Imam Nawawi said in his Commentary upon the hadith of Sahih Muslim about fasting the six days of Shawwal:
“In it is a clear indication to support the position of Shafi’i, Ahmad, Dawud and those who agreed with them in recommending the fasting of these six days. Malik and Abu Hanifah said that it is disliked. Malik said in al-Muwatta’ , ‘I never saw any of the people of knowledge fasting these days … They said: It is disliked, in case people think it is obligatory.’ The evidence of Shafi’i and those who agree with him is this clear, authentic hadith: if the Sunnah is established, it is not to be abandoned because some people abandon it, and not even if most or all of them abandon it. Their saying, ‘in case people think it is obligatory’ is disproven by the fast of ‘Arafah, ‘Ashura and other recommended fasts.”
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Shaykh Muhammad al-Amin al-Shanqiti said:
There is no doubt that in the compiled Madhhab of Imam Malik, there are derived rulings (furu’) that oppose some texts of the revelation. It is apparent that some of these texts did not reach him, may Allah have mercy upon him: had they reached him, he would have acted upon them. Other texts did reach him, but he chose not to act upon them due to another indication that he believed was stronger evidence.
An example of a text not reaching him is the hadith about fasting six days of Shawwal, after the fast of Ramadan. He, may Allah have mercy upon him, said in his Muwatta’ (The Well-Trodden Path),
“Truly, I never saw any of the people of knowledge and understanding fasting these days, and nothing has reached me regarding this on the authority of the predecessors (Salaf). The people of knowledge dislike this practice and fear that it is an innovation, and that ignorant and coarse people will add to Ramadan what is not part of it if they see the people of knowledge allowing it and practising it.”
Here, Malik says explicitly that fasting six days of Shawwal reached him neither on the authority of the Prophet, nor on that of any of the Salaf. There is no doubt that had encouragement from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, to fast these days reached him, he would have fasted them and recommended others to fast them – it goes without saying that he would not have disliked the practice. This is because Malik would not have doubted that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was more kind and merciful towards the community than he was, for Allah has described the Prophet in the Qur’an as being kind and merciful.
If fasting those six days necessitated the problem because of which Malik disliked the practice, the Prophet would not have encouraged it and he would have considered the problem that Malik identified. But the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, avoided and dismissed the problem because he knew that the month of Ramadan is too well-known to be confused with any of Shawwal. This is similar to the recommended prayers before and after the obligatory prayers: none of the people of knowledge ever disliked them for fear that the ignorant would add to the obligatory prayers. This is due to the five compulsory prayers being well-known and not confused with others.
Anyhow, it is not for any Imam to say that a matter that has been approved by the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, is disliked for fear of the ignorant thinking that it is obligatory. Fasting of the aforementioned six days, and the Prophet’s encouragement of this, is established authentically from him. The hadith was transmitted by Ahmad, Muslim, Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah via several Companions, including Thawban, Jabir, Ibn ‘Abbas, Abu Hurayrah and Bara’ bin ‘Azib, as explained by [Imam Shawkani,] the author of Nayl al-Awtar.
(Shaykh Muhammad al-Amin al-Shanqiti, Lights of Eloquence: Commentary on Qur’an, Surah Muhammad, 47:24)
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