Now the rulings regarding Ramadan begin.

( شَهْرُ…) (The month …): The Arabic word is derived from ishhār (publicity), which is the announcement. The month is connected with the moon, and day is connected with the sun. therefore, months are announced when we see the moon in the crescent shape, and all acts of worship (zakat, fasting, and hajj) are connected with months.

(… رَمَضَانَ…  ) (..Ramadhan…): is derived from ramdā’, which is the extreme heat, or that when the divine command revealed to fast Ramadan, Ramadan was in the month of the extreme heat.

(… الَّذِي أُنزِلَ فِيهِ الْقُرْآنُ…  ) (..in which was revealed the Qur’an…): the value of the month of Ramadan is that it was the time frame for receiving the Holy Qur’an. Returning to the Hadith in which the Prophet (saws) prepared Muslims to receive Ramadan, he (saws) said:

“O people, you have a great month approaching, a blessed month, a month with a night that is better than a thousand months”.

A great blessed month, that has a night which is better than thousands of months. In this blessed night the Holy Qur’an came down, which is the Night of Al-Qadr. The revelation of the Qur’an was during the month of Ramadan, meaning that the time for receiving the divine bestowments was during Ramadan, so that Ramadan was made the time of fasting. If the Holy Qur’an had revealed in Rajab, it would have been “decreed upon you is fasting in Rajab”. Therefore, the value of Ramadan comes from that revelation of the Qur’an is in it, but fasting and Ramadan was a tribute to the descent of the Qur’an. Hence, whoever fasts, but does not read the Qur’an, nor act according to its instruction, then, he gets nothing of his fast except hunger and thirst as our Prophet (saws) said. Thus, the hadith in which the Prophet (saws) prepared Muslims to receive Ramadan with, “a month with a night that is better than a thousand months”; this night is the night of the Divine manifestation for the descent of the Qur’an, so groups of angels were descended,

{ تَنَزَّلُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ وَالرُّوحُ فِيهَا بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهِم مِّن كُلِّ أَمْرٍ}

The angels and the Spirit descend therein by permission of their Lord for every matter. (Al-Qadr: 4)

These are the verses concerning the obligation of fasting in the month of Ramadan, the month of mercy, good deeds and blessings. It is the month, in which the prayers are answered, the month of patience, of forgiveness, and the month in which the Qur’an was revealed on the heart of our master Mohammed. There is no doubt that the obligation of fasting leads people to refrain from food and drink, and to leave the lust of the belly and vulva. Therefore, it needs patience, and the month of Ramadan is the month of patience. It is also the month of victories as well, in which the first battle took place between the truth and falsehood; the Battle of Badr. In this battle, the great victory was for Islam and Muslims, and in this month the Muslims conquered Mecca.

When Allah (swt) imposes tasks upon us, He does that to give us and not to deprive us. Thus, at the end of the verses of fasting, Allah (swt) shows that He intends for us easiness, and does not intend for us hardship. If you find difficulties in a matter of religion, then know that it is the discretion of humans, and not a revelation from the Lord of humans, as Prophet Muhammad (saws) was sent to us as a guide, a bringer of good tidings and a warner, and not as a bringer of hardship.

{لَا يُكَلِّفُ اللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا}

Allah does not charge a soul except [with that within] its capacity. (Al-Baqarah: 286).

Allah (swt) does not charge except within the ability, so no one says, “I cannot perform this obligatory duty”. Allah (swt) has charged man what is within his ability and power, and He is the most Knowledgeable about him, otherwise if man has no ability to bear fasting, He would not charge him to do it, the patient and traveler are, of course, excluded from these rulings:

(… وَمَن كَانَ مَرِيضًا أَوْ عَلَىٰ سَفَرٍ فَعِدَّةٌ مِّنْ أَيَّامٍ أُخَرَ ۗ…  ) (..whoever is ill or on a journey – then an equal number of other days..): This verse which talks about the month of Ramadan ends with:

( وَلِتُكَبِّرُوا اللَّهَ عَلَىٰ مَا هَدَاكُمْ وَلَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ…) (to glorify Allah for that [to] which He has guided you; and perhaps you will be grateful …): Because at the end of the month of fasting, or at the end of each day of fasting in Ramadan, you feel the pleasure of the gift. It is true that you have been prohibited, but you are given. With the prohibition, there are grants and bestowal. You could feel these manifestations, you feel yourself close to Allah (swt), so the Prophet (saws) used to say:

“There are three whose supplication is not rejected: The fasting person when he breaks his fast, the just leader, and the supplication of the oppressed person; Allah raises it up above the clouds and opens the gates of heaven to it. And the Lord says: ‘By My might, I shall surely aid you, even if it should be after a while.’”^[1]

As such, this closeness, these manifestations, and these mercies, of course, relate to the revelation of the Qur’an, which is the mercy for all humankind:

{وَنُنَزِّلُ مِنَ الْقُرْآنِ مَا هُوَ شِفَاءٌ وَرَحْمَةٌ لِّلْمُؤْمِنِينَ}

And We send down of the Qur’an that which is healing and mercy for the believers. (Al-Israa: 82)

In the Qur’an, there is a cure of diseases of the soul. It heals with its values and teachings. It is a mercy, because it leads people to the path of guidance and to the straight path, as well as, to the happiness of this world and the Hereafter. The meditator in the holy Qur’an finds that the verses of the rulings of fasting starts by one verse, and is cut by one verse.

Then Allah (swt) proceeds talking about fasting saying:

{أُحِلَّ لَكُمْ لَيْلَةَ الصِّيَامِ الرَّفَثُ إِلَىٰ نِسَائِكُمْ}

It has been made permissible for you the night preceding fasting to go to your wives [for sexual relations]. (Al-Baqarah: 187)

However, Allah (swt) cut between the imposition of fasting and between the rulings of fasting by one verse. This verse has a great meaning, and is about getting close to Allah (swt) and feeling the sweetness of the hardship in oppose to His (swt) pleasure.

[1] Sunan Al-Tirmithi, Chapters on the description of Paradise, Hadith No. 2526.