Fasting in the second half of Shaa'baan is permissible under conditions

Question:

In Shaa'baan are we allowed to fast Monday and Thursday up until the beginning of Ramadan or is it Sunnah to stop half of Shaa'baan?
Fatwa:
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allah exalt his mention ) is His Slave and Messenger.
Fasting on Mondays and Thursdays is permissible in the last half of Shaa'baan if the person is used to fast in those days. The Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: None of you should fast a day or two before the month of Ramadan unless he has the habit of fasting (Nawaafil) (and if his fasting coincides with that day) then he can fast that day." [al-Bukhari and Muslim ] There is no contradiction between this Hadeeth and the Hadeeth of at-Tirmithi which reads: Don't fast after the fifteenth of Shaa'baan.” The Muslim scholars made agreement between these two Ahadeeth that the one who fasts in the first half of Shaa'baan can also fast in the second half of Shaa'baan. And at-Tirmithi's Hadeeth applies to those who did not start fasting in the first half of Shaa'baan. The evidence for this saying is that the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, used to fast most of the month of Shaa'baan. [al-Bukhari, Ahmad and an-Nasaa'ee] No doubt most of Shaa'baan includes a portions from the second half of this month.
Allah knows best.
Fatwa answered by: The Fatwa Center at Islamweb

Related Articles