183–185 “O you who believe, fasting has been prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may attain piety * for a specified number of days. Whoever among you is ill or on a journey must make up the same number on other days. Those who are able to fast must offer compensation by feeding a poor person. Whoever willingly does more good, it is better for him; yet fasting is better for you, if only you knew. * Ramadan is the month in which the Quran was sent down as guidance for mankind, with clear proofs of guidance and the criterion between truth and falsehood. So whoever among you is present during the month must fast it; but whoever is ill or on a journey must make up the same number on other days. Allah intends ease for you and does not intend hardship for you, so that you may complete the prescribed period, proclaim Allah’s greatness for having guided you, and perhaps be grateful.”
The Most High informs us of the favor He has bestowed upon His servants by prescribing fasting for them, just as He prescribed it for earlier nations, because it is one of the divinely ordained laws and commands that benefit creation in every age.
This also encourages this nation: you should compete with others in perfecting your deeds and hasten to acquire virtuous qualities. Fasting is not a burdensome obligation with which you alone have been singled out.
The Most High then states His wisdom in prescribing fasting: “so that you may attain piety.” Fasting is among the greatest means of attaining piety because it entails obeying Allah’s command and avoiding what He has forbidden.
One aspect of piety contained in fasting is that the fasting person refrains from the food, drink, sexual intercourse, and similar things that Allah has forbidden him, despite his natural inclination toward them. He does so to draw nearer to Allah, hoping for His reward by abstaining from them. This is part of piety.
Another is that the fasting person trains himself to remain conscious that Allah is watching him. He therefore abandons what his soul desires even though he is capable of obtaining it, because he knows that Allah sees him. Another is that fasting constricts the pathways of Satan, for Satan courses through the son of Adam as blood courses through his veins. Fasting therefore weakens Satan’s influence and reduces the number of sins committed because of him. Another is that the fasting person generally increases his acts of obedience, and acts of obedience are among the qualities of piety. Another is that when a wealthy person tastes the pain of hunger, it prompts him to support the destitute poor, and this too is among the qualities of piety.
After stating that He had prescribed fasting for them, Allah informed them that it was only for a specified number of days—that is, a few days that are exceedingly easy to observe.
He then granted them further ease, saying: “Whoever among you is ill or on a journey must make up the same number on other days.” Since illness and travel generally entail hardship, Allah granted the ill person and the traveler a concession to break the fast.
Since the benefit of fasting must be attained by every believer, He commanded both of them to make it up on other days, once the illness has passed, the journey has ended, and ease has returned.
The words “the same number of days” indicate that one must make up the number of days in Ramadan, whether the month consists of a full or reduced number of days. They also indicate that it is permissible to make up long, hot days by fasting short, cold days, and vice versa.
His words, “Those who are able to fast,” mean those capable of fasting. They were required to offer “compensation” for every day on which they did not fast by “feeding a poor person.” This applied when fasting was first prescribed. Since they were not accustomed to fasting and its mandatory observance caused them hardship, the All-Wise Lord introduced it to them gradually in the easiest manner. He gave anyone capable of fasting the choice between fasting—which was better—or providing food. He therefore said, “yet fasting is better for you.”
Thereafter, fasting was made mandatory for anyone capable of observing it, while one temporarily unable to do so may break the fast and make it up on other days. [It has also been said that “those who are able to fast” means those who can do so only with great strain and for whom it causes intolerable hardship, such as an elderly person. Such a person must feed one poor person for each day as compensation (1). This is the correct view] (2).
“Ramadan is the month in which the Quran was sent down.” That is, the fasting prescribed for you is during the great month of Ramadan, in which Allah bestowed an immense favor upon you: the Noble Quran. It contains guidance concerning your religious and worldly welfare, explains the truth with utmost clarity, and distinguishes between truth and falsehood, guidance and error, and the people of felicity and the people of misery.
A month possessing such merit, and in which Allah has shown you such benevolence, truly deserves to be a season of devotion for His servants in which fasting is prescribed.
After establishing this and explaining the month’s excellence and Allah Most High’s wisdom in designating it, He said: “So whoever among you is present during the month must fast it.” This makes fasting obligatory for every capable and healthy resident.
Since only the choice between fasting and compensation had been abrogated, He reiterated the concession granted to the ill person and the traveler, lest anyone suppose that this concession had also been abrogated. [Thus He said], “Allah intends ease for you and does not intend hardship for you.” That is, Allah Most High intends to make the paths leading to His pleasure as easy as possible for you and to facilitate them to the utmost (3) degree. Accordingly, everything Allah has commanded His servants is, in its original form, exceedingly ⦗87⦘ easy.
If circumstances arise that make an obligation burdensome, He grants further ease, either by waiving it or by reducing it through various forms of alleviation.
This is a general principle whose details cannot be exhaustively listed, because its particulars encompass the entire Sacred Law, including every concession and form of alleviation.
“So that you may complete the prescribed period.” This—and Allah knows best—is intended to prevent anyone from supposing that the purpose of fasting Ramadan can be attained by observing only part of it. This misconception is dispelled by the command to complete the prescribed number of days. Allah [Most High] is also to be thanked upon its completion for granting His servants success, making it easy for them, and explaining it to them; and His greatness is to be proclaimed when the month ends. This includes proclaiming Allah’s greatness from the sighting of the crescent of Shawwāl until the Eid sermon concludes.