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Which of the following days of a week can I do voluntary fast? If I want to keep fast for three days a week then can I do this on Saturday, Monday and Thursday?

Since I know that it should be Monday and Thursday for two days a week, so what if three days if I don't want to miss both Monday and Thursday?

Zazakallah Khair

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Fasting on Monday and Thursday of a week is desirable and an established Sunnah. Besides other narrations also prohibit singling out Fridays for fasting. In your situation, you are trying to single out Thursday for fasting, which will not be preferable according to the general understanding of the prohibition of specifying a day for fasting, unless it is a Monday or Thursday. However, what appears to be the best alternative for you, to add one more day to the weekly fasting program, is what is known as the Fasting of Prophet Dawood AlayhiSalam. It is fasting on the alternate days, that is, every other day. A narration on the virtues of this type of fasting is:

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said to Abd Allah b.Amr b. al-As: “Fast one day and break your fast one day. This was the fast of David (peace be upon him), and it is the best of fasts.” Abd Allah b. `Amr then said: “I can do better than that.”

The Prophet (peace be upon him) replied: “There is no fast better than that.” [Sahîh al-Bukhârî (1840)]

However fasting in this manner would mean that you have to miss some Mondays or Thursdays, but Allah knows the intentions of his slaves, He rewards what one does and what one intends to do from the good deeds.

Islam makes us conscious of the rights of our body and health, and therefore prohibits fasting on every day, and alternatively prescribes fasting on alternative days for persons who are keen to fast much possible days.

Here is good piece on combining the fast of Dawood and fasting on Mondays and Thursdays: http://islamqa.info/en/5415

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  • Zazakallah khair, yes, I am trying to follow Prophet Dawood AlayhiSalam (PUBH)'s fasting system.. since he used to fast the alternative days, and read somewhere that fasting on the Friday and Saturday is prohibited, so I fixed the days for fasts by Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday, Monday, Thursday. So, I need to be clarified that, what does the alternative days exactly mean here? can it be like the following?: Saturday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday and again Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and again the repetition..?
    – Nadia Ali
    Commented Mar 13, 2015 at 16:40
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    Yes, fasting on alternate days means to fast one day and leave the next day, and repeat the process till one's ability to continue the chain. So, if we start from, say, Thursday, it will be like: Thu,Sat,Mon,Wed,Fri,Sun,Tue,Thu,Sat,...... That is, you will be able to fast on Monday and Thursday in first, third, fifth,....... weeks of your schedule.
    – Wailing Nightingale
    Commented Mar 13, 2015 at 18:00
  • Thanks brother! I was exactly looking for this information... May Allah increase us in knowledge.. Zazakallah khair
    – Nadia Ali
    Commented Mar 13, 2015 at 22:10
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Assalamualaikum sister,

I will divide answer into three sections:

  1. you have to know which days are forbidden for you to fast, which are below:
    • the days of tashreeq (three days following Eid al azha)
    • On the Day of Doubt (you can ask for explanation)
    • married woman should not fast without husband's conscent(except in ramadan)
    • should no fast consecutive on same day of every year (like 1st of every year)

2 .The days, in which it is recommended to fast

  • fast every other day, like one day after another
  • 3 days every month (any time)
  • monday and thursday
  • 6 day during month of shawwal
  • day of ashura

3.Rest of the days, you can fast without any issues, as its mubah (neither forbidden,makroof or mustahab)

For further details, you can go here: http://www.islambasics.com/view.php?bkID=94&chapter=7

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From my understanding is that Monday and Thursday are the best days to fast because the Prophet use to fast those days and the three white days, they call them in English. Three days each month when the moon is full. It is not permissible to fast Friday, Saturday or Sunday, unless during Ramadan. The reason is because Friday is considered a special day for Muslims, Saturday for Jewish and Sunday for the Christians. I am not a scholar so I could be mistaken.

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