Back to Five Pillars

Sawm

الصوم

Fasting during Ramadan - examining the rules, exceptions, penalties, and the realities of this mandatory practice.

What is Sawm?

Sawm is the obligatory fast during the month of Ramadan, from dawn (fajr) to sunset (maghrib). Muslims must abstain from food, drink, smoking, and sexual relations during daylight hours.

While fasting is a spiritual practice in many religions, the Islamic fast has unique rules, exemptions, and consequences that are important to understand.

What's Often Not Discussed

Extreme Fasting Hours

In northern countries during summer, fasting can exceed 20 hours daily. This creates:

  • • Severe dehydration risks, especially without water
  • • Health complications for workers, drivers, and those doing physical labor
  • • In places like Iceland or Scandinavia, nearly 24-hour daylight makes fasting nearly impossible
  • • Scholars debate solutions, but the Quran gives no provisions for these scenarios

Breaking the Fast Intentionally

Deliberately breaking the fast carries severe penalties (kaffarah):

  • • Freeing a slave (if possible)
  • • Fasting for 60 consecutive days
  • • Feeding 60 poor people

Sexual intercourse during fasting hours requires this severe expiation, even between married couples.

Pre-Islamic Origins

Fasting during Ramadan has roots in pre-Islamic Arabian practice. The word "Ramadan" comes from "ramida" (scorching heat) and was a sacred month in pre-Islamic Arabia. Jews in Medina fasted on Ashura, which Muhammad initially adopted before changing to the month-long Ramadan fast after relations with Jews deteriorated.

Health Realities

While Islamic sources praise fasting's health benefits, medical research shows:

  • • Dehydration from no water for 12-20+ hours daily
  • • Productivity and cognitive function decline
  • • Increased road accidents during Ramadan in Muslim countries
  • • Many Muslims gain weight due to excessive eating after sunset
  • • Diabetics and those on medication face serious challenges

Who is Exempt?

  • • Children before puberty
  • • Elderly who cannot fast
  • • Pregnant or nursing women (must make up days later)
  • • Menstruating women (must make up days later)
  • • Travelers (must make up days later)
  • • Sick people (must make up days or pay fidya)

Note: Women are considered spiritually deficient because they cannot fast or pray during menstruation, according to hadith.

Quranic References

"O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous."

— Quran 2:183

"...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..."

— Quran 2:187

Critical Questions

  • 1.If the Quran is for all times and places, why doesn't it address extreme latitudes where fasting is impossible?
  • 2.Why is denying water for 12-20 hours considered spiritually beneficial when it causes documented health risks?
  • 3.If fasting teaches empathy for the poor, why do many Muslims feast extravagantly after sunset?
  • 4.How does this mandatory ritual fasting compare to biblical fasting which is voluntary and focused on seeking God?