The command comes in Quran 2:183 with its purpose attached: fasting is prescribed “so that you may attain taqwa”, an ongoing awareness of God. The month is Ramadan, the month the Quran itself began to be revealed. The fast runs from the first light of dawn to sunset: no food, no drink, not even water, no intimacy. What it produces, Muslims will tell you, is strange and wonderful: sharpened gratitude for a date and a glass of water, a body reminded who is in charge of it, and a month where the whole community is hungry together, which changes how you see the people who are hungry all year.
who is excused?
Children, travellers, the sick, women who are pregnant, nursing or menstruating, and the elderly who cannot manage it. Temporary excuses make the days up later; permanent ones feed a person per day instead. The exemption checker walks you through it.
a day in Ramadan, hour by hour
A pre-dawn meal (suhoor), the dawn prayer, an ordinary working day, then the fast breaks at sunset (traditionally with dates and water), followed by the evening meal and long, unhurried night prayers. Repeat for 29 or 30 days; finish with the Eid festival.
من أين جاء هذا؟
المصادر
«الجواب» يحرّر ويربط ما تقوله المصادر الراسخة، ولا يُصدر فتاوى أصلية. اقرأ المصادر كاملة للسياق التام. محتوى تعليمي عام، وليس فتوى شخصية.
أسئلة متكررة
Not even water?
Not even water, from dawn to sunset. Eating or drinking by honest mistake does not break the fast; you simply continue.
Is fasting healthy?
For most healthy adults, yes, and those for whom it is not are exactly the people Islam excuses from it.
What is Eid al-Fitr?
The festival ending Ramadan: a morning prayer, charity so no one is left out, and food shared with family and neighbors.