Fasting the month of Ramadan

The status of the Ramadan fast

The umma is unanimous: the fast of Ramadan is an obligation, a pillar of Islam, and whoever denies it knowingly is a disbeliever. Its proofs come from the Book, the Sunna, the consensus and the intellect.

The Book and the Sunna

O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may be God-conscious. A counted number of days. Whoever among you is ill or on a journey, then a count of other days. And for those who can barely bear it, a compensation: feeding a poor person. Whoever gives more willingly, it is better for him. Yet to fast is better for you, if you only knew. Ramadan is the month in which the Quran was sent down, as a guide for people and clear proofs of guidance and criterion. Whoever among you witnesses the month, let him fast it.surah al-Baqara 183-185

"Prescribed for you": made obligatory. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) also said:

Islam is built upon five: the testimony that there is no deity but Allah and that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah, establishing prayer, paying zakat, hajj, and the fast of Ramadan.al-Bukhari 8, Muslim 16

A bedouin with dishevelled hair came to ask the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) what Allah had made obligatory upon him as fasting. He answered: "The month of Ramadan, unless you volunteer something extra." The man swore to add nothing and subtract nothing, and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "He has succeeded if he is truthful", or "he will enter Paradise if he is truthful" (reported by al-Bukhari and Muslim).

The consensus

an-Nawawi said: "That the fast of Ramadan is a pillar and an obligation is a matter of consensus, and the proofs of the Book, the Sunna and the consensus upon it are manifest; they agreed that nothing besides it is obligatory" (al-Majmu' 7/413). Ibn Hubayra reports the same agreement, and al-Kasani wrote: "The umma agreed upon the obligation of the fast of Ramadan; none denies it except a disbeliever" (Bada'i' as-Sana'i' 2/578).

The wisdom of this obligation

• Gratitude: fasting restrains the soul from food, drink and intimacy, among the choicest of blessings; abstaining from them for a known period reveals their worth and drives one to thank for them, and gratitude is a duty of both reason and revelation: "that you may be thankful" (al-Baqara 185).
• God-consciousness: the soul that accepts to abstain from the lawful out of hope and fear will more readily abstain from the unlawful: "that you may be conscious of Allah" (al-Baqara 183).
• Mastery of desire: the satiated soul craves, the hungry soul refrains. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "O young people, whoever among you can afford marriage, let him marry, for it lowers the gaze and guards chastity; and whoever cannot, let him fast, for fasting is a shield" (al-Bukhari 4771, Muslim 1400).
• Mercy towards the poor: by tasting hunger at times, the faster remembers the one who endures it constantly, and compassion hastens to him through kindness.

Situations that suspend the obligation

Health and residence: "Whoever among you is ill or on a journey, then a count of other days". Ibn Juzayy notes that health and residence are conditions for the fast being obligatory, not for its validity nor for its making up: the obligation falls away for the sick person and the traveller, making up becomes obligatory upon them if they break the fast by consensus, and their fast is valid if they fast, unlike the view of the Zahirites.

The menstruating woman or the one in lochias is not in a state to fast. Mu'adha asked Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her): "Why does the menstruating woman make up the fast but not the prayer?" She replied: "Are you a Harruriyya? I am not a Harrouriyya, but I am asking. We used to go through this: we were ordered to make up the fast and were not ordered to make up the prayer" (al-Bukhari 231, Muslim 335). The consensus excludes both from fasting and imposes their making up.

As for the child, the Hanafis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis hold that his guardian must order him to fast when he is able, as with prayer; the Malikis rather dislike making him fast, since fasting is harder than prayer.

The merit of fasting

Allah made fasting a worship unlike any other:

Every deed of the son of Adam is for him, except fasting: it is for Me and I reward it. Fasting is a shield. When one of you fasts, let him not speak obscenely nor shout; if someone insults him or provokes him, let him say: I am fasting. By Him in whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, the breath of the mouth of the faster is more pleasant to Allah than the scent of musk. The faster has two joys: one at breaking his fast, and one at meeting his Lord, rejoicing in his fast.al-Bukhari 1894, 1904, 5927, Muslim 1151

Whoever fasts one day for Allah, Allah distances his face from the Fire by the distance of seventy autumns.al-Bukhari 2840, Muslim 1153

He also said: "Fasting and the Quran will intercede for the servant on the Day of Resurrection. Fasting will say: Lord, I prevented him from food and desires by day, so let me intercede for him. The Quran will say: I prevented him from sleeping by night, so let me intercede for him. And they will intercede" (reported by Ahmad and al-Hakim, hasan-sahih hadith). And: "Whoever says there is no deity but Allah seeking the Face of Allah enters Paradise; whoever fasts a day seeking the Face of Allah enters Paradise" (reported by Ahmad, sahih hadith). Abu Umama came and said: "Command me a deed I shall perform." He replied: "Hold fast to fasting, for it has no equal" (an-Nasa'i 2220 and 2222, sahih hadith).

Practical note

The situations described here (illness, travel, menstruation) open dispensations detailed in the following pages on the traveller, the sick person and making up. In case of doubt about a particular situation, consulting a qualified scholar remains the safe path.