Monday and Thursday Fasting: Why, How and a Weekly Schedule

Fasting on Mondays and Thursdays is one of the most practical sunnah fasts: it fits into a working week, it comes round often enough to become a habit, and it needs no calendar calculation. This page explains the reasons given in the hadith, then lays out a weekly routine that most people can keep.

Why these two days

Two hadith give the reasons.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said that deeds are presented on Monday and Thursday, and he liked his deeds to be presented while he was fasting (Tirmidhi 747).

Asked about fasting on Monday, he said it was the day on which he was born and the day on which revelation came to him (Muslim 1162, the same hadith that describes the fasts of Arafah and Ashura).

Fasting in general is described as a shield (Bukhari 1894), and the Monday and Thursday fast is the easiest way to keep that shield up through the year.

What the fast involves

Nothing differs from a Ramadan fast in form: no food, drink or marital relations from true dawn (Fajr) to sunset (Maghrib), with the intention of fasting. The fasting basics page covers the rules; what breaks the fast covers the edge cases. Two points are specific to voluntary fasts:

• Intention timing is flexible. The majority allow deciding to fast in the morning if you have taken nothing since Fajr. You can wake up, realise it is Monday, and fast.
• Breaking it is allowed. If a host insists or you feel unwell, a voluntary fast may be broken without sin. The schools differ on whether to make it up (see FAQ).

Suhoor is still recommended; the Prophet said there is blessing in it (Bukhari 1923 / Muslim 1095). A small meal and water before Fajr makes the day far easier, especially in summer.

A weekly schedule

Two fasts a week is about 100 days a year. Most people who keep this schedule say the first month is the hard part and the fasts become unremarkable after that.

Fitting it around work and family

• Meetings over lunch: tell colleagues in advance, or move the meeting. A fasting Monday is a good day for focused work rather than client lunches.
• Exercise: light training after iftar or just before it; avoid heavy sessions at midday.
• Children at home: fasting parents still cook and sit at the table. Children see fasting as normal when it is part of an ordinary Monday rather than an event.
• Night shifts: the fast runs from Fajr to Maghrib regardless of your shift. If a Monday fast is impossible, fast Thursday; either is a sunnah.
• Summer vs winter: in Oslo or Edinburgh a June fast runs 19 hours and a December fast under 8. Some people fast both days in winter and one in summer; the sunnah is flexible.

Combining with other sunnah fasts

Whether one fast can carry two intentions (for example a white day that is also a Thursday) is accepted by many scholars for fasts that are both voluntary. Ask a scholar you trust if you want to be sure.

When not to fast

• The two Eids and the days of tashreeq (11–13 Dhul Hijjah): fasting is forbidden.
• When ill, travelling with hardship, pregnant or breastfeeding with concern for health: the voluntary fast simply waits. Talk to your doctor if you have a medical condition; see fasting and health conditions.
• When the fast would make you neglect an obligation, such as a job that requires physical strength on that day: the obligation comes first.

Starting this week

1. Pick one day, Monday or Thursday.
2. Set a suhoor alarm for tomorrow from the prayer times page.
3. Put dates and water where you will break the fast.
4. Fast, and do not announce it unless there is a reason to.
5. After four weeks, add the second day.

The reward in the hadith is not for a heroic single effort but for being found fasting when the deeds are presented. A quiet Monday a week does that.