Praise be to Allah
If he or she had
an excuse, such as sickness, menses, nifaas (post-partum bleeding) and the
like, because of which he or she delayed making up those days or delayed
fasting the six days, then there is no doubt that he or she will attain that
particular reward, as was stated by the scholars.
But if he or she
had no excuse; rather they simply delayed that fast until Dhu’l-Qa‘dah, then
the apparent meaning of the text indicates that they will not attain the
particular virtue [of fasting six days of Shawwaal], and that [this fast] is
a Sunnah connected to a particular time, which has passed, just as if he
missed fasting the first ten days of Dhu’l-Hijjah and the like, fasts for
which the time has passed. This special virtue has now passed, but he may
still attain the reward of fasting in general terms.
Shaykh ‘Abd
ar-Rahmaan as-Sa‘di (may Allah have mercy on him)
Al-Fataawa as-Sa‘diyyah
(p. 230).