A Vow: “O Allah! If this work of mine is accomplished, then I am going to fast for five days!”

1. A person said, “O Allah! If this work of mine is accomplished, then I am going to fast for five days,” the five days of fasting will have to be kept if the work was accomplished.
2. If the work was not accomplished then it will not be waajib to keep the five days’ fast.
3. In the above case if the person merely said, “I am going to fast for five days,” then he/she has the option of keeping all five days’ fast together, or complete them one at a time, or in batches of two, etc.
4. Both ways – keeping the five in one go or separating the five – are permissible.
5. And if the person said in the above case, “I am going to keep five fasts in succession,” or he/she had this intention, then it will be binding to keep all five in succession.
6. If while keeping the five fasts, a day or two was missed then he/she will have to start all over again keeping the five in succession.

(Behshti Zewar)