The Short Answer
This is a good question that too few of us ask.
The verse (ayah) of the Quran you are asking about occurs in Surat Al-Baqarah, 2:183. God revealed it in the second year (2 H) in the month of Sha‘ban, after the Prophet Muhammad, on him be peace, and the Muslims made their famous hijrah-migration in the Hijaz region of the western Arabian Peninsula. They emigrated from Makkah north about 213 miles to the oasis of Yathrib, which became Madinah, City of the Prophet, on him be peace. This took place after the Prophet, on him be peace, spent 13 arduous years inviting his people of the Quraysh tribe to Islam in the face of increasing persecution and death.
We may interpret the verse in English as follows:
O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed for you, as it has been prescribed for those who have believed before you, so that you may be ever God-fearing.”
In its most basic meaning, it commands Muslims to not eat or drink anything, or engage in sexual intercourse, each day of the entire month of Ramadan (the 9th month of the 12-month Islamic lunar year) from dawn (about 70 minutes before sunrise at the equator and increasing in time length toward the polar regions) until after sunset (meaning when the sun’s trailing edge disappears below the horizon) – and to do so with the intent to comply with God’s commandment to them in this verse.
A More Detailed Answer
Islam’s rites of worship, called ‘ibadah, encompass almost fathomless depths of description, understanding, practice, and impact on their practitioners. Fasting may be the deepest of these rites in its meaning and outcomes.
But let’s ask one of the great Quran commentators about what this verse means, “the Cordoban” Quran scholar, known by this Arabicized eponym, Al-Qurtubi.
Who is Al-Qurtubi, the Quran Commentator?
Muhammad ibn Ahmad Al Ansari Al-Qurtubi (d. 671 H / 1273 CE) is an Andalusian Muslim polymath who wrote one of the great Quran commentaries of all time, Al-Jami‘ li Ahkam Al-Quran (The Compendium of the Quran’s Juristic Rulings). It focuses on the legal (fiqh) understandings of the Quran’s verses as they pertain to their varied discourses among the scholars of law, but it also masterfully presents and explains issues of language, copious, authentic supporting prophetic traditions, and verse meanings.
What does Al-Qurtubi say about fasting in this verse?
Al-Qurtubi tells us:
“After God states in the preceding verses that He has imposed the religious duties of retribution (qasas) and bequest (wasiyyah) upon his legally and morally responsible servants (al-mukallafin, s. mukallaf), God adds that he has also obliged us with ‘sawm,’ or fasting.
“There is no dispute among jurists or Muslims in general that fasting is legally incumbent upon eligible Muslims. The Prophet, God’s prayers of blessings upon him and peace, said:
‘Islam stands upon Five [Pillars]:
Testifying that there is no God but God and that Muhammad is His Messenger
Establishing the obligatory daily Salah-Prayers
Paying Zakat
Fasting Ramadan, and
Performing the Hajj-Pilgrimage’ (Bukhari)”
What does the Arabic word for fasting mean?
Al-Qurtubi tells us:
“Lexically, the Arabic word ‘sawm’ means ‘abstention.’ It indicates, as well, leaving aside any transition from one state to another (that is, remaining in one state [in the sense of condition]).
“The Arabic term ‘sawm’ is also used to denote silence (sumt), as in the speech of God reported in the Quran from Mary, on her be peace, mother of Jesus, on him be peace:
‘Indeed, I have vowed a fast (‘sawm’) to the All-Merciful. Thus, I shall not speak today to any human being.’ (Surat Maryam, 19:26).”
What does fasting mean in Islamic Law?
Al-Qurtubi says:
“Legally, sawm obligates abstention from food, drink, and sexual intercourse from dawn to sundown every day of Ramadan for the sake of obtaining the good pleasure of God. One perfects one’s fast when one abstains from these prohibitions and shuns all other prohibited acts and objects, as well.
“The Prophet, God’s prayers of blessings upon him and peace, said:
‘God will not consider valid the fasting of a person who will not forsake uttering or acting upon falsehood.’ (Bukhari and Tirmidhi)”
What is the spiritual virtue of fasting?
Al-Qurtubi says:
“Many authentic hadiths (prophetic statements) establish the merit of fasting, along with the divine declaration of fasting in God’s Book. Chief among these merits is that God has mentioned fasting in connection with His Own Self when He said in a Divine Pronouncement (Hadith Qudsi):
All of the devotional works of the son of Adam are exclusively his, except for fasting, which is for Me, and I will reward those who observe it. (Bukhari)
“God has singled out fasting [from all His rites of worship], and He alone knows best the reason for this.
“There are in fasting two features that set it apart from all other rites of worship (‘ibadat).
Unlike all other types of worship, fasting deprives one of the capacity to indulge oneself in one’s cravings and appetites.
Fasting is an intimate matter between the servant and his Lord. That is, only God knows whether a person is genuinely in a state of fasting or not. People may believe one is fasting while in secret one is eating and drinking [or engaging in sexual intercourse].”
Do all Muslim scholars agree about fasting before Islam?
Al-Qurtubi says:
“Other scholars disagree. They say that the knowledge that God imposed fasting on nations before Islam does not necessarily mean that these nations practiced the obligatory ritual of fasting in the same manner and timeframe that defined the Muslim observance of fasting.
Christians, for instance, were commanded in the beginning to fast from food, drink, and sexual intercourse from dawn to sunset. If, however, one of them was asleep at sunset, the time for fast breaking, it was prohibited for him to break his fast if he awoke after the determined time for sunset lapsed when night had set in. Nor could he break his fast at any time until the sunset of the next day.
Does fasting implant God-consciousness in our hearts?
Al-Qurtubi says:
“As to the statement of God at the conclusion of the [fasting] verse – ‘so that you may be ever God-fearing’ – the scholars say this:
In this phrase, God uses the Arabic term la‘alla (‘so that…may’) [meaning so that you Muslims who fast ‘may’…] to forewarn us that not everyone who meets the outward requirements of ritual sawm, fasting, is certain to reap its spiritual fruit – becoming ‘ever God-fearing’ (that is, internalizing taqwa). Rather, God will accord taqwa – the ultimate prize of sawm – only to those who perform a genuine fast.