Sawm: Fasting the Month of Ramadhan

Sawm (Fasting the Month of Ramadhan)
The fourth pillar of Islam is fasting. Allah
prescribes daily fasting for all able, adult
Muslims during the whole of the month of
Ramadan, the ninth month of the lunar
calendar, beginning with the sighting of
the new moon.
Exempted from the fast are the very old
and the insane. On the physical side,
fasting is from first light of dawn until
sundown, abstaining from food, drink, and
sexual relations. On the moral, behavioral
side, one must abstain from lying,
malicious gossip, quarreling and trivial
nonsense.
Those who are sick, elderly, or on a
journey, and women who are
menstruating, pregnant, or nursing are
permitted to break the fast, but must
make up an equal number of days later in
the year. If physically unable to do so,
they must feed a needy person for each
day missed. Children begin to fast (and to
observe the prayers) from puberty,
although many start earlier.
Although fasting is beneficial to the
health, it is regarded principally as a
method of self-purification. By cutting
oneself off from worldly pleasures and
comforts, even for a short time, the
fasting person gains true sympathy for
those who go hungry regularly, and
achieves growth in his spiritual life,
learning discipline, self-restraint, patience
and flexibility.
In addition to the fast proper, one is
encouraged to read the entire Qur'an. In
addition, special prayers, called Tarawih,
are held in the mosque every night of the
month, during which a whole section of
the Qur'an (Juz') is recited, so that by the
end of the month the entire Qur'an has
been completed. These are done in
remembrance of the fact that the
revelation of the Qur'an to Prophet
Muhammad (pbuh) was begun during
Ramadan.
During the last ten days - though the
exact day is never known and may not
even be the same every year - occurs the
Night of Power (Laylat al-Qadr). To spend
that night in worship is equivalent to a
thousand months of worship, i.e. Allah's
reward for it is very great.
On the first day of the following month,
after another new moon has been sighted,
a special celebration is made, called 'Id
al-Fitr. A quantity of staple food is
donated to the poor (Zakat al-Fitr),
everyone has bathed and put on their
best, preferably new, clothes, and
communal prayers are held in the early
morning, followed by feasting and visiting
relatives and friends.
There are other fast days throughout the
year. Muslims are encouraged to fast six
days in Shawwal, the month following
Ramadan, Mondays and Thursdays, and
the ninth and tenth, or tenth and eleventh
of Muharram, the first month of the year.
The tenth day, called Ashurah, is also a
fast day for the Jews (Yom Kippur), and
Allah commanded the Muslims to fast two
days to distinguish themselves from the
People of the Book.
While fasting per se is encouraged,
constant fasting, as well as monasticism,
celibacy, and otherwise retreating from
the real world, are condemned in Islam.
Fasting on the two festival days, 'Id al-
Fitr and 'Id al-Adha, the feast of the Hajj,
is strictly forbidden.