Islamic Fiqh > Fasting > Ramadan: fasting, rules and dispensations > Ramadan: the definition and status of fasting
Contents
Updated on 27 September 2026 at 3:52 AM
The Ramadan fast consists of abstaining, from dawn to sunset, from food, drink and marital relations, with an intention to fast. The sheets on this page establish its status: a pillar of Islam built on four proofs, the Quran, the Sunna, consensus and reason, then the merits the Sunna promises it, from the fast rewarded by Allah Himself to the intercession of fasting and the Quran.
Every opinion is reported as the sheets attribute it, with hadith numbers as they appear there.
The consensus of the nation holds that fasting the month of Ramadan is an obligation and a pillar of Islam, and that whoever denies or rejects it is a disbeliever. The proof of its obligation rests on the Book, the Sunna, consensus and reason. The Book first, in the verse of fasting:
O you who have believed, fasting has been prescribed upon you as it was prescribed upon those before you, so that you may become mindful of Allah. (183) For counted days. Whoever among you is sick or on a journey shall fast an equal number of other days. Those who can barely bear it have as compensation the feeding of a poor person, and whoever volunteers more, it is better for him. But fasting is better for you, if you only knew. (184) The month of Ramadan is the one in which the Quran was sent down, a guide for people and clear proofs of guidance and criterion. Whoever among you witnesses the month shall fast it, and whoever is sick or on a journey shall fast an equal number of other days. Allah wills ease for you and does not will hardship for you, so that you complete the count, magnify Allah for having guided you, and be grateful. (185)
Surah al-Baqarah, 183-185
His words "fasting has been prescribed upon you" mean: it has been made obligatory upon you.
Two hadiths reported by the two shaykhs raise fasting to a pillar:
Islam is built on five: the testimony that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, establishing the prayer, giving the zakat, the pilgrimage and the fast of Ramadan.
narrated by al-Bukhari (8) and Muslim (16)
A Bedouin came to the Messenger of Allah, his head agitated, and said: O Messenger of Allah, tell me what Allah has made obligatory upon me of prayers. He said: the five prayers, unless you volunteer something extra. He said: tell me what Allah has made obligatory upon me of fasting. He said: the month of Ramadan, unless you volunteer something extra. He said: tell me what Allah has made obligatory upon me of zakat. The Messenger of Allah then told him the prescriptions of Islam. He said: By the One who honored you, I will volunteer nothing extra and I will decrease nothing of what Allah has made obligatory upon me. The Messenger of Allah said: he has succeeded if he is truthful, or he will enter Paradise if he is truthful.
narrated by al-Bukhari (1762) and Muslim (11)
al-Nawawi writes: that the Ramadan fast is a pillar and an obligation is a matter of consensus, the proofs of the Book, the Sunna and agreement reinforce one another, and the scholars agreed that no other fast is obligatory (al-Majmu', 7/413). The vizier Ibn Hubayrah adds: they agreed that fasting the month of Ramadan is one of the pillars of Islam and an obligation among its obligations (al-Ifsah, 1/380; al-Mughni, 4/116). al-Kasani concludes: the nation agreed on the obligation of fasting the month of Ramadan, and only a disbeliever denies it (Bada'i' al-Sana'i', 2/578).
The rational meaning of this obligation unfolds in five points. First, fasting is a path to gratitude for the blessing: it restrains the soul from food, drink and intercourse, which count among the highest blessings; depriving oneself of them for a notable time makes their value known, blessings remaining unknown to whoever has not lost them; the fasting person is then driven to settle their due through gratitude, which is obligatory by reason and by the Law, verse: "so that you may be grateful" (surah al-Baqarah 185). Second, fasting is a path to mindfulness of Allah: a soul that submits to abstaining from the lawful out of desire for Allah's pleasure and fear of His painful punishment is more disposed to abstain from the unlawful; fasting thus becomes a cause of preservation from the forbidden things of Allah, verse: "so that you may become mindful" (surah al-Baqarah 183).
Third, fasting subdues nature and breaks desire: the satiated soul covets desires, the hungry soul abstains from them; the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
O assembly of young men, whoever among you has the means should marry, for it lowers the gaze and preserves chastity; and whoever lacks the means should fast, for fasting is a shield for him.
narrated by al-Bukhari (4771) and Muslim (1400)
Fasting thus becomes a path to abstaining from disobedience. Fourth, fasting calls for mercy and compassion toward the poor: the fasting person who tastes the pain of hunger remembers the one whose condition this is at all times, and tenderness drives him to rush into charity, which wins him the good reward with Allah (Fath al-Qadir, 2/233). Fifth, fasting grants the fasting person the condition of the poor by bearing what they sometimes bear, and that is an elevation of rank with Allah (Fath al-Qadir, 2/233).
The hadiths on the merits of fasting are many. The first is that of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him):
Allah says: every deed of the son of Adam is for him, except fasting; it is for Me and I reward it. Fasting is a shield. On the day one of you fasts, let him not be obscene and not raise his voice; if anyone insults him or provokes him to fight, let him say: I am fasting. By Him in Whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, the breath of the fasting person's mouth is more pleasant to Allah than the scent of musk. The fasting person has two joys: a joy when he breaks his fast, and a joy when he meets his Lord because of his fast.
narrated by al-Bukhari (1894, 1904, 5927) and Muslim (1151)
In Muslim's version: every deed of the son of Adam is multiplied, a good deed ten times its like up to seven hundred times; Allah says: except fasting, it is for Me and I reward it, he leaves his desire, his food and his drink for My sake; the fasting person has two joys, one at the breaking of the fast and one at meeting his Lord, and the breath of his mouth is more pleasant to Allah than the scent of musk. In a version of al-Bukhari: fasting is a shield, let the fasting person not be obscene nor act ignorantly, and if anyone fights or insults him, let him say twice: I am fasting; he leaves his food, his drink and his desire for My sake, and the good deed ten times its like.
al-Nawawi (Sharh Sahih Muslim, 8/29-30) reports that the scholars differed over the meaning of "it is for Me", all worship being for Allah: some saw the worship that no one exalted as a religion besides Allah, the disbelievers of no era having made a god of fasting, unlike prostration, charity and invocation; remoteness from ostentation, fasting being hidden, unlike prayer, pilgrimage, military expedition and outward charity; the absence of any share for the fasting person's soul, per al-Khattabi; the likeness to the attribute of independence by which Allah describes Himself, the fasting person drawing near through what relates to that attribute; Allah's privilege of being alone to know the measure of its reward and its multiplication, the reward of other worships having been announced by creatures; and finally an honorific attribution, like "the she-camel of Allah", though the whole world belongs to Allah. The words "and I reward it" announce the immensity of the merit and the abundance of the reward: the generous one who announces that he rewards it himself makes one expect the breadth of the gift.
In practice, the Ramadan fast is a pillar no school disputes: denying it takes a person out of Islam. Its form is simple, abstention from dawn to sunset with an intention, and its wisdom fits in a few words: taste deprivation to recognize blessings, fear Allah and draw near the poor. The points actually debated, intention, conditions and invalidators, fill the pages that follow.