fasting

Dear Brother / Sister,

Fasting means not eating, drinking and not engaging in sexual activity during the time period between the time of fajr sadiq (the second/real fajr; the time of the day when there is light in the horizon before sunrise) and the sunset.  

Oruç, which is the Turkish word for fasting, is borrowed from Persian. The original Persian word is “ruza” Over time, the word has changed to “oruza” and finally to “oruç”. Its Arabic equivalent is sawm and siyam.

Fasting is also called “imsak”. Imsak means keeping the soul/self away from the things it wishes and not doing them. The antonym for imsak is iftar, which means breaking the fast. 

The Religious Decree of Fasting 

Fasting is one of the five pillars of Islam. At the same time, it is one of the great signs of Islam. It was made fard (obligatory) in Madinah, one and a half year after the Hegira (Migration from Makkah to Madinah) and on the 10^th day of the month of Shaban. Its obligation is established by the Book (the Qur'an), the Sunnah (the practice of the Prophet) and by Ijma' (consensus of the ummah/community or the ulama/scholars of Islam). 

In the Qur'an, the following is stated:

“O you who believe! Prescribed for you is the Fast, as it was prescribed for those before you...” (The Qur'an, Al-Baqarah, 2:183) 

for more information please click on the link given below;

The Ibadah (Worship) of Fasting 

Questions on Islam