Shawwal (the month after Ramadan: fasting six days of it, the sighting of its new moon, and the rule when one sees it alone)

Shawwal is the lunar month after Ramadan, the month of the festival of breaking the fast, and the first of the months of the pilgrimage named in the verse of the Cow (197): the pilgrimage is in known months. ¹

Some jurists hold that fasting six days of Shawwal after Ramadan is recommended, citing the saying that whoever fasts Ramadan and follows it with six of Shawwal is as one who fasts the whole year. Others dislike it, lest the common people count it as part of Ramadan. ¹

The new moon of Shawwal is established by completing the thirty days of Ramadan. Otherwise scholars differ: most hold it is not established by fewer than two just witnesses; others by one man and two women; others by one man; and where the sky is clear some require a widespread sighting. ²

A man who alone sees the new moon of Shawwal may not break the fast unless he has an excuse that allows breaking it, such as travel, illness or menses, following the sayings "the fast is the day you fast, the breaking the day you break, and the sacrifice the day you sacrifice" and "the breaking is the day the people break". The Hanafis say that if he breaks it he owes the day's fast without expiation, but he does not go out to the prayer ground or order the people to go. The Malikis and Hanbalis say that if he is in the desert with no town or group nearby, he acts on his certainty and breaks the fast. The Shafi'is say that one who sees it alone must break it, preferably quietly, since the Prophet ﷺ said "break the fast on seeing it". ²