Why Muslims fast: The heart of Ramadan
Tanveer Azmat, Ph.D.
This year Ramadan began on February 16 or 17, depending on the sighting of the new moon.[i] Every year, nearly two billion Muslims observe Ramadan, the holiest month of the Islamic calendar. During daylight hours we fast — abstaining from food, water, smoking, and intimacy from dawn until sunset. I am a Muslim who has been fasting from later childhood. My experience of fasting is helpful in explaining why we fast and what is at the heart of fasting.
Religious Command
First and foremost, fasting is a religious duty for us: “O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you [Jews and Christians] that you may become righteous” (Q 2:183).[ii] Some people are exempt from fasting, “whoever among you is ill or on a journey (during them) – then an equal number of days (are to be made up). And upon those who are able (to fast, but with hardship) – a ransom (as substitute) of feeding a poor person (each day). And whoever volunteers excess – it is better for him. But to fast is best for you, if you only knew” (Q 2:184).[iii]
Fasting is a multilayered act of worship that has religious, physical, psychological, moral, and spiritual dimensions. It is part of the five pillars of Islam.[iv] When we abstain from food and drink between pre-dawn and sunset, our bodies take a significant physical toll. The last few hours are particularly difficult. In addition, after the night prayer, we pray an optional congregational prayer called Taraweeh that lasts about one hour. Every day a person who can recite the whole Qur’an in Arabic by heart recites a substantial portion of the Qur’an, finishing the whole Qur’an by the end of Ramadan. This adds to physical exhaustion. Fasting also has a drastic impact on daily routines. The time for eating, sleeping, and waking changes. Ramadan becomes a kind of boot camp that increases our bodies’ physical endurance, compensated by increased remembrance and worship of God.
Embodied practice of guarding the senses
Fasting is not only about food. Muslims often speak of “fasting with the senses” — guarding what we look at, listen to, and say. Ghad al-Basar (lowering the gaze) is the fast of eyes. Ghad means “to restrain or reduce, implying not total blindness but conscious self-control and averting the eyes from temptation.” It is “the first line of defense in maintaining modesty, purity of soul, and preserving the sanctity of the community.” The Qur’an commands both men and women to guard their gaze and private parts (Q 24:30-31). According to the Prophet Muhammad, “The Zina [fornication] of the eye is the (lustful) look, the Zina of the ears is the listening (to voluptuous songs or talk), the Zina of the tongue is (the licentious) speech …”[v] For most believers this becomes the hardest part of fasting.
Justice and charity
The moral dimension deals with human relationships. The fast develops empathy, justice, and social responsibility. The experience of hunger reminds Muslims how it feels to be hungry. It asks them to feed the hungry and homeless. Muslims are most charitable during Ramadan compared to other months. One aspect of charity is Zakat, a mandatory tax on rich for poor every year. Zakat means purifying one’s average savings over a year. The philosophy of Zakat implies that the financially less fortunate have a right to some part of such savings. It is a religious duty; as such, not paying Zakat is a sin in the eyes of God.
The month of revelation
The spiritual dimension — the relationship between fasting and Qur’anic revelation — is at the heart of the fast. Ramadan is a holy month because the Qur’an was revealed in it (Q 2:185). With the restrictions of fasting in place, the fast frees us to concentrate on understanding the Qur’an. For this reason, Ramadan is called the month of the Qur’an.
I always look forward to Ramadan to charge my spiritual batteries for the rest of the year. It reminds me who I am before God and how I am called to live in the world.
Fasting as preparation for revelation is not unique to Islam. For example, when Moses was with “the Lord for forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water … he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant – the Ten Commandments” (Exodus 34:28 NIV).[vi]
The purpose of fasting, with an emphasis of reflection on the Qur’an, is to gain righteousness (Taqwā) (Q 2:183). The antonym of Taqwā in the Qur’an is ‘Istighnā, “feeling no need to be concerned with one’s responsibilities.” In this sense, Taqwā “stands for a responsible attitude in life.” Such people “fear God and who are concerned that they should not fail to do their duty to God or his servants, as assigned by God.”[vii]
Fasting is between God and the fasting individual. No one knows if a person is fasting. That is why the Prophet quoted God, “Fasting is Mine and it is I who give reward for it [or I am its reward] … Fasting is like a shield, and he who fasts has two joys: a joy when he breaks his fast and a joy when he meets his Lord.”
When Ramadan ends, we celebrate ʿĪd al-Fiṭr (“Festival of Breaking the Fast”). I always look forward to Ramadan to charge my spiritual batteries for the rest of the year. It reminds me who I am before God and how I am called to live in the world.
Dr. Tanveer Azmat, Ph.D., teaches comparative religion, Introduction to the Qur'an and Humanities at Wilbur Wright Community College. He received a Ph.D. in theology from the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago in 2016. His areas of interest are Qur’anic hermeneutics and early Islamic history. He also serves on the Islamic Foundation, Villa Park’s Interfaith Committee, and is a board member and secretary of the Oak Park Muslim Community.
The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of American Baptist Home Mission Societies.
[i] Ramadan is the ninth and holiest month of the Islamic lunar calendar. A lunar month is twenty-nine or thirty days depending on the birth of a new moon. In terms of the solar calendar (Gregorian calendar), Ramadan moves earlier by about eleven days every year.
[ii] All translations are from “Sahih International,” available at https://corpus.quran.com/. Q 2:183 means The Qur’an chapter 2, verse 183.
[iii] In addition to the sick and travelers, elderly (who cannot fast due to age), pregnant women, nursing or menstruating women, and children are exempt from fasting. Adults make up the missed fasts anytime during the year or feed the poor for each missed fast.
[iv] The pillars consist of verbal testimony, five daily prayers, fasting, giving to the poor, and performing pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj) once in a lifetime if it is financially feasible.
[v] https://sunnah.com/riyadussalihin:1622 accessed Feb. 18, 2026; also see “Sahih Muslim” (2657/2658) and “Sahih al-Bukhari” (6612); it reminds us of Jesus’ words, “I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:28 NIV).
[vi] Elijah, Daniel, Esther, Ezra, Nehemiah, King David, and the prophet Joel also fasted as noted in the Old Testament.
[vii] Khan, Irfan Ahmad. “Understanding the Qur’an: An Outline Study of the Last Thirty Divine Discourses,” 2nd ed., Chicago, (The Association for Quranic Understanding, 2013), 35.
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