“Believers! Fasting is enjoined upon you as it was enjoined upon those before you, that you become God-fearing.”
(Al-Qur’ān – 2:183)
This ayah has three important facts about the obligation of fasting: one, that Allah enjoins fasting on the believers in the blessed month of Ramadhan; two, that fasting is not something new as it had been enjoined on the earlier peoples as well; and three, that the real intent of fasting is la’allakumtattaqoon (so that you may become God-fearing).
Fasting in Ramadhan is obligatory, not optional. Each and every Muslim man and woman must fast during this month if he/she is adult, sane and physically well.
Like Salat, fasting had been an essential obligation for the followers of earlier Prophets. The Bible says that Jesus Christ fasted for 40 days (Mathew 4:1-4, Mark 1:12-13 and Luke 4:1-4). In Peter 2:21 the followers of Christ were enjoined to fast as the Prophet had done. Even the Vedas and the Puranas prescribe fasting. Thus the peoples of earlier religions fasted but with a difference in the number of days and the prescribed time of fasting.
Fasting is one of the main sources of inculcating and nurturing piety. It is a month-long training course.
The believers abstain from eating, drinking and sexual contact from dawn to dusk. These things otherwise permissible become impermissible for a certain period of time. This exercise enables the believers to abstain from what has been forbidden by the Shari’ah, the worldly temptations notwithstanding. If a person fasts with the fear of God in the mind, he becomes pious.