Question:
In lectures about Shab-e-Barat it is said that no fasting should be observed after the 15th of Sha‘ban. But in an online article it says that if one did not fast at the end of Sha‘ban, he should fast one or two days after Ramadan.
What is the explanation?
Answer:
There is a hadith in Qur’an-related narrations in Sahih Muslim.
The Prophetﷺ once asked a man: “Did you fast at the end of this month?”
The month referred to was Sha‘ban. The question was asked during Ramadan. The Prophetﷺ asked him whether he had fasted at the end of Sha‘ban. The man replied that he had not fasted.
Then the Prophetﷺ said: “When you complete Ramadan, fast one or two days.”
This means that there is a sunnah of fasting one or two days at the end of Sha‘ban. If someone missed that fasting, he may perform it after Ramadan, during Shawwal.
So, the meaning is simple. If you could not fast at the end of Sha‘ban, you may compensate for it later. There is no confusion. The sunnah fast that was missed in Sha‘ban can be made up afterward in Shawwal.
That is all.