Ramadan is the month of fasting, yet the Qur’an says surprisingly little about it. Everything it says about the fast is in five verses of the second surah, Al-Baqarah, verses 183 to 187. They say when to fast, who is exempt and when one may eat. And first of all, they say why.
As it was for those before you
The fast is not new. It was prescribed for those who came before, too.
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ كُتِبَ عَلَيۡكُمُ ٱلصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبۡلِكُمۡ لَعَلَّكُمۡ تَتَّقُونَ
O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous
The first verse begins not with rules but with history: fasting is older than Islam. Jews and Christians know it too, and the Qur’an places the Muslim fast in that line.
Then comes the purpose, in two words: laʿallakum tattaqūn. Saheeh International renders it “that you may become righteous”, but taqwā is hard to translate. It is often given as “fear of God”, yet the root means to guard or protect oneself: to be awake to God in everything one does. Someone fasting is alone with themselves all day. No one sees whether they take a sip of water. The only thing holding them back is the awareness that God sees.
For Me
Every other deed is for the person who does it. The fast is God’s.
قَالَ اللَّهُ كُلُّ عَمَلِ ابْنِ آدَمَ لَهُ إِلاَّ الصِّيَامَ، فَإِنَّهُ لِي، وَأَنَا أَجْزِي بِهِ
“Allah said: All the deeds of the son of Adam are for him, except fasting. It is for Me, and I will reward it.”
Others see your prayer, and others see your charity. No one knows about your fast except you and God. That is what makes it different.
Ease, not hardship
Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship.
شَهۡرُ رَمَضَانَ ٱلَّذِيٓ أُنزِلَ فِيهِ ٱلۡقُرۡءَانُ هُدٗى لِّلنَّاسِ وَبَيِّنَٰتٖ مِّنَ ٱلۡهُدَىٰ وَٱلۡفُرۡقَانِۚ فَمَن شَهِدَ مِنكُمُ ٱلشَّهۡرَ فَلۡيَصُمۡهُۖ وَمَن كَانَ مَرِيضًا أَوۡ عَلَىٰ سَفَرٖ فَعِدَّةٞ مِّنۡ أَيَّامٍ أُخَرَۗ يُرِيدُ ٱللَّهُ بِكُمُ ٱلۡيُسۡرَ وَلَا يُرِيدُ بِكُمُ ٱلۡعُسۡرَ وَلِتُكۡمِلُواْ ٱلۡعِدَّةَ وَلِتُكَبِّرُواْ ٱللَّهَ عَلَىٰ مَا هَدَىٰكُمۡ وَلَعَلَّكُمۡ تَشۡكُرُونَ
The month of Ramadhan [is that] in which was revealed the Qur'an, a guidance for the people and clear proofs of guidance and criterion. So whoever sights [the new moon of] the month, let him fast it; and whoever is ill or on a journey - then an equal number of other days. Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship and [wants] for you to complete the period and to glorify Allah for that [to] which He has guided you; and perhaps you will be grateful
The verse says two things. First, why Ramadan: it is the month in which the Qur’an came. And then, for the second time in two verses, the exemptions: whoever is ill or travelling fasts later instead. The verse before (2:184) also speaks of those who can fast only with great difficulty. They feed a poor person instead, and scholars include among them, for example, the elderly and the chronically ill.
The fast is not a contest of endurance. Children do not fast, and scholars also exempt pregnant and breastfeeding women if fasting proves hard on them or the child.
I am near
In the middle of the rules on fasting: I am near.
وَإِذَا سَأَلَكَ عِبَادِي عَنِّي فَإِنِّي قَرِيبٌۖ أُجِيبُ دَعۡوَةَ ٱلدَّاعِ إِذَا دَعَانِۖ فَلۡيَسۡتَجِيبُواْ لِي وَلۡيُؤۡمِنُواْ بِي لَعَلَّهُمۡ يَرۡشُدُونَ
And when My servants ask you, [O Muhammad], concerning Me - indeed I am near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon Me. So let them respond to Me [by obedience] and believe in Me that they may be [rightly] guided
Between the verses on days, exemptions and numbers, there is suddenly a verse that is not about fasting at all, but about prayer. And it is phrased in a particular way. Elsewhere in Al-Baqarah, when people ask the Prophet something, the answer comes with the word qul, “say”: They ask you about… Say… Not here. God answers directly, with no one in between: I am near.
Many read this as saying that fasting and prayer belong together. The one who fasts should be closer.
The white thread
The fast begins when the white thread becomes distinct from the black.
أُحِلَّ لَكُمۡ لَيۡلَةَ ٱلصِّيَامِ ٱلرَّفَثُ إِلَىٰ نِسَآئِكُمۡۚ هُنَّ لِبَاسٞ لَّكُمۡ وَأَنتُمۡ لِبَاسٞ لَّهُنَّۗ عَلِمَ ٱللَّهُ أَنَّكُمۡ كُنتُمۡ تَخۡتَانُونَ أَنفُسَكُمۡ فَتَابَ عَلَيۡكُمۡ وَعَفَا عَنكُمۡۖ فَٱلۡـَٰٔنَ بَٰشِرُوهُنَّ وَٱبۡتَغُواْ مَا كَتَبَ ٱللَّهُ لَكُمۡۚ وَكُلُواْ وَٱشۡرَبُواْ حَتَّىٰ يَتَبَيَّنَ لَكُمُ ٱلۡخَيۡطُ ٱلۡأَبۡيَضُ مِنَ ٱلۡخَيۡطِ ٱلۡأَسۡوَدِ مِنَ ٱلۡفَجۡرِۖ ثُمَّ أَتِمُّواْ ٱلصِّيَامَ إِلَى ٱلَّيۡلِۚ وَلَا تُبَٰشِرُوهُنَّ وَأَنتُمۡ عَٰكِفُونَ فِي ٱلۡمَسَٰجِدِۗ تِلۡكَ حُدُودُ ٱللَّهِ فَلَا تَقۡرَبُوهَاۗ كَذَٰلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ ٱللَّهُ ءَايَٰتِهِۦ لِلنَّاسِ لَعَلَّهُمۡ يَتَّقُونَ
It has been made permissible for you the night preceding fasting to go to your wives [for sexual relations]. They are clothing for you and you are clothing for them. Allah knows that you used to deceive yourselves, so He accepted your repentance and forgave you. So now, have relations with them and seek that which Allah has decreed for you. And eat and drink until the white thread of dawn becomes distinct to you from the black thread [of night]. Then complete the fast until the sunset. And do not have relations with them as long as you are staying for worship in the mosques. These are the limits [set by] Allah, so do not approach them. Thus does Allah make clear His ordinances to the people that they may become righteous
A companion of the Prophet, ʿAdī ibn Ḥātim, took the verse literally. He put a white thread and a black one under his pillow and looked at them all night, but could never tell them apart. The next morning he told the Prophet, who answered:
إِنَّمَا ذَلِكَ سَوَادُ اللَّيْلِ وَبَيَاضُ النَّهَارِ
“It is the darkness of the night and the whiteness of the day.”
In Iceland this is not academic. When does the white thread appear when, in summer, the sun barely dips below the horizon? That is why the times are calculated from the sun’s position, as explained on the homepage. In Ramadan 1448, dawn in Reykjavík is at about 7:36 on the first day and 6:04 on the last.
More than food
Whoever stops eating but not lying has missed the point.
مَنْ لَمْ يَدَعْ قَوْلَ الزُّورِ وَالْعَمَلَ بِهِ فَلَيْسَ لِلَّهِ حَاجَةٌ فِي أَنْ يَدَعَ طَعَامَهُ وَشَرَابَهُ
“Whoever does not give up false speech and acting on it, Allah has no need of his giving up his food and drink.”
The fast is not only an empty stomach. It means holding back the tongue, the temper and the eyes as well. And it ends in joy:
لِلصَّائِمِ فَرْحَتَانِ يَفْرَحُهُمَا إِذَا أَفْطَرَ فَرِحَ، وَإِذَا لَقِيَ رَبَّهُ فَرِحَ بِصَوْمِهِ
“The fasting person has two joys: when he breaks his fast he rejoices, and when he meets his Lord he rejoices in his fasting.”
The same word at the start and the end
The passage on fasting begins and ends with the same word.
The first verse
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ كُتِبَ عَلَيۡكُمُ ٱلصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبۡلِكُمۡ لَعَلَّكُمۡ تَتَّقُونَ
O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous
Al-Baqarah 2:183
The fifth verse
أُحِلَّ لَكُمۡ لَيۡلَةَ ٱلصِّيَامِ ٱلرَّفَثُ إِلَىٰ نِسَآئِكُمۡۚ هُنَّ لِبَاسٞ لَّكُمۡ وَأَنتُمۡ لِبَاسٞ لَّهُنَّۗ عَلِمَ ٱللَّهُ أَنَّكُمۡ كُنتُمۡ تَخۡتَانُونَ أَنفُسَكُمۡ فَتَابَ عَلَيۡكُمۡ وَعَفَا عَنكُمۡۖ فَٱلۡـَٰٔنَ بَٰشِرُوهُنَّ وَٱبۡتَغُواْ مَا كَتَبَ ٱللَّهُ لَكُمۡۚ وَكُلُواْ وَٱشۡرَبُواْ حَتَّىٰ يَتَبَيَّنَ لَكُمُ ٱلۡخَيۡطُ ٱلۡأَبۡيَضُ مِنَ ٱلۡخَيۡطِ ٱلۡأَسۡوَدِ مِنَ ٱلۡفَجۡرِۖ ثُمَّ أَتِمُّواْ ٱلصِّيَامَ إِلَى ٱلَّيۡلِۚ وَلَا تُبَٰشِرُوهُنَّ وَأَنتُمۡ عَٰكِفُونَ فِي ٱلۡمَسَٰجِدِۗ تِلۡكَ حُدُودُ ٱللَّهِ فَلَا تَقۡرَبُوهَاۗ كَذَٰلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ ٱللَّهُ ءَايَٰتِهِۦ لِلنَّاسِ لَعَلَّهُمۡ يَتَّقُونَ
It has been made permissible for you the night preceding fasting to go to your wives [for sexual relations]. They are clothing for you and you are clothing for them. Allah knows that you used to deceive yourselves, so He accepted your repentance and forgave you. So now, have relations with them and seek that which Allah has decreed for you. And eat and drink until the white thread of dawn becomes distinct to you from the black thread [of night]. Then complete the fast until the sunset. And do not have relations with them as long as you are staying for worship in the mosques. These are the limits [set by] Allah, so do not approach them. Thus does Allah make clear His ordinances to the people that they may become righteous
Al-Baqarah 2:187
Five verses on fasting, and they begin and end with the same word: tattaqūn, yattaqūn. Everything in between, the days, the exemptions, the prayer and the two threads, turns on that one thing. The fast is not the goal. It is the way to being awake to God, even when no one is watching.