Sawm al-Ramadan (Fasting the Month of Ramadan)

The fourth pillar of Islam is the Ramadan fast, during which Muslims abstain from eating, drinking, and sexual relations or satisfaction from dawn until sunset. Concerning the order to fast, the Qur’an declares:

The month of Ramadan, in which the Qur’an (began to be) sent down as a pure source of guidance for people, and, (when practiced,) as clear signs of guidance and the Criterion (between truth and falsehood). Therefore, whoever of you is present at this month must fast it, and he who is so ill that he cannot fast or is on a journey must fast the same number of other days. God desires ease for you, and desires not hardship for you, so that you can complete the number of the days required, exalt God for that He has guided you, and it is hoped that you may give thanks (due to Him). (2:185)

Types of Fasting

There are two types of fasting: obligatory and voluntary. Obligatory fasts can be further subdivided into the fast of Ramadan, the fast of expiation, and the fast of fulfilling a vow. Here we shall discuss the Ramadan and voluntary fasts.

When Does Ramadan Begin and End?

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar. A lunar month is approximately 29.5 days, which is the time it takes for the moon to orbit Earth. Since a lunar month is, on average, one day shorter than a solar month, a lunar year is 10 to 12 days shorter than a solar year. Therefore, Ramadan comes 10 to 12 days earlier each year and so moves through the seasons, providing equal conditions for people living in different lands.

A new lunar month begins when, during the moon’s orbit around Earth, the moon is in conjunction with the sun and the sun’s light hits the side of the moon that is turned away from Earth. In this position, the moon is said to be a “new moon,” with its dark side turned toward Earth. By definition, a new moon is not visible from Earth, as the sun’s light shines only on the side facing Earth.

As the moon continues to orbit around Earth, it starts to form a crescent. This will be minutes after the new moon forms, even though the crescent will not be visible for several hours. In some traditional Islamic countries, Muslims do not start fasting until they see the actual crescent. This event is confirmed by sighting the new moon, even if it is seen by only one person, or by the passage of 30 days in the immediately preceding month of Sha‘ban. However, according to some modern scholars, God has given us scientific knowledge to determine exactly when a lunar month will begin and end. Therefore, any observatory or other astronomy-related center should have this information for the area in which we live.

Fasting starts on the first dawn of the new month. During the few hours between the new moon and the following dawn, Muslims can eat and drink, and then start fasting when the first thread of light is observed in the sky.

Different Locations

Most scholars say that it does not matter if the new moon has been seen elsewhere. In other words, after the new moon is seen anywhere in the world, all Muslims must begin fasting.

The End of Ramadan

The Ramadan fast ends when the new moon (Shawwal) is seen. Most jurists state that the new moon must have been reported by at least two just witnesses.

The Hours Decreed for Fasting

According to the Qur’an, the fasting hours are as follows: You can eat and drink until you can discern the white streak (of dawn) against the black streak (of night); then complete the Fast until night sets in (2:187). Thus, the fast should start at the first thread of light at dawn (between 1.5 and 2 hours before sunrise, depending on the time of year), and maintained until sunset (the beginning of night).

Who Must Fast

All scholars agree that fasting is obligatory upon every sane, adult, healthy Muslim male who is not traveling or fighting on a battlefield at that time. As for women, those who are menstruating or having post-childbirth bleeding cannot fast. In addition, the following groups of people do not have to fast: those who are insane, minors, or travelers; pregnant women who fear that their unborn child might be harmed; the old and sick who think that fasting might harm them; and those who work in harsh circumstances or suffer such hunger or thirst that they fear fasting might result in death.

Making up the Missed Days

People who are (not chronically) ill and travelers can break their fast during Ramadan, but must make up the missed days. If travelers make the intention to fast during the night, they can still break their fast during the day. If they have already made the intention to fast while resident but then decided to travel during the day, most scholars maintain that they must fast.

Those who have broken their fast because of harsh circumstances also must make up the missed days. The scholars agree that menstruating women, women with post-childbirth bleeding, and pregnant and breast-feeding women who fear that fasting might harm them or the baby, must make up the missed days.

Paying a Recompense

Those who are too old to fast, as well as the chronically ill, are permitted to break their fast, for fasting would place too much hardship on them. However, they must feed one poor person for each day that they did not fast. If those who were traveling or had another excuse die before making up the missed days, no recompense has to be paid. If they requested their heirs to pay such a recompense, however, the money should be taken out of the deceased’s estate. If those who died without making up the missed days, even though they had enough time to do so, must request their heirs to pay the necessary recompense.

Days When Fasting Is Forbidden

All scholars agree that fasting on the two ‘Iyds (‘Iyd al-Fitr and ‘Iyd al-Adha) is forbidden. It does not matter if the fast is obligatory or voluntary. Fasting voluntarily on Friday exclusively is disliked. If one fasts on the day before or after it, if it is a day on which one customarily fasts (e.g., the 13th, 14th, or 15th of the month), or if it is the day of ‘Ashura (Muharram 10), then it is not disliked to fast on such a Friday. The same rule applies to Saturday. Fasting on the “day of doubt,” when one is not sure if it is the last day of Sha‘ban or the first day of Ramadan, is also disliked, as is fasting on consecutive days without eating at all (al-wisal).

Voluntary Fasts

The Messenger exhorted Muslims to fast on the following days: six days of Shawwal; Muharram 10 (‘Ashura) and the days immediately preceding and following it; most of Sha‘ban (the month preceding Ramadan); every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday during the sacred months (Dhu’l-Qa‘da, Dhu’l-Hijja, Muharram, Rajab); every Monday and Thursday; and the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth days of each month. He also permitted those who can fast every other day, which is called sawm Dawud (the fast of Prophet David), to do so.

The Predawn Meal and Breaking the Fast

Having a predawn meal between the middle of the night and dawn is sunna (recommended). It is considered best to delay it so that it will be eaten as close to dawn as possible. Those who are fasting should hasten to break the fast when the sun has set and, just before eating, make the following supplication (highly recommended): “O God, I have fasted for You, believed in You, placed my trust in You, and break my fast with Your provisions.”

The Essential Elements of Fasting

Making the proper intention to fast the month of Ramadan is required. Preferably, this intention should be made before dawn and during every night of Ramadan. However, it is valid if made during any part of the night and can even be made as late as noon if one forgot to make it before dawn. It does not have to be spoken out loud, for it is, in reality, an act of the heart that does not involve the tongue. In addition, it is fulfilled by one’s intention to fast out of obedience to God and to seek His pleasure. According to many jurists, the intention for a voluntary fast can be made until noon.

During the fasting hours, one cannot eat, drink, or engage in marital sexual relations. Before the Qur’an’s revelation, married couples could not engage in sexual intercourse during the fasting period. This rule was alleviated by 2:187, which allows sexual intercourse between married couples during the nights of Ramadan:

It is made lawful for you to go in to your wives on the night of the Fast; (there is such an inalienable intimacy between you that) they are a garment for you (enfolding you to protect you against illicit relations and beautifying you,) and you are a garment (of the same sort) for them. (2:187)

However, it is still forbidden during the fasting hours.

Avoiding Unbefitting Actions

Fasting, a type of worship for drawing closer to God, was ordered to purify the soul and train it in good deeds. Those who are fasting must guard against any act that might cancel the benefits of their fast. Thus, their fast will increase their personal God-consciousness and piety. Fasting is more than not eating and drinking; it also means to avoid everything else that God has forbidden. The Messenger said: “Fasting is not (abstaining) from eating and drinking only, but also from vain speech and foul language. If one of you is being cursed or annoyed, he should say: ‘I am fasting, I am fasting.’”

Being Generous and Doing

Other Meritorious Acts

Being generous, studying the Qur’an, and supplicating to God are recommended at all times, but are especially stressed during Ramadan. During the last 10 days of Ramadan, God’s Messenger would wake his wives during the night and then, remaining apart from them, engage in acts of worship. He would exert himself in worshipping his Lord during this time more than he would at any other time. (Bukhari, “Sawm,” 2:9; Muslim, “Siyam,” 164)

Permitted Acts

·           Pouring water over oneself and submerging oneself in water.

·           Applying kohl, eye-drops, or anything else to the eyes.

·           Kissing, provided that one has self-control.

·           Rinsing the mouth and nose, without swallowing any water.

·           Tasting a liquid, food, or something else that one wants to buy. However, anything edible must not be swallowed.

·           Chewing gum (unlike something that has no sweetness or fragrance) is disliked but does not invalidate the fast.

·           Eating, drinking, or having sexual intercourse during the night until dawn.

·           If one eats due to forgetfulness, the day does not have to be made up later or expiated.

·           Performing ghusl before dawn is not required, but it is advisable to be pure before fasting.

·           If a woman’s menstrual or post-childbirth bleeding stops during the night, she can delay ghusl until the morning and still fasts. However, she must perform ghusl before the dawn prayer.

·           Those who are fasting can use a tooth stick or a brush to clean their teeth. It does not matter if this is done at the beginning or at the end of the day.

·           Smelling perfumes.

·           Swallowing anything wet with saliva remaining in the mouth after rising.

·           Swallowing only a few drops of tears and sweat, the taste of which one does not feel.

·           Eating anything edible remaining between teeth and which is smaller than a chickpea.

·           Anything that is inedible and enters the mouth without intention (e.g., smoke, dust, and the taste of medicine put on teeth) does not invalidate the fast.

·           Kissing, touching, and stroking the opposite sex, provided that no ejaculation occurs, as well as any sexual activity that does not result in ejaculation. Any ejaculation that is the result of looking and thinking does not invalidate the fast.

·           Having a wet dream during the day or any ejaculation of seminal fluid.

Forbidden Acts Requiring a Make-up Day

·           Eating due to a mistake or coercion.

·           Swallowing the blood more than the saliva with which it is mixed and the taste of which one feels.

·           Swallowing more than a few drops of tears and sweat the taste of which one feels.

·           Removing from the mouth anything edible that remains between the teeth and which is greater than a chickpea, and then eating it.

·           Vomiting a mouthful. Anything less and which goes back into the stomach does not invalidate the fast. However, if one intentionally takes it back, the fast is broken.

·           Ejaculation that occurs with pleasure by kissing, touching, and masturbation.

·           Menses and post-childbirth bleeding, even if either begins just before sunset.

·           If one eats, drinks, or has intercourse, thinking that the sun has set or that fajr has not occurred.

·           Any injections, whether for feeding or for medicinal purposes. It does not matter if the injection was intravenous or underneath the skin, or whether what was injected reaches the stomach.

·           Any drink or medicine that passes through throat or nose. However, water that passes through the ears is allowed.

·           Any fluid going into body through the rectum.

Acts that Invalidate the Fast and Require a Make-up Day and Expiation

Intentional eating, drinking, and having sexual intercourse during the day require making up the day and an expiation. Expiation is defined as freeing a slave if one can do so; if the person has no slaves or cannot free one for a valid reason, he or she must fast for 60 consecutive days; if one cannot do so, he or she must feed a poor person for 60 days or 60 poor people for one day with meals that are similar to what one would eat at home.

Most scholars say that both men and women have to perform acts of expiation if they intentionally have sexual intercourse during the day even if they had intended to fast on that day. If they engaged in it out of forgetfulness, coercion, or having no intention to fast, they do not have to perform any act of expiation. If the woman was raped or coerced by the man, only the man has to make an act of expiation.

All scholars agree that people who intentionally broke the fast and made expiation, and then broke it again in a way that requires another expiation, they must perform another act of expiation. Similarly, they all agree that if people break the fast twice during a day, before performing the expiation for the first act, they need to perform only one act of expiation. If people break their fast and then repeat it during the same Ramadan without expiation, they only have to make expiation one time. The reason for this is because there is a punishment for acts that are repeated, and if the expiation or punishment is not carried out, all of these acts are combined into one.

Places with Very Long Days and Very Short Nights

Muslims who are in such areas (e.g., close to the polar regions) should follow the norms of the areas in which the Islamic legislation took place (e.g., Makka or Madina) or follow the schedule of the closest area that has “normal” days and nights.

The Virtue of the Night of Power (Laylat al-Qadr)

This night is the year’s most virtuous night. God says: We revealed it (the Qur’an) on the Night of Power [Laylat al-Qadr]. What will tell you what the Night of Power is? It is better than a thousand months. (97:1-3) For example, any action therein (e.g., reciting the Qur’an, remembering God, performing prayer, coming together to study an Islamic subject, giving charity, etc.) brings as much reward as would doing the same action for 1,000 months that do not contain this night.

It is preferred to seek this night during the last 10 nights of Ramadan, as the Prophet, upon whom be peace, strove his best to seek it during that time. For example, he would stay up during the last 10 nights, wake his wives, and then stay apart from them in order to worship. However, according to Abu Hanifa, any night during the year may be the Night of Power (Canan, ibid., 1:260), and so Muslims should keep vigils for some time every night in order to catch it. Such night vigils have a special importance.

Al-Bukhari records from Abu Hurayra that the Messenger, upon whom be peace, said: “Whoever prays during the Night of Power with faith and hoping for its reward will have all of his or her previous sins forgiven.” (Bukhari, “Fadl Laylat al-Qadr”)

The Meaning and Principles of I‘tikaf

I‘tikaf literally means to stick to something, whether good or bad, and to block out everything else. As a term, it denotes devoting oneself, especially during the last 10 days of Ramadan, to praying in a mosque. God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, performed i‘tikaf for 10 days every Ramadan. In the year that he died, he performed it for 20 days.

I‘tikaf is not acceptable from an unbeliever, a non-discerning child, a person requiring major purification because of (sexual) defilement, and a menstruating woman and a woman with post-childbirth bleeding.

I‘tikaf will be fulfilled if a person stays in the mosque with the intention of becoming closer to God. If these conditions are not met, it is not i‘tikaf. If an individual intends to perform a voluntary i‘tikaf but ends it before the 10-day period has ended, he or she must make up the remaining days later.

The Holy Month of Ramadan [1]

The month of Ramadan, in which the Qur’an (began to be) sent down as a pure source of guidance for people, and, (when practiced,) as clear signs of guidance and the Criterion (between truth and falsehood). (2:185)

First Point. Fasting Ramadan is one of Islam’s foremost pillars and greatest symbols. Many of its purposes relate to God’s Lordship and giving thanks for His bounties, as well as to humanity’s individual and collective life, self-training, and self-discipline.

One purpose connected with His Lordship is that God displays His Lordship’s perfection and His being the All-Merciful and All-Compassionate upon Earth’s surface, which He designed as a table to hold His bounties in a way beyond human imagination. Nevertheless, people cannot perfectly discern this situation’s reality due to heedlessness and causality’s blinding veil. But during Ramadan, like an army waiting for its marching orders, believers display an attitude of worship toward the end of the day as if they expect to be told to help themselves to the banquet prepared by the Eternal Monarch. Thus they respond to that magnificent and universal manifestation of Divine Mercifulness with a comprehensive and harmonious act of collective worship. I wonder if those who do not worship or share in the honor of being so favored deserve to be called human.

Second Point. From the viewpoint of its being related to gratitude to God, one of the instances of wisdom in fasting during Ramadan is this: As stated in “The First Word,” there is a price for the food brought by a servant from the king’s kitchen. Obviously, it would be an incredible folly to tip the servant and not recognize the king, [for this would show] a clear disrespect for that gift. In the same way, God Almighty spreads His countless bounties on Earth and bestows them for a price: thanksgiving.

The apparent causes of those bounties or those who bring them to us are like the servant in the above example. We pay servants, feel indebted to and thank them, even though they are only causes or means. We sometimes show them a degree of respect they do not merit. The true Giver of Bounties is infinitely more deserving of thanks for these bounties. Such thanksgiving assumes the form of acknowledging one’s need for the bounties, appreciating them fully, and ascribing them directly to Him.

Fasting Ramadan is the key to a true, sincere, comprehensive, and universal thanksgiving. Many people cannot appreciate most of the bounties they enjoy, for they do not experience hunger. For example, a piece of dry bread means nothing to those who are full, especially if they are rich. However, the believers’ sense of taste testifies at the time of breaking the fast that it is indeed a very valuable bounty of God. During Ramadan, everyone is favored with a heartfelt thanksgiving by understanding the value of Divine bounties.

While fasting, believers think: “These bounties do not originally belong to me, and so I cannot regard them as mere food or drink. Since the One owns and grants them to me, I should wait for His permission to eat them.” By thus acknowledging food and drink as Divine gifts, believers tacitly thank God. This is why fasting is a key to thanksgiving, which is a fundamental human duty.

Third Point. Fasting is related to humanity’s collective life, for God’s decision not to give each person livelihood means that the rich are to help the poor. Without fasting, many rich and self-indulgent people cannot perceive the pain of hunger and poverty or to what extent the poor need care. Care for one’s fellow beings is a foundation of true thanksgiving. There is always someone poorer, so everyone must help such people. If people do not experience hunger, it is nearly impossible for them to do good or to help others. Even if they do, they can do so only imperfectly because they do not feel the hungry one’s condition to the same extent.

Fourth Point. Fasting Ramadan contains many Divine purposes related to self-training and self-discipline, such as: The carnal self desires – and considers itself – to be free and unrestricted. It even wishes, by its very nature, for an imagined lordship and free, arbitrary action. Not liking to think that it is being trained and tested through God’s countless bounties, it swallows up such bounties like an animal and in the manner of a thief or robber, especially if its wealth and power are accompanied by heedlessness.

During Ramadan, everyone’s selfhood understands that it is owned by One Other, not by itself; that it is a servant, not a free agent. Unless ordered or permitted, it cannot do even the most common things, like eating and drinking. This inability shatters its illusory lordship and enables it to admit its servanthood and perform its real duty of thanksgiving.

Fifth Point. Fasting Ramadan prevents the carnal self from rebelling and adorns it with good morals. A person’s carnal self forgets itself through heedlessness. It neither sees nor wants to see its inherent infinite impotence, poverty, and defect. It does not reflect upon how it is exposed to misfortune and subject to decay, and that it consists of flesh and bones that disintegrate and decompose rapidly. It rushes upon the world with a violent greed and attachment, as if it had a steel body and would live forever, and clings to whatever is profitable and pleasurable. In this state it forgets its Creator, Who trains it with perfect care. Being immersed in the swamp of immorality, it does not think about the consequences of its life here or its afterlife.

But fasting the month of Ramadan causes even the most heedless and stubborn to feel their weakness and innate poverty. Hunger becomes an important consideration and reminds them of how fragile their bodies really are. They perceive their need for compassion and care and, giving up haughtiness, want to take refuge in the Divine Court in perfect helplessness and destitution, rising to knock at the door of Mercy with the hand of tacit thanksgiving – provided, of course, that heedlessness has not yet corrupted them completely.

Sixth Point. God began revealing the Qur’an during Ramadan. This has many implications, such as: In order to welcome the month when the Qur’an, that Divine address, was revealed, believers should try to be like angels by abandoning eating and drinking. They also should seek to divest themselves of the carnal self’s vain preoccupations and gross needs. During Ramadan, they should recite or listen to the Qur’an as if it were being revealed for the first time. If possible, they should listen to it as if they were hearing Prophet Muhammad recite it, or Archangel Gabriel reciting it to Muhammad, or God revealing it to Muhammad through Gabriel. They should respect the Qur’an in their daily actions and, by conveying its message to others, demonstrate the Divine purpose for its revelation.

Ramadan transforms the Muslim world into a huge mosque in which millions recite the Qur’an to Earth’s inhabitants. Displaying the reality of: The month of Ramadan, in which the Qur’an (began to be) sent down (2:185), Ramadan proves itself to be the month of the Qur’an. While some in the vast congregation in the great mosque of the Muslim world listen to its recitation with solemn reverence, others recite it. It is most disagreeable to forsake that heavenly spiritual state by obeying the carnal self, and thus eating and drinking in the sacred “mosque,” for this provokes the whole congregation’s hatred. It is also most disagreeable, and must provoke the Muslim world’s dislike and contempt, to counter and defy those Muslims who fast Ramadan.

Seventh Point. Fasting Ramadan has many purposes related to a person’s spiritual rewards, as everyone is sent here to sow this world with the seeds of the next life. The following paragraphs explain one such purpose, as follows:

The rewards for good deeds done during Ramadan are multiplied by a thousand. One Tradition states that 10 rewards are given for each letter of the Qur’an. Reciting one letter means 10 good deeds and brings forth 10 fruits of Paradise. But during Ramadan, this reward is multiplied by 1,000 and even more for such verses as the “Verse of the Throne”:

Allah! There is no god but He, the Ever-Living, Self-Subsisting, Supporter of all. Slumber and sleep do not seize Him. Everything in the heavens and on Earth belongs to Him. Who can intercede in His presence unless He permits it? He knows what (appears) before and after and behind His creatures, and they can only acquire as much of His knowledge as he permits. His Throne extends over the heavens and Earth. He feels no fatigue while guarding and preserving them, for He is the Most High, the Supreme. (2:255)

The reward is even greater on Ramadan’s Friday nights. Furthermore, each letter is multiplied 30,000 times if recited during the Night of Power.

During Ramadan the Qur’an, each letter of which yields 30,000 permanent fruits of Paradise, becomes like a huge blessed tree producing millions of permanent fruits of Paradise. Consider how holy and profitable this trade is, and how great a loss for those who do not appreciate the Qur’an’s letters.

So Ramadan is the most proper time for such a profitable trade in the afterlife’s name. It is like a most fertile field to cultivate for the afterlife’s harvest. Its multiplication of rewards for good deeds make it like April in spring. It is a sacred and illustrious festival for the parade of those who worship His Lordship’s Sovereignty.

This is why fasting Ramadan is obligatory, why believers are not allowed to gratify the carnal self’s animal appetites and indulge in its useless fancies. Since they become like angels while fasting or engaging in such a trade, each believer is a mirror reflecting God’s Self-Sufficiency. They move toward becoming a pure spirit manifested in corporeal dress by abandoning the world for a fixed period. In fact, Ramadan contains and causes believers to gain, through fasting, a permanent life after a short period in this world.

One Ramadan may enable believers to gain 80 years’ worth of reward, for the Qur’an declares the Night of Power to be more profitable than 80 years having no such night (97:3). A king may announce a few holidays to mark a special occasion, like his enthronement, and then honor his faithful subjects on those days with special favors. Likewise, the Eternal and Majestic King of the 18,000 worlds revealed the Qur’an, His exalted decree, to each world during Ramadan. Thus wisdom requires that Ramadan be a special Divine festival during which God’s Lordship pours out bounties and spirit beings come together. Given that Ramadan is a Divinely ordained festival, fasting is commanded so that people withdraw from their bodily preoccupations to some extent.

Fasting also enables people to abandon sins committed by their bodily senses or members and use them in the acts of worship particular to each. For example, those who fast should stop their tongue from lying, backbiting, and swearing by busying it with reciting the Qur’an, glorifying God, seeking His forgiveness, and calling His blessing upon Prophet Muhammad. They should prevent their eyes from looking at, and their ears from listening to, forbidden things; rather, they should look at things that give a spiritual lesson or moral warning and listen to the Qur’an and truths. When the factory-like stomach is stopped from working, other members (small workshops) can be made to follow it easily.

Eighth Point. One purpose of fasting is to put people on a physical and spiritual diet. If the carnal self acts, eats, and drinks as it wishes, people’s physical health is harmed. But, and more importantly, their spiritual life is harmed because they do not discriminate between the allowed and the forbidden. Such a carnal self finds it very difficult to obey the heart and spirit. Recognizing no principles, it takes the person’s reins and drives him or her as it pleases.

However, fasting Ramadan accustoms it to dieting, and self-discipline trains it to obey. The stomach is not harmed from overeating before the previous meal has been digested properly and, learning to forsake what is allowed, can follow the decree of reason and religion to refrain from what is forbidden. Thus the carnal self tries not to corrupt its owner’s spiritual life.

Also, most people suffer hunger to various degrees. To endure a long-lasting hunger patiently, people should train themselves in self-discipline and austerity. Fasting Ramadan provides this patience-based training by causing people to feel hungry for 15 hours, or even for 24 hours if the predawn meal is missed. Thus fasting cures impatience and the lack of endurance, which double humanity’s misfortune.

Many bodily members somehow serve the stomach. If that “factory” does not stop its daytime routines during a certain month, it keeps those members busy with itself and forgetful of their own worship and sublime duties. This is why saints always prefer austerity as a way to spiritual and human perfection. Fasting Ramadan reminds us that our bodily members were created for more than just serving the stomach. During Ramadan, many bodily members take and experience angelic and spiritual – as opposed to material – pleasures. As a result, fasting believers receive degrees of spiritual pleasure and enlightenment according to their level of spiritual perfection. Fasting Ramadan refines a person’s heart, spirit, reason, and innermost senses. Even if the stomach complains, these senses rejoice.

Ninth Point. Observing the fast of Ramadan breaks the carnal self’s illusory lordship and, reminding it that it is innately helpless, convinces it that it is a servant. As the carnal self does not like to recognize its Lord, it obstinately claims lordship even while suffering. Only hunger alters such a temperament.

God’s Messenger, upon him be God’s peace and blessings, relates that God Almighty asked the carnal self: “Who am I, and who are you?” It replied: “You are Yourself, and I am myself.” However much the Almighty punished it and repeated His question, He received the same answer. But when He subjected it to hunger, it replied: “You are my All-Compassionate Lord; I am Your helpless servant.”

O God, grant peace and blessings to our master Muhammad in a way to please You and to give him his due, to the number of the rewards for reciting the Qur’an’s letters during Ramadan, and to his Family and Companions. Glorified be your Lord, the Lord of Honor and Power; exalted above what they falsely ascribe to Him. Peace be upon the Messengers, and all praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds. Amen.

Oaths

Making an oath means to swear by God that one will not do something. In Islam, one can swear only by God. People who make such an oath must do their best to fulfill it, and so should not make one carelessly.

People who make false statements by mistake or unknowingly, and then swear to them by God, are not held responsible for them and do not have make any expiation. However, consciously lying and then swearing by God or declaring God as a witness to the lie is an extremely grave sin that many times has resulted in misfortune descending upon the liar. Such people must perform an act of expiation, earnestly seek God’s forgiveness, and repair any damage caused by the lie.

If people swear by God not to do something in the future and then do that very act, they must seek God’s forgiveness and make an expiation. In this case, this involves emancipating a slave. If this is not possible, the oath-breaker must feed a poor person for 10 days with meals that are similar to what his family eats. If this is not possible, he or she must fast for 10 consecutive days.

Vows

A vow is a solemn promise to do, in God’s name, something that resembles an act of worship and make obligatory upon oneself that which is not obligatory. A vow is considered “Islamic” only if it is made in God’s name and involves an obligatory or necessary act of worship (e.g., to fast or help the poor). Therefore, one can vow to perform two rak‘ats of prayer or fast, but not to make a prostration of recitation or perform ablution, for these latter two acts are not obligatory acts of worship in themselves but rather are the means to such acts. Also, vows can be made concerning only that which can be fulfilled.

There are two kinds of vows: appointed and unappointed. An appointed vow can be, for example, vowing to fast on a certain day if one’s desire for something religiously lawful is met. If the desired thing happens, the vow must be fulfilled. An unappointed vow can be, for example, a vow to fast for one day or to give charity to the poor if one’s desire for something religiously lawful is met. If the desired thing happens, the vow must be fulfilled.

If one vows to do something resembling an act of worship if something does not occur, he or she must either fulfill the vow or make an expiation. For example, if one addicted to lying vows to fast for a week if he or she does not lie again, but then does so, he or she either has to fulfill the vow or make an expiation like that made for broken oaths.