Fasting in the Month of Ramadan is Obligatory

Fasting in the month of Ramadan is a virtuous act of worship, which was obligated by Allah to His servants in His Saying Subhanahu wa Ta’ala,

يـٰأَيُّهَا الَّذينَ ءامَنوا كُتِبَ عَلَيكُمُ الصِّيامُ كَما كُتِبَ عَلَى الَّذينَ مِن قَبلِكُم لَعَلَّكُم تَتَّقونَ

“O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous.”¹

Fasting in the month of Ramadan is even one of the pillars of Islam, as mentioned in the hadith of ‘Umar radiyallahu ‘anhu that the Prophet sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam said when he was asked by the Angel Jibril ‘alaihis-salam about Islam,

الإسلام أن تشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وأن محمدا رسول الله، وتقيم الصلاة، وتؤتي الزكاة، وتصوم رمضان، وتحج البيت إن استطعت إليه سبيلا.

“Islam is to testify that there is no god worthy to be worshipped except Allah and that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah, to establish salah (prayers), to pay zakah (obligatory charity), to observe fasting in the month of Ramadan, and to perform hajj (pilgrimage) to the House (the Ka’bah at Makkah) if you can find a way to it.”²

It is also mentioned in the hadith of ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar radiyallahu ‘anhuma, that the Prophet shallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam said,

بُني الإسلام على خمس: شهادة أن لا إله إلا الله وأن محمدا رسول الله، وإقام الصلاة، وإيتاء الزكاة، وصوم رمضان، وحج البيت.

“Islam is built on five pillars: testifying that there is no deity worthy to be worshipped except Allah and that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah, establishing the salah (prayers), paying the zakah (obligatory charity), fasting in the month of Ramadan, and performing the hajj (pilgrimage) to the House (the Ka’bah at Makkah).”³

Written by: Dr. Andy Latief
Article of Al-Minhaj Institute

Footnotes:

1. Surah al-Baqarah: 183. [↩]
2. Narrated by Muslim (no. 8). [↩]
3. Narrated by al-Bukhariy (no. 8) dan Muslim (no. 16). [↩]