The first day of Shawwal is Eid al-Fitr. Muslims should observe 6 days of fasting in Shawwal. Shawwal is the month after the month of Ramadan. Eid ul-Fitr day fasting is prohibited. This is so because Muslims cannot fast on the day of Eid ul-Fitr. They need to celebrate the Eid day.
However, the 6 days of fasting after Ramadan fasts are equivalent to fasting the entire year. If you’ve missed Ramadan because of ill health or any reason then when you realize, it will be too late. When it’s too late then you cannot make up with how many fasts you missed while missing so many Ramadans. There maybe many teenagers and young and old Muslims, who want to fulfill their pending fasts of Ramadan. Yet, they do not know how many fasts that they missed.
6 Days of Fasting in Shawwal is an Opportunity
Here is a good opportunity for all those Muslims to do fasting for 6 days in the month of Shawwal. These fasts will be equal to 36 fasts including the 30 fasts of Ramadan. Or if Ramadan is of 29 fasts then it will equal to 35 fasts. So, you can fast six days in the month of Shawwal and get rewards of an entire year’s fasting. Think it this way and you’ll know that in each year there will be at least 11 or more Ramadan months.
If you had missed a dozen Ramadans because of some reason then this Shawwal is the month that you need to fast for 6 days. It’s not calculated so according to any Hadith but it’s good that you realized your missing of Ramadans. So, go ahead and do 6 days of fasts in Shaawal after Ramadan and get the reward of fasting for the whole year. It all depends on the Almighty that whether you’ve fulfilled your missed fasting of that many Ramadans. It’s better to do 6 days of fasting in Shawwal. But, Allah knows your intentions and you’ll be rewarded with the entire year’s fasting. If Allah wills.