Al-Baqarah · Madani · ayah 183 of 286

Al-Baqarah 2:183

يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ

“O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous -”

Saheeh International

Essence

Fasting is prescribed for the believers as for every people before them, and its goal is not hunger but taqwa: a guarded, awake heart.

A reflection

The point is taqwa, not hunger

A colleague on a strict eating plan, sixteen hours without food each day, asks his Muslim colleague whether Ramadan is basically the same thing. She thinks about it over lunch, which she is not eating. 'Your fast is for your body,' she says eventually. 'Mine is for my Lord, and then for who I become.'

The ayah ends with the purpose: 'so that you may attain taqwa'. Not 'so that you may be hungry', or healthier, or more disciplined, though fasting may do those things. The goal is a state of the heart.

The commentators describe how fasting builds it. A concise commentary says it breaks desire, which is where wrongdoing begins. A classical theologian adds that most human striving serves two appetites, the belly and the body. When these are tamed, the world's pleasures and its status lose their grip, and a person is protected from much harm.

The Prophet ﷺ made the point sharply. Sahih al-Bukhari reports his words. Whoever does not give up false speech and acting on it, Allah has no need of his giving up food and drink. A classical scholar describes the true faster. His limbs fast from sin, his tongue from lies and obscenity, his stomach from food. Sitting with him is like sitting with someone who carries musk.

Allah needs none of our hunger. He is free of all need (35:15). The fast is for the faster. Many people today fast for their bodies and find it changes their minds. The Quran offers a fast that reaches the soul, and returns you to Him. 'In the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest' (13:28).

The full entry has 6 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.