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Fatwa CenterVows to fast some days, but doubts their exact number
Question
I took a vow a long time ago, when I was still studying, to fast some days if I passed my exams. Allah, the Exalted, blessed me with success and I passed the exams, however, I got preoccupied with the challenges of life, and the devil prevented me from fulfilling my vow. Nevertheless, I have never forgotten that I still have to fulfill a vow, although I cannot remember whether I vowed to fast fifteen days or a whole month. I think it was only fifteen days, but I keep telling myself that it is nothing but whisperings of the devil by which he seeks to dishearten me and cause me to settle for breaking the vow. I would like to seek your advice concerning the fulfillment of my vow? Should I fast the vowed days successively or separately?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad 
is His Slave and Messenger.
We implore Allaah, the Exalted, to help you and us to remember Him, express our gratitude to Him, and worship Him as due. As for your vow, it is a vow to do an act of obedience that is conditioned upon the occurrence of a certain thing. Scholars considered conditional vows disliked. The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: "The vow neither hastens anything nor defers it, but is the means whereby (something) is extracted from the miserly person." [Muslim]
However, the vow-taker is obliged to fulfill his conditional vow, once the thing upon which the vow-taker conditioned his vow takes place. The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: "Whoever vowed to obey Allaah, the Exalted, must obey Him." [Al-Bukhari]
Therefore, you should do your best to remember the exact number of the vowed fast-days. If you failed to remember the number of the days that you vowed to fast and reached no result, then, in such a case, many scholars believe that you should fast a number of days that exceeds what you think you had vowed because you would thus clear yourself of your liability from the vow with certainty. Nevertheless, some scholars believe that, in such a case, it is obligatory to fast only the lesser number of fast-days that you think you had vowed and that fasting any extra days is not based on certainty. The basic rule regarding this case is that you are free from liability about fasting those extra days. However, it would better if you fast the bigger number of the fast-days that you think you had vowed. This is because if this number is correct, then you will have cleared yourself from your liability of the vow and, if not, then you will be rewarded for those extra fast-days. The majority of Muslim scholars believe that the vow-taker is not required to fast the vowed fast-days successively.
Allaah Knows best.
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