This page gathers Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-‘Uthaymeen’s teaching on fasting from his explanation of ‘Umdatul-Ahkaam, the Book of Fasting. It follows the order of his book: what fasting is, why it was prescribed, when Ramadan begins and ends, suhoor and the breaking of the fast, what breaks the fast and what does not, the expiation, the excuses of illness and travel, making up missed days, the voluntary fasts, and the last ten nights. The words in the quotations are his book’s words. The words between them are mine, kept plain, and they only carry his teaching in summary.
What Fasting Is
The Shaykh defines fasting at the head of his book, first in the language and then in the legislation:
“As-Siyaam (Fasting) in the language means: Refraining from a thing.”
“In the legislation it means refraining from food, drink, and the rest of the nullifiers; from the appearance of the second Fajr to the setting of the sun, in worship of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic.”
So a fast runs from the second Fajr [the true dawn] to sunset, and what is left in those hours is food, drink, and everything else counted as a nullifier of the fast. It is done in worship of Allah, which is what separates it from simply going hungry.
Why Fasting Was Prescribed
Allah obligated fasting upon His slaves within every religion. The verse that prescribes it also names its purpose:
“O you who believe! Observing As-Sawm (the fasting) is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may become Al-Muttaqûn (pious).” (Surah al-Baqarah 2:183)
This verse is also quoted on What Are the Five Pillars of Islam?, in another book’s printing; here it stands in this book’s printing. The purpose named in it is taqwa [being mindful of Allah and keeping away from what He has prohibited]. The Shaykh’s introduction explains what the fast does in the one who keeps it. It is a magnificent act of worship, he writes, in which the truthfulness of the servant’s love for his Lord is displayed, by what he endures of patience upon the pains of hunger and thirst. In it the lustful urges are curbed, giving what Allah loves precedence over what the soul desires. It trains the souls to have patience and firm strength upon the obedience of Allah. And it reminds the fasting person of what Allah has blessed him with, and of the state of his poor and deprived brothers, so that he sympathizes with them and has compassion for them.
The Obligation of Fasting Ramadan
Fasting was made obligatory upon this nation in the second year after the Hijrah [the Prophet’s ﷺ migration to Madinah]. Because of its difficulty, the Shaykh explains, Allah obligated it in stages: first a choice between fasting and feeding a poor person for every day, while fasting was better; then fasting itself was made obligatory, with a concession for the ill person and the traveler to break the fast and make up a similar amount of other days after the excuse is removed.
The fast of Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam, and its place among them is taught on What Are the Five Pillars of Islam?. This page teaches the fast itself and its rulings.
Beginning and Ending of Ramadan
The month is not approached by fasting ahead of it. The Prophet ﷺ said:
“Do not precede Ramadhaan with fasting by a day or two days; with the exception of a man who used to regularly fast, then let him fast.”
The book gives this narration from al-Bukhari (1815) and Muslim (1082). A man whose regular habit is to fast, such as fasting Mondays, is excepted; what is prohibited is fasting a day or two immediately before Ramadan as a precaution.
Ramadan begins with the sighting of the Hilaal [the crescent moon], and ends the same way. ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I heard Allah’s Messenger ﷺ saying:
“When you see it then fast and when you see it then discontinue the fast and if it is hidden from you then estimate it.”
The book gives this narration from al-Bukhari (1801) and Muslim (1080). The Shaykh explains that the Prophet ﷺ attached the fasting and the breaking of the fast to a clear sign: the sighting of the crescent, or the completion of the previous month as thirty days. So if the crescent is hidden by cloud or fog, Sha’ban is completed as thirty days, and at the month’s end Ramadan itself is completed as thirty days if the crescent of Shawwal is not seen. His first benefit from the hadeeth is that fasting Ramadan becomes obligatory when the sighting of its crescent is affirmed.
Suhoor: The Meal Before Dawn
The Prophet ﷺ commanded the fasting people to eat before dawn. Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Allah’s Messenger ﷺ said:
“Take Sahoor, for indeed within As-Sahoor there is blessing.”
The book gives this narration from al-Bukhari (1823) and Muslim (1095). Suhoor is the food and drink taken in the last part of the night. The Shaykh’s benefits from the hadeeth begin with this: the command to take suhoor is a command of recommendation according to the majority of the scholars, so it is recommended, not obligatory. Its blessing, he explains, is religious and worldly together: religious, because it is adherence to the Prophet’s ﷺ command, and because it opposes the people of the Book, whose fast had no suhoor; and worldly, because it preserves the body’s strength for the day of fasting.
Suhoor is also delayed, not taken early in the night. Zayd ibn Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
“We ate Sahoor along with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ then stood for the prayer.” Anas said: “I said to Zayd: ‘How long was there between the Adhaan and the Sahoor?’ He said: ‘Enough time to recite fifty verses.’”
The book gives this narration from al-Bukhari (1821) and Muslim (1097), and Muslim’s chapter for it names the recommendation to delay the suhoor. The gap between the Prophet’s ﷺ suhoor and the dawn prayer was only the time of reciting fifty verses, so the meal belongs at the very end of the night.
Breaking the Fast
The fast ends at sunset, and it is not stretched past its time. Sahl ibn Sa’d (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Allah’s Messenger ﷺ said:
“The people will continue to be in good as long as they hasten the breaking of the fast.”
The book gives this narration from al-Bukhari (1856) and Muslim (1098). In his explanation of it the Shaykh quotes the end of Allah’s command about the fast’s limits:
“…then complete your Saum (fast) till the nightfall.” (Surah al-Baqarah 2:187)
“And the night enters by way of the setting of the sun.”
His benefits from the hadeeth carry the same point from both sides: hastening the breaking of the fast is a reason for the people to be continuously in good, delaying it is a reason for the removal of good from the people, and in the hastening there is Allah’s love to make things easy upon His servants. ‘Umar ibn Al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“If the night approaches from here and the day departs from here, then that fasting person is to break his fast.”
The book gives this narration from al-Bukhari (1853) and Muslim (1101). When the darkness comes and the day departs, the sun has set, and the fasting person’s day is complete.
What Breaks the Fast, and What Does Not
The definition at the head of this page carries the nullifiers in brief. Eating and drinking deliberately break the fast. Sexual intercourse in the day of Ramadan breaks it and carries more, as the next section shows. Two things a beginner might expect to break the fast do not.
The first is reaching dawn in a state of janabah [the state after marital relations, in which a full bath is required]. ‘Aishah and Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with them) said:
“The Prophet ﷺ would encounter the dawn while he was in the state of sexual impurity from his family, then he would perform Ghusl and fast.”
The book gives this narration from al-Bukhari (1825) and Muslim (1109). The fast is not held back until the bath is done. The bath itself, its manner and rulings, is taught on Purification (Taharah).
The second is eating or drinking out of forgetfulness. Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Prophet ﷺ said:
“He who forgets while fasting and eats or drinks then let him continue his fast, for indeed it is Allah who has fed him and given him drink.”
The book gives this narration from al-Bukhari (1831) and Muslim (1155). Its footnote is plain: the one who eats or drinks forgetfully continues his fast and there is nothing due upon him; his fast is sound, whether obligatory or optional. These matters only invalidate the fast when they are done deliberately.
Intercourse in the Day of Ramadan, and Its Expiation
The gravest nullifier in the book is intercourse during the day in Ramadan, answered with an expiation [kaffarah] in a fixed order, on top of making up the day. Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
One a day we were sitting with the Prophet ﷺ when a man came to him and said: “O Messenger of Allah, I have been destroyed.” He ﷺ said: “What has destroyed you?” He said: “I had intercourse with my wife while I was fasting (and in another narration he said: I had intercourse with my family during Ramadhaan).”
So the Prophet ﷺ said: “Are you able to free a slave?” He said: “No.” He said: “Are you able to fast two consecutive months?” He said: “No.” He said: “Are you able to feed sixty poor people?” He said: “No.”
The book gives this narration from al-Bukhari (1936) and Muslim (1111). The Shaykh names its subject plainly: the ruling of the fasting person having intercourse during the daytime in Ramadan. The expiation is a sequence, and no step is taken before the one before it: freeing a slave; if he is not able, fasting two consecutive months; if he is not able, feeding sixty poor people. The man was able to do none of the three, and the Prophet ﷺ did not scold him, because he had come repentant. The day itself is also made up, in addition to the expiation.
Those Excused from Fasting
The concession in the stages of the obligation covers the ill person and the traveler: each breaks the fast and makes up a similar amount of other days after the excuse is removed. The book gives the traveler his own chapter, opening with the question it exists to clarify: whether it is better to fast while traveling or to break the fast. Traveling itself, the Shaykh explains, is known by the custom of the people; no specific distance or time has been narrated for it.
Hamzah ibn ‘Amr Al-Aslamee (may Allah be pleased with him), a man who fasted a lot, asked the Prophet ﷺ: “Am I to fast while traveling?”
“If you wish then fast or if you wish then break your fast.”
The book gives this narration from al-Bukhari (1841) and Muslim (1121). So the traveler has the choice: the fast he keeps on a journey is valid, and the fast he leaves is made up after it.
Women have their own excuses in fasting, worked in full on their own pages. A woman does not fast while she is menstruating or in postnatal bleeding, and she makes up the missed days afterwards; a pregnant or breastfeeding woman who fears harm for herself or her child breaks the fast and makes up the days, with the feeding question that belongs to her case. Those rulings, with their evidences, are on Pregnancy and Breastfeeding, and the menstruation narrations behind them are on Menstruation (Hayd). This page does not repeat them.
Making Up Missed Fasts
Missed days of Ramadan stay upon a person until they are made up, and the time for making them up is wide. ‘Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said:
“There was due upon me fast from Ramadhaan and I was not able to make it up except during Sha’baan.”
The book gives this narration from al-Bukhari (1841) and Muslim (1146). Its footnote draws the two sides of the ruling together: the time frame for making up is wide, established from ‘Aishah, who could not make up what was upon her until the Sha’ban before the next Ramadan because she was busy with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ; and Ibn Hajr said her action points to hastening to make up the fast where nothing prevents it, and that it is not proper for the one with no excuse to delay it.
And if a person dies while fasts are still due upon him, they do not simply fall away. ‘Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said that the Prophet ﷺ said:
“He who dies while there is upon him fast, then his representative is to fast on his behalf.”
The book gives this narration from al-Bukhari (1851) and Muslim (1147). Abu Dawud, who also reported it, understood it as relating to a vowed fast; the book records his words and questions them in its footnote.
Voluntary Fasting
Beyond Ramadan, the book’s chapter The Best Fast and Other Than It legislates the voluntary fasts. It begins with a man who wanted to fast every day. ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr ibn Al-‘Aas (may Allah be pleased with him) had said he would fast during the day and stand at night in prayer as long as he lived. The Prophet ﷺ told him he would not be able to do that, and directed him instead: fast three days out of a month, for the good deed is worth ten times its like, and that is similar to fasting an entire year; then fast one day and do not fast for two days; then the most a person is directed to:
“There is no fast better than the fast of my brother Daawud who would fast for half the year; fasting one day and breaking his fast the next day.”
The book gives this narration from al-Bukhari (2236) and Muslim (1159). The fast of Dawud, a day fasted and a day left, is the best of the voluntary fasts, and there is no fasting beyond it; perpetual fasting is not the goal.
The standing monthly fast is three days. Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
“My friend advised me with three: (1.) to fast three days every month, (2.) to pray two Raka’aat of Duhaa (forenoon) prayer, and (3.) that I pray the Witr prayer before I sleep.”
This is the book’s Hadeeth 194; its explanation confirms the first of the three, fasting three days from every lunar month, is the one that belongs to this chapter.
Two limits close the chapter. Friday is not to be singled out for fasting: Jabir ibn ‘Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) was asked whether the Prophet ﷺ had prohibited fasting on the day of Jumu’ah [Friday], and he said yes, and in Muslim’s version he swore to it by the Lord of the Ka’bah. The Shaykh’s benefits state the ruling as the majority of the scholars hold it: singling out Friday for fasting is prohibited with a prohibition of dislike, and Friday is a weekly ‘Eid [festival]. And the two ‘Eids themselves are days of eating, not fasting. Abu ‘Ubayd, the freed slave of Ibn Azhar, said: “I witnessed the ‘Eid along with ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattaab, may Allah be pleased with him, and he said:
“These are two days whereupon Allah’s Messenger ﷺ has prohibited fasting, they are the day wherein you break your fast, and the other day (is that) upon which you eat from your slaughter.”
This is the book’s Hadeeth 197: Eid al-Fitr, the day the fast is broken, and Eid al-Adha, the day of eating from the sacrifice. Fasting either of them is prohibited.
The Last Ten Nights: Laylatul-Qadr and I’tikaf
The book closes with two chapters on the end of Ramadan. The first is Laylatul-Qadr [the Night of Decree], and its opening settles where the night falls: the Shaykh writes that the night of Al-Qadr is within Ramadan without a doubt, since Allah said He sent the Qur’an down in that night, and that Ramadan is the month in which the Qur’an was revealed. ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
“Some men from amongst the companions of the Prophet ﷺ were shown Laylatul-Qadar within a dream as being within the last seven nights. So the Prophet ﷺ said: ‘I see that your dreams all agree that it is within the last seven nights, so he who seeks it, then let him seek it within the last seven nights.’”
The book gives this narration from al-Bukhari (1111) and Muslim (1165). The night itself, its greatness and its signs, is taught from its surah on Surah Al-Qadr; what belongs to this page is how it is sought: in the last nights of Ramadan, with worship.
The seeking took a form in the Prophet’s ﷺ own practice. Abu Sa’eed Al-Khudree (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet ﷺ performed i’tikaf [staying in the mosque, devoted to worship] in the middle ten days of Ramadan one year, then directed those with him to stay for the last ten days, because he had been informed of the date of Laylatul-Qadr and then caused to forget it. And ‘Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said:
“That Allah’s Messenger ﷺ would perform I’tikaaf within the last ten nights of Ramadhaan until Allah caused him to die, then his wives perform I’tikaaf after him.”
The book gives this narration from al-Bukhari (1922) and Muslim (1172). I’tikaf in the last ten nights, while fasting, was his ﷺ constant practice until he died, and his wives kept it after him.
And Allah knows best.
References
Arousing the Intellects with an Explanation of ‘Umdatul-Ahkaam: The Book of Zakah and Fasting: matn by Imam Taqiyy-ud-Deen ‘Abdul-Ghani ibn ‘Abdul-Wahid al-Maqdisee; explanation by Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-‘Uthaymeen; Maktabatulirshad Publications, First Edition, Sha’ban 1434 / June 2013, ISBN 978-1-4675-7948-3, the Book of Fasting translated by Raha Batts (printed pp. 84, 85, 86, 91, 93, 95, 98, 100, 106, 112, 116, 117, 118, 122, 125, 127, 150, 153, 163, 165, 166, 176, 177, 191, 192, 195, 197, 202, 214, 216, 224, 233).
The Qur’an verses and the hadeeth are quoted in the printings of the book named beside them. Where the book prints the name of Allah with a longer spelling, this site prints “Allah”, in the quotations as in its own words.
Further Reading
- Zakah (Obligatory Charity): the pillar of obligatory charity, including Zakat al-Fitr at Ramadan’s end
- Hajj and Umrah: the pilgrimage, the last of the five pillars
Verified on 2026-10-25 against the books listed above.