What does the Quran say about fasting?
Fasting is prescribed in Qur’an 2:183, which states that it was prescribed for those before as well, and gives its purpose as taqwa — God-consciousness. The month is named in Qur’an 2:185, which also ties it to the revelation of the Qur’an and states that God intends ease and not hardship. Exemptions for illness and travel are in the text itself Qur’an 2:184, as are the hours Qur’an 2:187.
Where does the Qur’an prescribe fasting?
Qur’an 2:183 is the founding verse: fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you — that you may become mindful of God. Two things sit in that one sentence. The practice is presented as continuous with earlier communities rather than new, and a purpose is stated. The Qur’an does not present fasting as valuable in itself, but as directed at taqwa.
Why Ramadan specifically?
Qur’an 2:185 gives the reason: the month of Ramadan is that in which the Qur’an was sent down, as guidance for the people and clear proofs of guidance and criterion. The month is tied to the revelation rather than chosen arbitrarily. The same verse instructs that whoever witnesses the month should fast it. Qur’an 97:1 adds that it was sent down on the Night of Decree, and Qur’an 97:3 that this night is better than a thousand months.
Who is exempt?
The Qur’an states the exemptions rather than leaving them to be inferred. Qur’an 2:184 provides that whoever among you is ill or on a journey may fast an equal number of other days, and that upon those who are able to do so with hardship there is a ransom of feeding a poor person. Qur’an 2:185 repeats the illness and travel provision and then gives the principle behind it in the same verse: God intends ease for you and does not intend hardship for you. That clause is the Qur’an supplying its own reasoning for the exemptions.
What are the hours of the fast?
Qur’an 2:187 sets them out. It permits going to one’s spouse on the nights of the fast, and instructs eating and drinking until the white thread of dawn becomes distinct to you from the black thread — then completing the fast until the night. The same verse describes spouses as garments for one another, and states that God knew they had been deceiving themselves, accepted their repentance and forgave them. The passage is unusually concrete about the practicalities.
Does the Qur’an describe fasting as more than abstaining?
It states the aim in Qur’an 2:183 as taqwa, and Qur’an 2:185 closes by instructing that you should magnify God for having guided you, and be grateful. The Qur’an itself does not enumerate what beyond food and drink invalidates a fast, nor the etiquette often taught alongside it. Those come from the Prophet’s practice and from jurisprudence, and this page marks the boundary rather than crossing it.
Common questions
- Why do Muslims fast in Ramadan?
- The Qur’an gives the purpose as taqwa, God-consciousness Qur’an 2:183, and names Ramadan as the month in which the Qur’an was sent down Qur’an 2:185.
- Does the Qur’an allow not fasting?
- Yes. Qur’an 2:184 provides for those who are ill or travelling to fast an equal number of other days, with a ransom of feeding a poor person for those who can fast only with hardship. Qur’an 2:185 states the principle: God intends ease, not hardship.
- What time does the fast begin and end?
- Qur’an 2:187 instructs eating and drinking until the white thread of dawn becomes distinct from the black thread, then completing the fast until the night.
- Is Laylat al-Qadr mentioned in the Qur’an?
- Yes. Surah 97 is named for it — Qur’an 97:1 states the Qur’an was sent down on the Night of Decree, and Qur’an 97:3 that it is better than a thousand months.
Sources cited on this page
Every claim above is traceable. Qur’an references open with several translations side by side, since translations differ. Where a point is not settled by the Qur’an itself, the narration is named so you can see what it rests on.
The Surahs this page draws on
Every verse quoted above comes from one of these chapters. Each is set out in full — why it was revealed, and what it teaches.