What fasting is, and why it matters

Fasting, called ṣawm, means not eating, not drinking, and not being intimate with your husband or wife, from the moment the sky starts to lighten before sunrise until the sun goes all the way down. Grown-up, healthy Muslims fast every single day of the month of Ramadan.

Fasting is the fourth big thing Allah asks Muslims to do. First comes believing in Allah, then praying, then giving zakat, then fasting, then going on Hajj if you are able. Allah gave these to us step by step, getting a little harder each time, because fasting is the hardest one of all for our bodies.

The Prophet ﷺ also said that whoever gives even a sip of water or a date to someone breaking their fast gets the same reward as that fasting person, without the fasting person losing any of their own reward. So sharing iftar with someone is a wonderful thing to do.

Allah loves fasting so much that He said the reward for it is for Him alone to give, without limit, unlike other good deeds, which are usually multiplied ten to seven hundred times. The Prophet ﷺ said a fasting person feels happy twice: once when they break their fast, and again when they meet Allah.

Fasting is even good for your body. The Prophet ﷺ said, "The stomach is the home of sickness, and fasting is the best medicine." Doctors say that giving your stomach a rest for a month helps it work better for the rest of the year.

Fasting also teaches your heart good things: patience, kindness to people who don't have enough food, and being thankful to Allah for everything you have.

Fasting (ṣawm) is the fourth pillar of Islam. Because it means giving up food, drink, and marital intimacy, things the soul finds genuinely hard to give up, Allah legislated the pillars gradually: first prayer, then zakat, then fasting, the hardest of the three. Both the Qur'an and the hadith name the pillars in this order, which is why fasting is placed fourth and is treated, like prayer and zakat, as a major, heavily emphasized obligation.

The Prophet ﷺ said that on the first night of Ramadan the devils and rebellious jinn are chained, every gate of Hell is closed, every gate of Paradise is opened, a caller announces "O seeker of good, come forward; O seeker of evil, hold back," and Allah frees people from the Fire every single night of the month.

Salman al-Farsi reported that on the last day of Sha'ban the Prophet ﷺ addressed the people: a great, blessed month has come, containing a night better than a thousand months; Allah has made its fasting obligatory and its night prayer a sunnah; a voluntary act in it is rewarded like an obligatory act elsewhere, and an obligatory act is rewarded seventy times over; it is the month of patience, whose reward is Paradise, and the month of charity, in which a believer's provision is increased. Whoever feeds a fasting person to break their fast is forgiven and freed from the Fire and receives the same reward as the fasting person, without that person's own reward being reduced in the least, even if the gift is only a sip of milk, a date, or a drink of water. Whoever feeds a fasting person until they are full is given a drink from the Prophet's ﷺ Pond (al-Ḥawḍ) after which they never feel thirsty again until they enter Paradise. Its first ten days bring mercy, its middle ten bring forgiveness, and its last ten bring freedom from the Fire; whoever lightens the load on those under them in this month is forgiven and freed from the Fire.

In a hadith qudsi, the Prophet ﷺ reported that every good deed of the son of Adam is multiplied from ten to seven hundred times, except fasting: Allah says, "It is for Me, and I reward it Myself." The fasting person gives up their desires, food and drink for Allah's sake alone; they have two moments of joy, at breaking the fast and at meeting their Lord; the smell of a fasting person's mouth is more beloved to Allah than the scent of musk; and fasting is a shield against the Fire, so a fasting person should not speak coarsely or quarrel, and if someone provokes them they should simply say, "I am fasting."

A companion once asked the Prophet ﷺ to name him a single deed; he was told, "Bind yourself to fasting, for nothing equals it", and repeated it when asked again. Other hadiths add that if people truly knew what Ramadan is, they would wish it lasted the whole year; that Ramadan is the chief of the months; that fasting is "the zakat of the body"; that a fasting person's sleep is worship, their silence is glorification, and their supplication is answered; and that whoever deliberately misses even one day of Ramadan without a valid excuse cannot make up for it by fasting for the rest of their life, however long.

The document also records a doctor's summary of fasting's physical benefits: the stomach works hard all year digesting a great variety of food, and fasting gives it a rest that renews it, improving appetite, digestion and vitality afterwards. The Prophet ﷺ is quoted saying, "The stomach is the home of disease, and fasting is the best medicine", a saying physicians have long used to recommend fasting as a remedy. Its moral benefits are the taming of the soul, restraint from wrongdoing, regulation of physical urges, compassion for the poor, patience, resilience and gratitude to Allah.

Fasting is abstaining from eating, drinking and sexual intercourse from dawn (fajr) until sunset, with the intention of worship, the definition the rest of this topic works from.

Ṣawm is the fourth pillar of Islam. Because it entails abstention from food, drink and marital relations, matters the nafs resists, the sharī'ah legislated the pillars by gradation (tadarruj): prayer first, as the lightest burden, then zakat, then fasting, the most demanding of the three. Both the Qur'an, in Sūrat al-Aḥzāb, and the hadith enumerating the five pillars give them in this order, which fixes fasting as the fourth pillar and, with prayer and zakat, among the most heavily emphasized obligations of the religion.

On the first night of Ramadan, per the hadith, the devils and rebellious jinn are shackled, every gate of Hell is shut and none remains open, every gate of Paradise is opened and none remains shut, a herald calls out "O seeker of good, come forward; O seeker of evil, desist," and Allah releases people from the Fire nightly throughout the month.

Salman al-Fārisī narrated the Prophet's ﷺ sermon on the last day of Sha'bān in full: a great and blessed month has arrived, containing a night superior to a thousand months; Allah has made its fasting farḍ and its night prayer sunnah; a nafl act performed in it carries the reward of a farḍ act performed elsewhere, and a farḍ act the reward of seventy farḍ acts elsewhere; it is the month of ṣabr, whose recompense is Paradise, and of charitable feeling, in which the believer's rizq is increased. Whoever provides ifṭār for a fasting person receives forgiveness of sin, freedom from the Fire, and the fasting person's full reward without any diminution of it, even a sip of milk, a date, or water suffices for this; whoever feeds a fasting person to satiety is given to drink from the Prophet's ﷺ Ḥawḍ, after which they never thirst again until entering Paradise. Its first third brings mercy, its middle third forgiveness, and its last third freedom from the Fire; one who eases a burden on a subordinate in this month is forgiven and freed from the Fire.

A hadith qudsī has the Prophet ﷺ report that every good deed of the son of Adam is multiplied tenfold up to seven-hundred-fold, fasting excepted: Allah says, "It is for Me, and I Myself reward it: he leaves his desire, his food and his drink for My sake." The fasting person has two joys, at ifṭār and at meeting their Lord; the breath of a fasting person's mouth is, to Allah, more fragrant than musk; fasting is a junnah (shield) from the Fire, so the fasting person should avoid rafath (coarse speech) and quarrelling, deflecting provocation with "I am fasting."

Reports transmitted from the Prophet ﷺ further state: that a companion who asked to be directed to a single deed was twice told, "Bind yourself to ṣawm, for there is nothing equal to it"; that were the ummah to know Ramadan's true worth, they would wish the whole year were Ramadan; that Ramadan is sayyid ash-shuhūr, the chief of months; that fasting is "the zakāt of the body"; that the sleep, silence and supplication of a fasting person are, respectively, worship, tasbīḥ and answered; and that one who deliberately breaks a single fast of Ramadan without a legitimate excuse cannot make up for it even by fasting for the rest of their life.

An appended medical note (attributed to an Egyptian physician) frames Ramadan's fast as a yearly rest for the stomach, which labours the other eleven months digesting varied food; the resulting benefits are improved appetite, digestion and vitality, alongside the moral benefits of taming the nafs, restraining base inclination, regulating physical urges, cultivating compassion for the poor, and building patience, resilience and gratitude. The Prophet's ﷺ saying is cited: "The stomach is the home of disease, and fasting is the best medicine."

Ṣawm itself is defined as abstention from eating, drinking and sexual intercourse from the appearance of fajr until sunset, together with the niyyah of worship, the definition every subsequent ruling in this topic assumes.