving benefit.
So in this case, people think this is
obligatory, and we'll talk about what harm means
here in a second, and it creates this
hardship
that should be shepherd before the benefit of
the fast. See something there.
But also I mentioned
the
the religion is based on ease.
As defined by the sun, not by ourselves.
Now there are 5 conditions
within the med hub, and this is where
I need us to pay attention
that make it macro.
If the first condition is gone,
it's not anymore.
So just remember that. Right? So then when
people say the Maliki say that fasting the
6 days of Shawwal is
with conditions.
We have a great axiom in Islamic law
that says the ruling is with its conditions.
The ruling moves with its conditions.
So when people say,
this is,
what you wanna ask is, are there conditions
for that?
That's that's that's going to now raise the
level of the discourse,
but also it's gonna
sort of make sure that the person talking
is not sloppy.
They're trained in the law. They understand what
they're talking about. The Madakhi say fasting the
6 days of Shawwal is Makul,
This is a statement which is irresponsible.
It is not rooted in an academic
integrity,
and it's going to create a bad assumption
of the med hub.
This is a problem. Right?
Which adds to the broader layer of the
post colonial hangover that Muslims have with their
academic tradition. Our
we have been lied to
about our academic tradition
as the world has been lied to about
Palestine.
Just remember that.
We ourselves have been lied to about our
own academic tradition by neoliberalism
and neoconservatism
because neoliberalism wants to eat our body, our
soul.
Neo conservatism wants to eat our flesh.
That's the reality.
So whenever you have a negative assumption of
the tradition, either it's because maybe someone is
not properly educated,
maybe you struggle to understanding something which is
good. That's a good thing. You're maturing. Doubt
is not necessarily indicative of weak
faith. Doubt is indicative that you're maturing as
a person spiritually.
So your questions are more complex. They should
be welcomed. You should not be shamed for
bringing questions like that. And the third is
that maybe that
negative assumption of the academic
historical can of Islam that you carry
is because of the furnishings of a post
colonial world
that surrounds you economically,
politically,
culturally,
socially,
and even militarily.
So when you say people, you know, when
you hear people say,
fasting the 6 days of Shawwal is according
to the Maliki Medheb.
Be careful.
In any
the
the
the
the the the
whatever. Ask people
ask people to clarify
specifically what they mean.
And are there conditions
related to what they're saying? Because now look
at the Ummah.
Why are we so divided?
Because we lost this adab that I talked
about in the beginning. So number 1, the
first condition of the
that it's
to fast a month of Shawwal, the 6
days of Shawwal, excuse me, is that it
is observed publicly by someone who is seen
as an example.
A religious
influencer, meaning like an imam, a sheikh, a
teacher, not like influencer,
maybe in the Instagram
terminology,
but someone Yuktadubi
as Imam Khadil says,
as a Dardir mentions in Shaha Kabir.
Someone that always see them, we do what
they do. Like, when I first became Muslim,
how do I learn to pray? I learned
by watching people.
I learned by watching people. I'm recording it.
So I'll post it, Rema, on my YouTube.
Binila. So I learned by watching people.
Right? So oftentimes, we learn by seeing others.
So those people that we take as examples
in religion,
it's
for them
because people may think it's obligatory.
That's a condition.
Here's my question to you. What if those
people
who are taken as examples
clearly say to everybody,
this is not an obligation.
It's it's something which is a sunnah
recommended and I'm doing it. Is it still
Makru
in the
I'm asking all of you who are watching
now. Let me say the condition again. Someone
who people take as an example in Ibadah.
It's
for them to fast the 6 days of
Shawwal
if
people think they're doing it because it's an
obligation.
So it's a condition. If you reverse the
condition, this is law logic and law. For
those of you who are lawyers, you you
studied Aristotelian logic. You reverse it. What if
they come out and say, hey, everybody, I'm
fasting the 6 days of Shawwal,
but it's not formed Exactly. May Allah bless
you. That brother,
see your name CS I can't say your
name. Contact me. I'm gonna give you a
free subscription to my school because you gave
a good answer. Exactly. The condition is gone
now.
So do the Malekis
say absolutely that fasting, the 6 days of
Shawwal is Makru? No. With this condition.
The first condition is it's done by someone
that people take in as like Omar Suleiman
or Yasir Qadhi or Yasmin Mogahed
or someone like that. Right?
Hypothetically.
And they did it. And somehow people thought
it was an obligation and they didn't tell
the people it's not obligatory, then it would
be Makru
but if they came out and said may
Allah bless them or protect all of them,
if they came out and said no no
no no it's not obligatory
it's not it's not obligatory it's something which
is recommended, it's something which is good to
do,
And here we learn something about the which
is unique.
How it holds religious leadership
responsible.
SubhanAllah.
If you're gonna be an educator, if you're
on TikTok, if you're on Instagram, if you're
on YouTube, but you're just running off at
the mouth,
Man, this is a very serious responsibility.
Even in doing good, you may be held
accountable. Subhan Allah. Then what about doing bad?
So here we see the the layers of
a madhab, that beauty of all madhabs,
all of them, but I'm trained in this
so I can talk about it.
You see something coming out of it now,
like, wow.
Religious leaders are responsible
to look after
how they present.
But also in order for someone to do
that, they have to know the flock they
serve.
They have to know the people. So there's
this idea of accountability
even in doing good, but then also we
call
no one what's going on with the people.
You have to be aware of the people.
That's why the adab of the Mufti, Al
Khatib, he mentions that Imam al Zuri, when
he would go to Medina on Eid, he
would spend it with the masses
asking them questions, the youth, the women,
the men, what's going on? What's popular? What's
this? What's that? They he would know if
that in that age, Bitcoin dropped. He would
know that. He would know what's going on
because it enhances
and expands his ability
to serve the Ummah of the prophet sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam.
The second condition it is disproved to fast
it
consecutively
from Eid.
In the.
For that person
for that person. So if the first condition
is gone, everything else falls apart. All these
conditions apply
to the one who's taken as an example.
Does it apply to the auntie or the
uncle in the masjid? No. Does it apply
to the brat the the student in a
college campus? No. Who's not someone who's followed
as a religious example. So
these conditions of
it being disliked
only apply to ima.
So now when you hear people say the
Maliki say it's to fast in the month
of 6 days of Shawwal
only for those who are followed as an
example.
Remember that, and the rest
falls in line with the all 5 of
these conditions have to be there or the
next 4 under the first for it to
work. So it's disproved to fast immediately after
Eid.
I saw some people even on Eid day,
they wanted to fast. I would be, that's
not allowed.
Number 3, continually fasting these days is disapproved.
Meaning, you just do 6 straight. You don't
separate them
In the
Madhub. Number 4, it is discouraged to do
it publicly. Why? Because of Ria.
So to like advertise it and I'm fasting
6 days of shawel and blah blah blah.
Within the
it can lead to Ria.
The 5th
it extends to to to to that who
thinks that it is sunnah
to immediately follow Eid with it and to
do 6 days consecutively.
If these conditions aren't there,
there's no
there's no disapproval.
So now when we hear people say,
the med have says
some accrual to pass the 6 days of
show out. You see these 5 conditions. You
can be like, nah, I don't think so.
I don't think so.
The reason for this, as I mentioned earlier,
is to block
the means of misunderstanding
that it's obligatory
and also to protect people from harm. What
do you mean by blocking the means of
misunderstanding
that people think it's fucked? So it becomes
a burden on them. It becomes difficult on
them. Like the young woman who contacted me
that has eating disorders.
Women who maybe were breastfeeding. Women who were
unable to fast in the month of Ramadan.
People that may be sick in a way
that they can fast some days of Ramadan
but not all the days and so they
have this now added
pressure
which leads to harm.
There's another reason that this is considered problematic
or disliked within the med hab and that
is because and this is actually is very
beautiful.
What is the purpose of Eid?
What what is the
what is the underlying
purpose of Eid?
The purpose of Eid is number 1,
to restore
family ties
and fraternal relationships
and to celebrate
if are the happiness of the Muslim community.
If I'm fasting,
right? Like, as it's mentioned here and people
are inviting me to their homes,
Maybe people I haven't seen in years. Maybe
family members. Even what years ago, I had
a non Muslim who did a Eid celebration
for me and my family.
If I'm fasting,
which now is more important? The nafo fasting
or family ties and brotherhood and sisterhood? Which
is first here? The unity
and coherence
and happiness
of our brotherhood and sisterhood
or me fasting by myself.
You see something?
And this is what I meant when I
said earlier about
preference.
Because we have so many important narrations about
family ties,
making Muslims happy,
right, visiting one another,
And that was the way of the this
is the way of the on. So
they
they
want to be together to celebrate.
As Allah mentions,
So if I say no to my wife's
family, they're awesome, but say hypothetically,
maybe they'll feel something. Like like he doesn't
wanna be with us, he doesn't wanna come
to our home, he doesn't wanna visit us
because he's fasting.
So which one is more important? That's why
imam Ahmed Muhammad when he was asked, if
you could help a Muslim move or pray
all night, which would you he said, I
I would help them move.
Because that has a systemic impact. Praying in
the night is only for me.
Praying in the night is only for me.
This stance is clearly expressed by Imam Malik
in the number of positions, but some more
evidences for this. Number 1, it was the
way of the salaf of the people of
Medina.
And for us in the,
that's a position that we take.
It's something that we hold as an authoritative
proof in certain circumstances
as we'll talk about in a second. So
I know he regarded this as Makru with
those conditions because he says
as related by Yahia in the Muwata and
his translations behind me, that Maddox said about
fasting the 6 days after Ido Fitr. I
have not seen any scholars
or jurist
fasten,
nor has it been been reported to me
from any of the salif of Medina.
Other may have reported it. Okay?
And he said, in fact, the scholars of
Medina disapproved it, fearing it might become an
innovation, meaning people think it's it's it's a
wajib,
and that will be a biddah.
Right?
Doing good can also be a biddah, just
like doing bad can be a Bida to
change the ruling which is found in the
Sharia is Bida.
And that it might be mistaken as part
of Ramadan
by those who are uninformed,
Madoc says, and rigid,
harsh. Think about all the logic and philosophy
I gave you earlier and now you're finding
it in the quote of Madoc and the
Muwatha.
They would have considered it permissible
had they seen the scholars of Medina
accepting it and practicing it. What he means
though is within the realm of those conditions
I talked about earlier.
They fasted 6 days as we'll talk about
later on and even more,
but they did not just like the the
13, 14, and 15, the Malachy's
we're careful about the 13, 14 to 15,
the days of the full moon because of
the different narrations and the statement of say
to Aisha and the fact that people tried
to start to act like it's Wajib.
Whereas there's so many narrations the prophet fasted,
you know, in the beginning of the month,
he fasted, you know, Sunday, Monday,
Saturday, Sunday, Monday, the end of the month,
he fasted Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. This narration is
authentic.
Very similar. I'll give you an example that
may help you to the hadith about, tarawee
prayer. You have the hadith of say to
Aish and Bukhari that mentions 8 and 3,
but then you have other narrations of other
Sahaba
because I want you this is something very
important to think about.
Oftentimes,
a Sahabi
is narrating
a narration
from his or her own individual experience.
You and I, we we we read narrations
and inject them into community.
These were specific to them.
So why would the prophet tell
people different things?
Because we have a great action in Islamic
law that the fatwa changes with a person.
The fatwa can change with a time, place,
or person. Fatwa meaning something is not definitive.
Not salah, not hijab, not haj,
not jihad. No, that's different. Not Aqidah,
talking about these practices. When the people will
come to say to Muhammad and say,
what's the best thing to do? Always has
a different answer. Why? Because he knows the
person. He knows what's best for that person.
Now you compare that to, like, the sloppiness
online where people are just giving examples, examples.
So someone said it's Makru to fast on
Fridays. Not a pneumatici mehdev, it's not that's
a masala.
Right? That's a whole another issue because the
narration that the prophet
he fasted on Friday, he fasted on Saturday.
You have to be aware. That's good. That's
a sound opinion, by the way, but not
within our Med Heb. And maybe we can
talk about that. I teach a class on
this at my school.
Very similar to this way of teaching,
but I don't wanna use this as a
shameless,
you know,
way to advertise for my school.
Also, Imam Malik, he said,
I have not heard any of the learned
jurist of Medina fasting these days.
No one has it reached me that any
of the salaf practiced it. Indeed, scholars disprove
of this practice
fearing it might turn into, as I mentioned
earlier, a similar quote
religious innovation
or create
a hardship
or that people will erroneously associate it with
Ramadan out of ignorance.
That's why the Madam Gidham had the same
thing about Surah to Fajr
on Jumu'ah.
Praying with
and
We say it's if people think it's wajib.
Why? Because you're changing the ruling
and the flexibility
of the teachings of Sayidina Muhammad sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam.
The other reason and this is all these
things I'm telling you now are debatable. Right?
Other,
they have strong
responses to this. So don't
go and start putting people on blast. It's
a.
It's an issue of difference.
But the Malaga's in particular have
a concern
with the Hadith of Abu Abu Ansari.
And that's because its narrator is Sa'd ibn
Sa'd.
Sa'd ibn Sa'd
Imam Ahmed
considered him unreliable
not because he was bad in character he
had a bad memory.
A
related him as weak.
Iben Uyayna, one of the great earliest scholars
and others stated that his hadith tend to
be more so, meaning
there's a break in between him, there's no
Sahabi mentioned.
He's not a Sahabi. So more so from
the same word as Rusul Yersal. He sent
the chain directly to the prophet and missed
narrating the Sahabi. Although the Malakis we have
a long discussion about Marasil.
Imam Matermidi, he writes Sa'd ibn Sa'd is
the brother of Yaheb Nusayid Al Ansari. Yaheb
Nusayid Al Ansari is the one who narrates
the Hadith from Sayid Al Amr actions are
by the intention
And some scholars have considered
him problematic Saeed because
of his memory.
So the Madikis are like, hold on. We
have these other narrations which are authentic. But
this narration, this narrator,
this narrator, there are some concerns. Then we
have the actions of the people of Medina.
Then we have concerns about the ruling changing.
Then we can have concerns about hardship. You
know what?
Here you see why this debate happens
based on those 5 conditions.
That takes me now to
the second issue, and that is
when those conditions are gone,
fasting those 6 days is not McCru.
And let me mention the conditions again. Number
1, it's done by someone who they're you
take them as an example indeed.
So it was not done by anyone else,
it doesn't matter now.
Number 2, they do
it concurrently right after Ramadan.
Number 3, they they do it. We
say
connected to Ramadan.
Number 3. Number 4,
they make a big deal about it publicly.
We live in an age of exhibition. Sometimes,
man, just do things between you and a
lot, man.
Like, it's okay to do things just between
you and Allah.
That's very healthy.
And sometimes it's good to talk about the
good you do.
And then finally, yeah,
means they think that
doing it 6 days straight and connecting it
right after Ramadan is sunnah.
Yeah.
What happens though when those conditions are gone?
Here, I need you to pay attention because
this is really what's applicable to most people,
I think, listening.
And that is that the word in the
hadith of Saeed
from, say,
Abi, Abi, Ayub, and Sari. May Allah be
pleased with both of them.
That the prophet said, Mansama Ramadan,
who fast the month of Ramadan,
and then follows it with
6
from Shawwal.
6 from Shawwal.
The the other,
the Hanabi is also a very interesting discussion
about this
in another way. But the other, they say
men here means
to breed
to breed means some.
The word men has a lot of meanings,
not just from,
if I say
I travel from from Cairo. That means I
started from Cairo and travel.
But if I say a kill to min
it means I ate
some
of the
biryani.
Min means
with
also
means to start from.
So, those now,
the say that when those conditions are gone,
it doesn't mean you have to fast
from some days of Shawwal.
It means you started in Shawwal.
That's one opinion.
The other opinion is that you can fast
him anytime you want.
Because
outside of the month of Shawwal,
the Hadith of the prophet
says that
one is equal to 10.
So like if you fast outside of Shawwal,
right? So you fast and
then isn't that one day equal to 10?
So then there's no difference.
There's no difference. So the argument here is
that this is not a command that it
has to be done from shawel,
like, from the days of shawel that either
you started in shawel
or, and we're gonna talk about the other
opinion here, you do it any time of
the year.
Because outside of the month of Shawwal,
one good deed is equal to 10.
So then
this is an encouragement.
So some of the jurors, they say then
why? Why is Shaul mentioned?
Why does it have this understanding? Because when
someone's in a fasting
sort of like zone,
it's easy for them to start like soon
fasting.
So I say number 1 is
is
the great scholar, you know, in his
his commentary on Karshi's
explanation of hadith. So, you know,
to ease it, because people are already in
the zone for fasting, not immediately after Ramadan
as we said it earlier, right? But
they're in the zone to fast, so their
body, it's easy for them to start fasting
instead of waiting later on.
Okay?
So that's why they're that's for how they
argue that. That's why Al Khalafi Al Mariki
says these days are designated in Shawwal to
lighten the load of those obligated to due
to its closest to Ramadan.
However, the intended purpose can be fulfilled
in any other month
and postponing it is recommended
to merge
2 benefits. This is in Adhikira volume 2
page number 530.
30. What are the 2 benefits?
Number 1, the reward of fasting. Number 2,
it's easier for a person.
And in fact, there may be days at
outside of Shawwal where you get more reward
for fasting.
For example, the days of the 1st 10
days of the reward is more.
So they say, it doesn't have to be
in Shawwal. It can be any time, but
Shawwal is mentioned for those who may find
it easy
to fast because their body is used to
fasting in the month of Ramadan.
That's the two benefits
that Al Qarafi
is mentioned here in Adhagira. I hope everyone
understands what I'm saying.
I hope this is not too complicated. So
Malekis interpret the word min to mean
starting from not part of
some of the days of show up, men
is show up. And they say that that
men is not an obligation.
Just you, you have their permission to start
then. You have to start then, but if
you want to, you can.
If it's easy for you. And here what
I love about this opinion
is it it runs
contrary to the assumptions
of
Europe
and the American attitude towards religion,
that the more religious knowledge you gain,
the more of your utility and agency
you lose. But if you actually were to
really go through the books of fiqh as
we're going through it now,
you'll find that it actually
expands your agency religiously
and empowers you utility,
but makes it for Allah.
What the west does, it attacks religion
and then it enslaves your agency and utility
to conform to its popular demands
rendering you a slave of the dunya.
Islam
expands the utility and agency of a person
in order to emancipate them from the dunya
to be the slave of Allah.
Which one is better?
So here when someone asks like, so like,
if it's easier for me,
what should I do? You make that decision
for yourself.
You don't have to call me.
You didn't have to,
if you feel like, okay, it's easier for
me to start after show up because my
body's in the zone after Ramadan because my
body's in the zone.
You use your agency here. If you feel
like you know what, it'd be easier if
I take a break
for whatever reason and I fast later,
that's your call.
That's not our call, that's your call. So
here we see something, this idea of the
overbearing, you know, autocratic
religious
voice that's domineering your life and not allowing
you to make any decisions for yourself
flies out the window when you study books
of faith like how you're studying it now.
That's why I like to teach it this
way.
So the madic you say it means
to start from,
not some of,
as indicating a partial period. No. But as
signaling the start of the period that you
can do or not do. You don't have
to start in the shawad.
But if you want to, you can. They
believe specifying
shawal and the hadith was intended to ease
the burden for people because of its proximity
to Ramadan may be hard on people to
fast.
Allowing for fasting these days beyond shows, so
is duality. It may be easy for some,
hard for others.
The overarching goal
is to achieve the reward of fasting for
the whole year. That's the goal. Not shawal,
the year. So after Ramadan, let me make
sure I fast 6 days.
Whether the fasting is done in Shawwal or
another month, since each good deed is rewarded
by 10, whether it's in Shawwal or not.
Therefore, fasting for 6 days, whether during Shawwal
or at another time, equates to the reward
of 60 days or 2 months, combined with
the rewards of
or 2 months.
Combined with the rewards of Ramadan, that is
the whole lunar year. Now you see the
logic of the medheb and now you see
why it's so irresponsible to say the Madakhi
say it's Makru
without
breaking it down
without breaking it down.
Al Qarafi he says and I mentioned this
quote earlier in the Tahira these days are
designated of Shawwal to lighten the load.
Remember earlier, I said the axiom, the religion
is facilitated and eased as those obligated due
to its closest to Ramadan. However, the intended
purpose can be fulfilled in other months.
Our Sheikh, Sheikh, Sheikh, Sheikh, Sheikh, Sheikh.
His notes on a very important text, the
Khaliyah, which I mentioned earlier, he says, Allah,
the prophet mentioned Shawel to ease concerns about
fasting, not to limit its regulation to a
specific time.
Because remember earlier, I talked about all those
different texts. I said, we have these different
texts. It's hard to specify.
It's hard to pay
like to to restrict something or to limit
it, but you have these other texts
that becomes difficult. Becomes
impossible almost.
Therefore, performing these fasts during the 1st 10
days, listen to what
says, who is a judge in the
respected lawyer.
He says, therefore,
performing these 6 days fasting,
during the first
10 days of
is more preferable
due to the merit associated with that period.
As well as
fasting at any later time increases the reward
due to the greater
difficulty that may be involved.
So in closing, and I wanna stop here,
I discussed the nuanced views within the Malek
illegal school regarding the fasting of 6 of
Shawwal.
The conditions for it, for its it being
disapproved.
While supportive hadith, I mentioned like the narration
of Saydna Abu Ayuba al Saudi and others.
And now what I wanna leave you with
is just some discussion questions, and then I
have one minute and I'll come back and
take any questions that you have because Instagram
is gonna cut me off. Why does Imam
Malik disapprove in his school of the 6
days of being fasted?
I gave you the 5 conditions. How do
the principles of blocking means to potential harm
and misunderstanding
apply to that position?
Those axioms that I taught you earlier. What
are the potential consequences of an influential
figures fasting these days without explaining it to
people, the responsibility
of the educator?
Discuss the role of public perception and showing
off,
especially in an age of exhibition on Instagram
and TikTok.
What does the practice of fasting immediately after
it suggests about
ignorance
versus knowledge? The people of Medina
versus popular assumptions.
And finally, what lessons can we take as
contemporary Muslims in the West
from the caution and care of the Maliki
Med Heb on this issue? I'm gonna stop
now. I only have 56 seconds left, and
I will come back and take any questions
that you have.
I appreciate your patience. I wanted to do
this in 30 minutes, and I apologize for
taking
too much of your time. I'll be right
back.