During the entire month of Ramadan, Muslims are obligated to fast (Arabic: صوم, sawm), every day from (true) dawn to sunset. Fasting requires the abstinence from food and drink. Fasting the month of Ramadān was made obligatory (fard) during the month of Sha‘bān, in the second year after the Muslims migrated from Makkah to Madīnah.
Fasting during the month of Ramadan is specifically mentioned in three consecutive verses of the Qur'an:
O ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that ye may (learn) self-restraint.
—Surah Baqarah 2:183
(Fasting) for a fixed number of days; but if any of you is ill, or on a journey, the prescribed number (Should be made up) from days later. For those who can do it (With hardship), is a ransom, the feeding of one that is indigent. But he that will give more, of his own free will,- it is better for him. And it is better for you that ye fast, if ye only knew.
—Surah Baqarah 2:184
Eating, drinking, and sexual relations are not allowed between dawn (fajr), and sunset (maghrib). Fasting is considered an act of deeply personal worship in which Muslims seek a raised level of closeness to God.
During Ramadan, Muslims are also expected to put more effort into following the teachings of Islam by refraining from violence, anger, envy, greed, lust, angry/sarcastic retorts, gossip, and are meant to try to get along with each other better than normal. All obscene and irreligious stimuli are to be avoided as purity of both thought and action is important.
Rules and exceptionsFasting during Ramadan is not obligatory for several groups for whom it would be excessively problematic, among them people with a valid medical condition and the elderly.
Pre-pubescent children are not required to fast, though some small children fast for some hours to train themselves. If puberty is delayed, fasting becomes obligatory for males and females after a certain age. Diabetics and nursing or pregnant women are usually not expected to fast. According to a hadith, observing the Ramadan fast is forbidden for menstruating women.
Other individuals for whom it is usually considered acceptable not to fast are those in battle, and travellers away from home. If the circumstance preventing fasting is temporary, a person is required to make up for the missed days after the month of Ramadan is over and before the next Ramadan arrives. Should the circumstance be permanent or present for an extended amount of time, one may recompense by feeding a needy person for every day missed.
If one does not fit into any category of exemption and breaks the fast out of forgetfulness, the fast is still valid. Intentionally breaking the fast voids it, and the person must make up for the entire day later. If one breaks the fast intentionally or through consensual sexual intercourse, the transgressor must make up for the day by fasting for sixty consecutive days, freeing a slave or feeding sixty people in need.
Fasting during the month of Ramadan is specifically mentioned in three consecutive verses of the Qur'an:
O ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that ye may (learn) self-restraint.
—Surah Baqarah 2:183
(Fasting) for a fixed number of days; but if any of you is ill, or on a journey, the prescribed number (Should be made up) from days later. For those who can do it (With hardship), is a ransom, the feeding of one that is indigent. But he that will give more, of his own free will,- it is better for him. And it is better for you that ye fast, if ye only knew.
—Surah Baqarah 2:184
Eating, drinking, and sexual relations are not allowed between dawn (fajr), and sunset (maghrib). Fasting is considered an act of deeply personal worship in which Muslims seek a raised level of closeness to God.
During Ramadan, Muslims are also expected to put more effort into following the teachings of Islam by refraining from violence, anger, envy, greed, lust, angry/sarcastic retorts, gossip, and are meant to try to get along with each other better than normal. All obscene and irreligious stimuli are to be avoided as purity of both thought and action is important.
Rules and exceptionsFasting during Ramadan is not obligatory for several groups for whom it would be excessively problematic, among them people with a valid medical condition and the elderly.
Pre-pubescent children are not required to fast, though some small children fast for some hours to train themselves. If puberty is delayed, fasting becomes obligatory for males and females after a certain age. Diabetics and nursing or pregnant women are usually not expected to fast. According to a hadith, observing the Ramadan fast is forbidden for menstruating women.
Other individuals for whom it is usually considered acceptable not to fast are those in battle, and travellers away from home. If the circumstance preventing fasting is temporary, a person is required to make up for the missed days after the month of Ramadan is over and before the next Ramadan arrives. Should the circumstance be permanent or present for an extended amount of time, one may recompense by feeding a needy person for every day missed.
If one does not fit into any category of exemption and breaks the fast out of forgetfulness, the fast is still valid. Intentionally breaking the fast voids it, and the person must make up for the entire day later. If one breaks the fast intentionally or through consensual sexual intercourse, the transgressor must make up for the day by fasting for sixty consecutive days, freeing a slave or feeding sixty people in need.
