{"collection":"Islam","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/isl/hadith/had20.htm","path":"isl/hadith/had20.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/isl/hadith/had20.htm","text":"2. \"The month of Ramadz\u0101n is that in which the Qur'\u0101n was revealed; ...... Therefore, whoever of you witnesses the month, he shall fast during it, and whoever is sick or on a journey (he shall fast) a (like) number of other days\" (2:185).\n3. \"It is made lawful to you to approach your wives on the night of the fast: they are an apparel for you and you are an apparel for them ...... and eat and drink until the whiteness of the day becomes distinct to you from the blackness of the night at dawn, then complete the fast till night\" (2:187).\nThe directions relating to fasts are all contained in vv. 2:183-187. Fasts are to be kept during the 29 or 30 days of Ramadz\u0101n (v. 2). The Fast consists in abstaining daily, from dawn till sunset, from food and drink and sexual intercourse (v. 3). Fasting is recognised in had\u012bth as one of the pillars of Isl\u0101m (H. ii:5, 6), but too much voluntary fasting is prohibited (H. ii:3.). While tasting, one must cultivate the habit of abstaining from evil, from foul talk and falsehood (hh. 1. 2), and of charity to fellow-men (h. 3). Fasting starts with the first day of Ramadz\u0101n and ends with the last day of it. Ramadz\u0101n being a lunar month, its beginning and end depend on the appearance of the new moon (H. xii. 1, 2). Fast must not be kept on a doubtful day (h. 4). The fast begins when dawn appears (h. 5), and ends when the sun sets (h. 6). When fasting, it is recommended that one should have a meal in the morning (h. 7). a little before dawn (h. 8).\nBreaking the fast when one is journeying is permitted. but fasting is allowed in such a case unless it entails hardship (hh. 9. 10). One who is ill, the pregnant woman, the woman who gives suck, and a very old person may feed a needy person instead of fasting (h. 11). A woman should not fast when she is menstruating, but she should fast for the same number of days afterwards (h. 12).\nWhen for some reason. the number of fasts is to be completed after Ramadz\u0101n, it may be done at any time before the next Ramadz\u0101n (h. 13). Fasting on '\u012ad days is strictly prohibited (h. 14). When a person eats or drinks forgetting that he is fasting, the fast is not broken (h. 15). Cooling oneself, taking a bath, gargling or rinsing the mouth, and tasting of the food in the cooking-pot do not break the fast (h. 16), nor does vomiting (h. 17). I'tik\u0101f or keeping to the mosque during the last ten days of Ramadz\u0101n, and not going out of it except for a need, may be resorted to by those who fast, and it is in these nights that the Laila al-Qadr must be sought (hh. 18,19).\n1 Ab\u016b Hurairah reported,\nThe Messenger of All\u0101h, peace and blessings of All\u0101h be on him, said:\n\"Fasting is an armour with which one protects oneself; so let not him (who fasts) utter immodest (or foul) speech, nor let him act in an ignorant manner; and if a man quarrels with him or abuses him, he should say twice, I am fasting. And by Him in Whose hand is my soul, the odour of the mouth of one fasting is sweeter in the estimation of All\u0101h than the odour of muskh--gives up his food and his drink and his (sexual) desire for MY sake; fasting is for Me and I will grant\nits reward; and a virtue brings reward ten times like it.\"\n(B. 30:2.)\n2 Ab\u016b Hurairah said,\n\"He who does not give up uttering falsehood and acting according to it, All\u0101h has no need of his giving up his food and his drink.\"\n(B. 30:8.)\n3 Ibn 'Abb\u0101s said,\nThe Messenger of All\u0101h, peace and blessings of All\u0101h be on him, was the most generous of all people, and he was most generous in Ramadz\u0101n, when Gabriel met him, and he met him in every night of Ramadz\u0101n and read with him the Qur'\u0101n; so the Messenger of All\u0101h. peace and blessings was of All\u0101h be on him,\nmore generous in the doing of good than the wind which is sent forth (on every body).\n(B. 1:1.)\n4 Silah said, reporting on the authority of 'Amm\u0101r,\nWhoever keeps fast on a doubtful day, disobeys\nAbu-l-Q\u0101sim1, peace and blessings of All\u0101h be on him.\n(B. 30:11.)\n5 'Adiyy ibn H\u0101tim said,\n'When it was revealed, \"Until the khait al-abyadz becomes distinct to you from the khait al-aswad\", I betook myself to a black cord and a white cord2 and put them under my pillow, and I looked at them (now and then) during the night\n1. Abu-l-Q\u0101sim is the kunyah of the Holy Prophet.\n2. Khait literally means a cord.\nbut I could not distinguish between them; then I came to the Messenger of All\u0101h, peace and blessings of All\u0101h be on him, in the morning and I mentioned this to him. He said,\" By this is meant only the blackness of the night and the whiteness of the day.\"\n(B. 30:16)\n6 Umar said, 'The Messenger of All\u0101h, peace and blessings of All\u0101h be on him, said:\n\"When the night comes on from there and the day departs on this side and the sun goes down, the one who is fasting should break the fast.\"\n(B. 30:43.)\n7 Anas said,\nThe Prophet, peace and blessings of All\u0101h be on him, said:\n\"Have the meal before dawn, for there is blessing in the meal before dawn.\"\n(B. 30:20.)\n8 Ab\u016b H\u0101zim said that he heard Sahl ibn Sa'd saying,\nI used to have my meal before dawn in my family, then I used to hasten to overtake the morning prayer with the Messenger of All\u0101h, peace and blessings of All\u0101h be on him.\n(B. 9:27)\n9 Anas said,\nWe used to be on journey with the Prophet, peace and blessings of All\u0101h be on him, and he who kept the fast did not find fault with him who broke it, nor did he who broke the fast find fault with him who kept it.\n(B. 30:37.)\n10 J\u0101bir said,\nThe Messenger of All\u0101h. peace and blessings of All\u0101h be on him, was on a journey, and he saw a crowd and a man who was placed under a shade. He said, \"What is this?\" They said, He is one fasting. He said\n\"There is no great virtue. in fasting when on journey.\"\n(B. 30:36.)\n11 'At\u0101' said,\nOne should break the fast on account of illness, whatever it may be, as All\u0101h has said. And Hasan and Ibr\u0101h\u012bm said, concerning the woman who gives suck and the one with child, when they fear about themselves or their child, they should break the fast, then fast on other days. And as to the very old man when he cannot bear fasting--Anas, after he became old, fed one who was needy, for a year or two daily with bread and meat, and broke the fast.\n(B. 65:ii, 25.)\n12 Abu-l-Zin\u0101d said,\nThe menstruating woman has to fast afterwards, and she has not to perform any prayer (for the prayers omitted).\n(B. 30:41.)\n13 Ab\u016b Salamah said,\nI heard '\u0100'ishah say, I used to be under obligation to fast on account of (the fasts omitted in) Ramadz\u0101n, and I was not able to perform this obligation except in Sha'b\u0101n.\"\n(B. 30:40)\n14 Ab\u016b 'Ubaid said,\nI was present at '\u012ad with Umar and he said, The Messenger of All\u0101h, peace and blessings of All\u0101h be on him, forbade fasting on these two days, the ('\u012ad) day of your breaking the fast and the other ('\u012ad) day on which you eat of your sacrifices.\n(B. 30:66.)\n3. Sha'b\u0101n is the month preceding Ramadz\u0101n.\n15 Ab\u016b Hurairah reported,\n\"When one forgets and eats and drinks, he should complete his fast, for All\u0101h made him eat and drink.\"\n(B. 30:26.)\n16 Ibn 'Umar moistened a cloth and cast it over him while he was fasting; and Sha'b\u012b entered a bath while he was fasting. Ibn 'Abb\u0101s said, There is no harm that one should taste of the food in the cooking-pot and anything else. And Hasan said, There is no harm in rinsing the mouth with water, and getting cooled, by one who fasts.\n(B. 30:25.)\n17 Ab\u016b Hurairah said,\nWhen a person vomits, he should not break the fast.\n(B. 30:32.)\n18 '\u0100'ishah said,\nThe Messenger of All\u0101h, peace and blessings of All\u0101h be on him, used to confine himself (to the mosque) in the last ten days of Ramadz\u0101n, and he would say: \"Seek the Lailat al-Qadr in the last ten days of Ramadz\u0101n.\"4\n(B. 32:1)\n19 '\u0100'ishah said,\nThe Messenger of All\u0101h, peace and blessings of All\u0101h be on him, would cause his head to get to me while he was in the mosque, and I would comb his hair; and he did not enter the house when performing i'tik\u0101f except for a need.\n(B. 33:1)\n4. Lailat al-Qadr means the grand night or the night of majesty. It is the night on which the revelation of the Holy Qur'\u0101n began (97:1). As stated in other had\u012bth, it must be particularly sought on the 25th, 27th and 29th of Ramadz\u0101n (B. 2 35). Confining oneself to the mosque during the lost ten days of Ramadz\u0101n is known as i'tik\u0101f. See next had\u012bth.","title":"A Manual of Hadith: Chapter XVII: Fasting","type":"page"}