#777: Ruling on Fasting few days before Ramadān
777 QUESTION
Can I fast from tommorw till the last day of sha’aban
ANSWER:
Alhamdulillāhi!
Firstly, know – may Allah illumine your heart – that, the ‘Ulamā differed on the permissibility of fasting a day or two days before the month of Ramadān.
The position upheld by the Hanbalī and the Hanafiyyah is that it is Makruh to fast a day or two days before the month of Ramadān but when it is more than two days before Ramadān, then there is nothing wrong in fasting.
The Mālikiyyah upheld the permissibility of fasting a day or two days before the month of Ramadān.
As for the Shāfi’ī position on this matter is that it is Haram to fast a day or two days before the month of Ramadān, likewise when the month of Sha’abān is already half over for the one who is not continuing to fast after starting to fast before in the first half of Sha’abān and there wasn’t any Sabab which might necessitate fasting such as oath or he habitually fasts.
They referred to the implication of the Hadīth recorded in “Sahīhayn” from Abū Hurairah radiyallāhu anhu who said: The Rasūl Salallāhu alayhi wasallam said:
“لاَ يَتَقَدَّمَنَّ أَحَدُكُمْ رَمَضَانَ بِصَوْمِ يَوْمٍ أَوْ يَوْمَيْنِ، إِلاَّ أَنْ يَكُونَ رَجُلٌ كَانَ يَصُومُ صَوْمَهُ فَلْيَصُمْ ذَلِكَ الْيَوْمَ”
None of you should fast a day or two before the month of Ramadan unless he has the habit of fasting (Nawafil) then he can fast that day.
Transmitted by Imām Al-Bukhārī#1914 and Imām Muslim#1082.
Also where the Rasūl- Salallāhu alayhi wasallam- said:
إِذَا انْتَصَفَ شَعْبَانُ فَلا تَصُومُوا
When Sha’abān is half over, don’t fast.
Transmitted by Abū Dāwūd#3237, At-tirmidhī#738 and Ibn Mājah#1651. Shaykh Al-Albānī declared it as Sahīh in Sahīh At-tirmidhī#590.
However, due to the first Hadīth we mentioned, they upheld the permissibility of fasting even after when the month of Sha’abān is half over for the one who habitually fasts.
Imām An-nawawī said in his Shar’h of the first Hadīth:
In this Hadīth, it is plainly mentioned that it is prohibited to anticipate Ramadān by fasting a day or two before it begins for the one who has no habit of Fasting or who are not continuing to fast after starting to fast, then if he doesn’t continuing to fast or has no habit of fasting, it is haram for him to fast, and this is what is Sahīh in our madh’hab
The polymath Imām, Al-hāfidh Ahmad Ibn ‘Aliyy Ibn Hajar Al-‘asqalānī mentioned in Fat’h:
The majority of the ‘Ulama upheld the permissibility of fasting Tatawwu'( voluntary fasting) for the one who has the habit of fasting after the month of Sha’abān is half over.
Apparently, the position of Shāfi’ī school of thought is stronger based on the two Ahādīth mentioned.
Hence, if you are one who fasts habitually, then there is nothing wrong in you fasting your normal voluntary fasting till the last day of Sha’abān, but if you are not, then it is not permissible to fast a day or two days before the month of Ramadān and Allāh knows best.
May Allāh Grant us Tawfīq and Sadad and may He spare our life to witness this blessed month of Ramadān, Āmīn.
Bārakallāhu fīkum
Jazākumullāhu khayran.
Abu Yahya.
27th Sha’abān, 1440A.H
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