The Recommended Fasts

• Any six days in the month of Shawwal (the month after Ramadhan): if one fasts those days as well as the month of Ramadhan, then one has completed his rewards so that they are equal to fasting for a year.
• Fasting Monday and Thursday, for those are the two days that one's deeds are displayed before Allah.
• Fasting three days from every month: when one does this his reward is equal to fasting for a year. This is a because a good deed is multiplied ten times . Regarding these three days, it is preferred that one fasts what are known as the "white days" - the 13th, 14th, and the 15th - of every (lunar) month.
• Fasting the first nine days of Thul-Hijjah, the most emphasized of which is the 9th, the day of 'Arafah for one who is not making the pilgrimage.
• Fasting the month of Muharram, and the most emphasized days for fasting in that month are the ninth and the tenth, which is the day of 'Ashura.

[Credit goes to 'What Must Be Known About Islam', a comprehensive book, compiled by Muhammad bin 'Ali Al-Arfaj, translated by Darussalam, global leaders in Islamic books.]