Did Imam Malik dislike fasting six days in the month of shawwal?

An authentic hadith and a great reward

Abu Ayyub (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:

“Whoever fasts Ramadan and follows it with six days of Shawwal, it will be as if he fasted for a lifetime.”

This hadith is authentic and has been narrated by Muslim, Abu Dawood, al-Tirmidhi, al-Nisaa’i and Ibn Maajah.

It is narrated via several routes (turuq).

On this basis, as explained by Imam Al Nawawi and Ibn Qudamah, the vast majority of scholars have highly encouraged fasting six days during the month of shawwal.

Yet, it is sometimes claimed that Malik disliked and discouraged this practice due to a report in the Muwatta as narrated by Yahya ibn Yayah Al Laythi.

Yahya said that he heard Malik say:

"I have not heard that any of our predecessors used to do that, and the people of knowledge disapprove of it”

Imam Malik feared lay Muslims could fall into innovation

Before mistakenly concluding that Imam Malik disliked fasting during six days in shawwal, it is important to read his full statement as narrated by Yahya ibn Yayah Al Laythi:

"I have not heard that any of our predecessors used to do that, and the people of knowledge disapprove of it, and they are afraid that it might become a bid'ah and that common and ignorant people might join to Ramadan what does not belong to it, if they were to think that the people of knowledge had given permission for that to be done and were seen doing it."

Hence, it is very clear that what Imam Malik disliked and feared is that lay Muslims could misconstrue this recommended fasting as an obligation part of the month of Ramadan.

Maliki scholars clarified Imam Malik’s position on this issue

If one wants to understand Imam Malik’s stance, he has to return to the scholars who followed his school of jurisprudence.

Ibn Abdil Barr Al Andalusi Al Maliki discussed the issue in Al Tamhid, the greatest commentary on Al Muwatta.

He explained that it would be unlikely that Imam Malik was not aware of the hadith since it is a hadith narrated in Madinah.

He further explained that Imam Malik used to fear leading people to believe that a recommended act was an obligation.

Therefore, he would refrain from certain actions in front of the masses who could misunderstand.

This issue is also discussed in Mukhtasar al Khalil, the most authoritative work of fiqh in the maliki madhab.

All the commentators including Al Hattab, Al Damiri, Al Dardir, Al Dasuq and all the others explained that it is disliked if

1) A well-known scholar

2) Fasts these days in front of the masses

3) Directly after eid

4) Consecutively

If one of these conditions is not present, it is not disliked but highly recommended.

As a side note, Imam Al Mawwaq, the last scholar of Grenada, states an important rule.

He reports from several of his teachers, including shaykhul shuyukh Ibn Lub, Imam Al Haffar and others that we are malikis when it comes to obligations and prohibitions, but with regards to encouraged and disliked matters, we follow ahl al hadith.

Since the six days of shawwal fall in the second category, they would therefore follow the scholars of ahl al hadith who recommend it.

Imam Malik himself used to fast during the six days of shawwal

It has been narrated by Mutarrif that Imam Malik himself used to fast six days in the month of shawwal.

He fasted privately since according to the explanation above he disliked fasting them in a manner that could give the impression to the lay man that their fasting was obligatory and might fall into the innovation of joining them to the month of Ramadan.

Perform good deeds, don’t deprive yourself of great rewards

In conclusion, I highly encourage you to fast six days during the month of shawwal and follow the sunnah of the Prophet (peace be upon him).

There is no reason to refrain from performing good deeds as we cannot afford to miss out on the rewards.

And Allah knows best.