Shawwal

Shawwal (Arabic: شَوَّال‎, Šawwāl) is the tenth month of the lunar based Islamic calendar. Shawwāl stems from the verb shāla (شَالَ) to 'lift or carry', generally to take or move things from one place to another, so named because a female camel normally would be carrying a fetus at this time of year.

Fasting during Shawwāl

The first day of Shawwāl is Eid al-Fitr. Some Muslims observe six days of fasting during Shawwāl beginning the day after Eid ul-Fitr since fasting is prohibited on this day. These six days of fasting together with the Ramadan fasts, are equivalent to fasting all year round. The reasoning behind this tradition is that a good deed in Islam is rewarded 10 times, hence fasting 30 days during Ramadan and 6 days during Shawwāl is equivalent to fasting the whole year in fulfillment of the obligation.[1]

The Shia scholars do not place any emphasis on the six days being consecutive while among the Sunnis the majority of Shafi`i scholars consider it recommended to fast these days consecutively. They based this on a hadith related by Tabarani and others wherein Muhammad is reported to have said, "Fasting six consecutive days after Eid al-Fitr is like fasting the entire year." Other traditional scholarly sources among the Hanafiyya and Hanbaliyya do not place an emphasis on consecutive days, while the strongest opinion of the Malikiyya prefers any six days of the month, consecutively or otherwise.

Timing

The Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar, and months begin when the first crescent of a new moon is sighted. Since the Islamic lunar calendar year is 10 to 11 days shorter than the solar year, Shawwāl migrates throughout the seasons. The estimated start and end dates for Shawwāl, based on the Umm al-Qura calendar of Saudi Arabia, are:[2]

Shawwāl dates between 2018 and 2023

AH	First day (CE/AD)	Last day (CE/AD)
1439	15 June 2018	13 July 2018
1440	04 June 2019	03 July 2019
1441	24 May 2020	21 June 2020
1442	13 May 2021	10 June 2021
1443	02 May 2022	30 May 2022
1444	21 April 2023	20 May 2023

Islamic events

• 01 Shawwāl, Eid al-Fitr is celebrated throughout the Muslim World for three consecutive days until the 3rd day of this month.
• 08 Shawwāl, the destruction of Jannatul Baqee' [Baqee' Holy Graveyard] and Jannatul Mualla on 8 Shawwal 1926 by the Saudi government
• 13 Shawwāl, primary traditionist of the Sunni Muslims, Muhammad al-Bukhari, was born in 194 AH.
• 17 Shawwāl, early Muslims took part in the Battle of Uhud
• 18 Shawwal, URS Of Sufi Mystic And Poet Amir Khusro,
• 22 Shawwāl 1284 AH, death of Haji Dost Muhammad Qandhari, an Afghan Sufi master of Naqshbandi tradition
• 23 Shawwal, Death Anniversary Of Ghulam Farid Sabri And Maqbool Ahmed Sabri
• 25 Shawwāl, martyrdom of Imām Ja‘far as-Sādiq

Notes

1. Islam online. Archived February 22, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
2. Umm al-Qura calendar of Saudi Arabia

External links

• Islamic-Western Calendar Converter (Based on the Arithmetical or Tabular Calendar)