thosebefore you, that you become God fearing.Quran 2:183
Fasting is for a fixed number of days, and if one of you be sick, or
if one of you be on a journey, you will fast the same number of other
days later on. For those who are capable of fasting (but still do not
fast) there is a redemption: feeding a needy man for each day missed.
Whoever, voluntarily, does more good than is required, will find it is
better for him; and that you should fast is better for you, if you
only know.Quran 2:184
During the month of Ramadan the Qur'an was sent down as a guidance to
the people with clear signs of the true guidance, and as the Criterion
(between right and wrong). So those of you who live to see that month
should fast it, and whoever is sick or on a journey should fast the
same number of other days instead. Allah wants ease and not hardship
for you so that you may complete the number of days required, magnify
Allah for what He has guided you to, and give thanks to Him.Quran
2:185
1.Like most other injunctions of Islam those relating to fasting were
revealed gradually. In the beginning the Prophethad instructed the
Muslims to fast three days in every month, though this was not
obligatory. When the injunction in the present verse was later
revealed in 2 A.H., a degree of relaxation was introduced: it was
stipulated that those who did not fast despite their capacity to
endure it were obliged to feed one poor person as an expiation for
each day of obligatory fasting missed (see verse 184). Another
injunction was revealed later (see verse 185) and here therelaxation
in respect of able-bodied persons was revoked. However, for the sick,
the traveler, the pregnant, the breast-feeding women and the aged who
could not endure fasting, the relaxation was retained.
(See Bukhari, `Tafsir al-Qur'an', 25; Tirmidhi, 'Sawm', 21; Nasa'i,
`Siyam', 51, 62, 64; Ibn Majah, `Siyam', 12; Ahmad b. Hanbal, Musnad,
vol. 3, p. 104; vol. 4, pp. 347 and 418; vol. 5, p. 29 - Ed.)
2.This act of extra merit could either be feedingmore than the one
person required or both fasting and feeding the poor.
3.Here ends the early injunction with regard to fasting which was
revealed in 2 A.H. prior to the Battle of Badr. The verses that follow
were revealed about one year later and are linked with the preceding
verses since they deal with the samesubject.
4.Whether a person should or should not fast while on a journey is
left to individual discretion. We find thatamong the Companionswho
accompanied the Prophet on journeys some fasted whereas others did
not; none objected to the conductof another. The Prophethimself did
not always fast when traveling. On one journey a person was so
overwhelmed by hunger that he collapsed; the Prophet disapproved when
he learned that the man had been fasting. During wars the Prophet used
to prevent people from fasting so that they would not lack energy for
the fight. It has been reported by 'Umarthat two military expeditions
took place in the month of Ramadan. The first was the Battle of Badr
and the second the conquest of Makka. On both occasions the Companions
abstained from fasting, and, according to Ibn 'Umar, on the occasion
of the conquest of Makka the Prophet proclaimed that people should not
fast since it was a day of fighting. In other Traditions the Prophet
is reported to have saidthat people should not fast when they had
drawn close. to the enemy, since abstention from fastingwould lead to
greater strength.
(See Ahmad b. Hanbal, Musnad, vol. 3, p. 329, and vol. 5, pp. 205 and
209; Darimi, `Sawm', 41;Muslim, `Siyam', 92; Nasa'i, `Siyam', 47;
Bukhari, `Maghazi', 71; Muslim, `Siyam', 102; Ahmad b. Hanbal, Musnad,
vol. 3, pp. 21, 35, .46; Tirmidhi, 'Sawm', 18; Nasa'i, `Siyam', 52;
Bukhari, `Jihad', 29; Muslim, `Siyam', 98; Abu Da'ud, 'Sawm', 42;
Muslim, `Siyam', 102, 103, 105; Ahmad b. Hanbal, Musnad, vol. 2, 99;
Tirmidhi, 'Sawm', 19 - Ed.)
The duration of a journey for which it becomes permissible for a
person to abstain from fasting is not absolutely clear from any
statement of the Prophet.
(cf. relevant Traditions Abu Da'ud, 'Sawm', 46, 47; Nasa'i, `Siyam',
54, 55; Malik, Muwatta', `Siyam', 21, 27 - Ed.)
In addition the practiceof the Companions was not uniform. It would
seem that any journey which is commonly regarded as such, and which is
attended by the circumstances generally associated with traveling,
should be deemed sufficient justification for not fasting.
Jurists agree that one does not have to fast on the day of commencing
a journey;one may eat either at the point of departure or after the
actual journey has commenced. Either course is sanctioned by the
practice of the Companions. Jurists, however, are not agreed as to
whether or not the residents of a city under attack may abstain from
fasting even though they are not actually traveling. Ibn Taymiyah
favors thepermissibility of abstention from fastingand supports his
view with very forceful arguments.
5.This indicates that fasting need not be confined, exclusively,
toRamadan. For those who fail to fast during that month owing to some
legitimate reason God has kept the door of compensation open during
other months ofthe year so that they need not be deprived of the
opportunity to express their gratitude to Him for His great bounty in
revealing theQur'an.
It should be noted here that fasting in Ramadanhas not only been
declared an act of worship and devotion and a means to nourishpiety
but has also been characterized as an act of gratefulness to God for
His great bounty of true guidance in the form of the Qur'an. In fact,
the best way of expressing gratitude for someone's bounty or
benevolence is to prepare oneself, to the best of one's ability, to
achieve the purpose forwhich that bounty has been bestowed. The Qur'an
has been revealed so that we may know the way thatleads to God's good
pleasure, follow that way ourselves and direct the world along it.
Fasting is an excellent means by which to prepare ourselves for
shouldering this task. Hence fasting during the month of the
revelation of the Qur'anis more than an act of worship and more thanan
excellent course of moral training; it is alsoan appropriate form for
the expression of our thankfulness to Godfor the bounty of the Qur'an.
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