Ṣawm
Ṣawm (fasting) is one of the central acts of worship in Islam and constitutes the fourth pillar of the religion. Linguistically, the Arabic term ṣawm denotes abstention or restraint. In the Sharīʿah, it refers to abstaining from food, drink, marital relations, and other invalidators from dawn (fajr) until sunset (maghrib) with the intention of worshipping Allah. The Qurʾān established fasting as an obligatory act upon the believers in Madīnah, declaring: “O you who believe, fasting has been prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you so that you may attain taqwā” (Qurʾān 2:183). The Qurʾān further states: “˹Fast for˺ a fixed number of days. But whoever among you is ill or on a journey, then let them fast an equal number of days later. For those who can only fast with extreme difficulty, compensation can be made by feeding a needy person. But whoever volunteers better, it is better for them. And fasting is better for you, if only you knew.” (Qurʾān 2:184)
The Qurʾānic presentation of ṣawm emphasizes spiritual purification, self-discipline, gratitude, and consciousness of Allah rather than mere physical abstinence.
The primary and most significant form of ṣawm is the fasting of the month of Ramaḍān, instituted in 2 AH. The Qurʾān describes Ramaḍān as the month in which the Qurʾān was revealed, “a guidance for mankind and clear proofs of guidance and criterion” (Qurʾān 2:185). The Sunnah of the Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ elaborated the practical regulations and spiritual dimensions of fasting. Numerous aḥādīth describe the virtues of Ramaḍān, the pre-dawn meal (suḥūr), hastening the breaking of the fast (ifṭār), nightly prayers (tarāwīḥ), and the pursuit of Laylat al-Qadr. The Prophet ﷺ taught that fasting is not limited to abstention from physical desires but includes guarding one’s speech, conduct, and character. In a famous ḥadīth narrated in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, he stated that whoever does not abandon false speech and evil conduct gains little from abstaining from food and drink.
Through the lens of the Qurʾān and sunnah, ṣawm functions as a comprehensive spiritual discipline aimed at cultivating taqwā, patience, sincerity, compassion for the needy, and obedience to Allah. The Prophet ﷺ regularly observed voluntary fasts in addition to Ramaḍān, including fasting on Mondays and Thursdays, the Day of ʿĀshūrāʾ, and the six days of Shawwāl. Islamic scholarship also developed detailed legal discussions concerning exemptions from fasting for travellers, the ill, pregnant women, and others facing hardship, based upon Qurʾān 2:184–185 and Prophetic teachings. In Islamic civilization, ṣawm has therefore remained not merely a ritual obligation but a transformative act of devotion that shapes individual spirituality and communal religious life.
## References
1 Qurʾān 2:183-185. Top of Form2 Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl al-Bukhārī. Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: Kitāb al-Ṣawm. Beirut: Dār Ibn Kathīr, 2002. Yaḥyā ibn Sharaf al-Nawawī. Al-Majmūʿ Sharḥ al-Muhadhdhab, vol. 6, Kitāb al-Ṣiyām. Beirut: Dār al-Fikr, 1997. 3 Yūsuf al-Qaraḍāwī. Fiqh al-Ṣiyām. Cairo: Maktabat Wahbah, 2006. 4 Sayyid Sābiq. Fiqh al-Sunnah, vol. 1, “Kitāb al-Ṣawm.” Cairo: Dār al-Fatḥ li-Iʿlām al-ʿArabī, 1999. 5 Ibn Rajab al-Ḥanbalī. Laṭāʾif al-Maʿārif fīmā li-Mawāsim al-ʿĀm min al-Waẓāʾif. Beirut: Dār Ibn Ḥazm, 2004. 6 Muḥammad Amīn Ibn ʿĀbidīn. Radd al-Muḥtār ʿalā al-Durr al-Mukhtār, vol. 2, Kitāb al-Ṣawm. Beirut: Dār al-Fikr, 1992. 7 Mahmood Zuhdi Abdul Majid. Fasting in Islam: Philosophy and Rulings. Kuala Lumpur: Islamic Book Trust, 2001. 8 Jamal A. Badawi. The Fasting of Ramadan. Indianapolis: American Trust Publications, 1990.