Sitta min Shawwāl
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sitta min Shawwal (Hausa: Sita Shawwal, Arabic: ستة من شوال, lit. 'six of Shawwal') is the Islamic practice of observing six voluntary days of fasting (sawm) during the month of Shawwal, the tenth month of the Islamic lunar calendar, which follows immediately after the month of Ramadan.[1] The practice is grounded in a hadith attributed to the Prophet Muhammad recorded in Sahih Muslim, which states that observing the fast of Ramadan followed by six days of fasting in Shawwal is equivalent in reward to fasting for an entire year.[2] The fasts are widely described as Sunnah Mu'akkadah, an emphasised voluntary act by the majority of Islamic scholars across all four major Sunni schools of jurisprudence (madhabs).[3]
In the Hausa-speaking Muslim communities of West Africa particularly in northern Nigeria, Niger, and neighbouring Sahel countries the practice is commonly known by its Hausa name Sita Shawwal (sita meaning 'six' in Hausa). It is observed annually following the celebration of Eid al-Fitr and is regarded as one of the most meritorious voluntary acts of worship in the Islamic calendar.[4]