Shawwal

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What is Shawwal?

Shawwal is the tenth month of the Hijri calendar, immediately following the fasting month of Ramadan. It opens with one of the two major Islamic celebrations, Eid al-Fitr, marking the joyful end of a month of fasting and worship.

The name "Shawwal" comes from the Arabic root sh-w-l, meaning "to raise" or "to lift up," reportedly because female camels would raise their tails during this season as part of the mating cycle in pre-Islamic Arabia, or because people would "raise" their loads to prepare for travel and trade after the sacred restrictions of the preceding months.

Historically, Shawwal is associated with the marriage of the Prophet ﷺ to his wife Aisha, an event some pre-Islamic Arabs superstitiously considered inauspicious for weddings, a notion Aisha herself is reported to have dismissed by pointing to her own marriage in this month as proof there was nothing wrong with it.

Religiously, the most significant feature of Shawwal, after Eid al-Fitr itself, is the recommendation to fast six additional days at any point during the month. The Prophet ﷺ taught that combining these six days with the completed month of Ramadan is equivalent, in reward, to fasting the entire year, since each good deed in Islam is multiplied.

Muslims are encouraged to begin Shawwal with the joy of Eid al-Fitr, giving the obligatory charity of Zakat al-Fitr beforehand, and then to carry the spiritual momentum of Ramadan forward by observing the six recommended fasting days, maintaining consistency in worship rather than treating Ramadan as an isolated period of devotion.

Significance of Shawwal

• Tenth month of the Hijri calendar: Shawwal directly follows the fasting month of Ramadan.
• Begins with Eid al-Fitr: The first day of Shawwal is one of the two major Islamic festivals, celebrating the completion of Ramadan's fast.
• Home of the six recommended fasts: Fasting six days in Shawwal after Ramadan carries the reward of fasting the whole year.
• Once wrongly seen as unlucky for marriage: Aisha's own marriage in Shawwal is cited to dispel pre-Islamic superstitions about the month.

References in Qur'an & Hadith

The Prophet ﷺ said: "Whoever fasts Ramadan and then follows it with six days of Shawwal, it will be as if he fasted for a lifetime." — Sahih Muslim 1164

"...and to complete the period and to glorify Allah for that [to] which He has guided you; and perhaps you will be grateful." — Surah Al-Baqarah 2:185