Q35

Why fast? Why so many rules?

The question, at its strongest

"Why would the Creator of galaxies care whether I eat at 2 p.m.? If God needs nothing, my fasting does nothing for Him. If it is for my health, a doctor could prescribe something better. And fasting is only the start: there are rules for washing, eating, praying, dressing, inheriting. Some have obvious purposes; many seem arbitrary. Following rules I can't understand looks like blind obedience."

Why people ask it

Ramadan is the most widely kept practice in the Muslim world, and also where many young Muslims first ask "why?". The question has two halves: why would God care, and why so many rules.

Short answer

God does not need the fast: "O mankind, you are those in need of Allah, while Allah is the Free of need, the Praiseworthy" (35:15). The Prophet (pbuh) said that if a person does not give up false speech and evil actions, "Allah is not in need of his leaving his food and drink" (Bukhārī 1903 Ṣaḥīḥ (sound)). The Quran gives the fast's purpose: "that you may become righteous" (2:183) — taqwā, a constant awareness of God. Fasting is from dawn to sunset, with no food, drink or sexual relations (2:187); the ill and travellers make up the days later, and those who can fast only with great hardship feed a poor person instead (2:184–185). As for rules, al-Shatibi held that the Sharia as a whole serves five purposes — religion, life, intellect, family and wealth. That acts of worship keep their fixed form even where their full reason is not stated is a common framing, but no named source for it was read. Health effects of Ramadan fasting are real but modest and temporary, and they are not its reason.

The full answer

8min read

What the Quran says

The command and its purpose (2:183). "O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous -" (2:183), Medinan. The fast is not new; it was "decreed upon those before you". Its stated purpose is laʿallakum tattaqūn, "that you may become righteous": taqwā, from a root meaning to guard oneself — living aware of God, and guarding against what displeases Him.

Who fasts, and who is excused (2:184–185). "[Fasting for] a limited number of days. So whoever among you is ill or on a journey [during them] - then an equal number of days [are to be made up]. And upon those who are able [to fast, but with hardship] - a ransom [as substitute] of feeding a poor person [each day]" (2:184). Then: "The month of Ramadhan [is that] in which was revealed the Qur'an… So whoever sights [the new moon of] the month, let him fast it; and whoever is ill or on a journey - then an equal number of other days. Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship" (2:185).

What the fast is (2:187). "And eat and drink until the white thread of dawn becomes distinct to you from the black thread [of night]. Then complete the fast until the sunset" (2:187). The same verse permits sexual relations during the nights of Ramadan, so the fast is from food, drink and sexual relations from dawn to sunset.

What the Prophet (pbuh) taught

God does not need it. "Whoever does not give up forged speech and evil actions, Allah is not in need of his leaving his food and drink" (Bukhārī 1903 Ṣaḥīḥ (sound), Abu Hurayra). Hunger alone is not the point.

"Fasting is for Me." In a hadith qudsi (a saying the Prophet (pbuh) attributes to God, in his own words): "All the deeds of Adam's sons (people) are for them, except fasting which is for Me". The same report calls fasting "a shield or protection from the fire and from committing sins", and tells the fasting person, if insulted, to say: "I am fasting" (Bukhārī 1904 Ṣaḥīḥ (sound), Abu Hurayra).

God gains nothing from any worship. In another hadith qudsi: "you will not attain harming Me so as to harm Me, and you will not attain benefiting Me so as to benefit Me"; if every heart were as pious as the most pious, "this would not increase My Kingdom an iota"; "it is but your deeds that I account for you, and then recompense you for" (in the sunnah.com translation of al-Nawawi's Forty, no. 24, which cites Muslim; this is Muslim 2577 Ṣaḥīḥ (sound), where sunnah.com's Muslim translation reads "that would not increase My dominion in anything" and "it is but your deeds that I record for you").

The law: what the four schools hold

The ill and travellers. Make up the days later (2:184–185). Ibn Kathir: "the same number ( should be made up ) from other days."

The very old and chronically ill. The early permission to feed a poor person instead of fasting was, according to Muʿadh and Salama ibn al-Akwaʿ, later replaced by the command of 2:185 ("this abrogated the previous Ayah", Ibn Kathir). But Ibn ʿAbbas held that it "was not abrogated, it is for the old man and the old woman" who can fast only with difficulty (Ibn Kathir). So those who can never fast pay fidya — feeding a poor person for each day — and do not make up (Kutty, IslamOnline).

Pregnant and breastfeeding women. Ibn Kathir: "The same ruling applies for the pregnant and breast-feeding women if they fear for themselves or their children or fetuses." The schools differ on what they owe afterwards (Kutty, IslamOnline):

Hanafi: make up the days only, no fidya.
Shafiʿi and Hanbali: if they did not fast out of fear for the child only, make up and pay fidya for each day; if out of fear for themselves (or both), make up only.
Maliki: not covered in the source read.
A third view, reported from Ibn ʿAbbas and Ibn ʿUmar, treats them like the elderly: fidya only.

How scholars have understood it

The purposes of the Sharia. Al-Shatibi (an Andalusian jurist), in al-Muwāfaqāt, organised the law around "the Five Universals (al-Kulliyyat al-Khams)", each "a fundamental human interest that the Shariah is designed to protect, promote, and balance": religion, life, intellect, lineage and family, and wealth (islam.wiki's explanatory chapter). Many rules can be understood this way: the ban on intoxicants protects the intellect; inheritance rules protect family and wealth.

Reasoned and devotional rules. Jurists commonly distinguish rules whose reasons can be understood and extended (maʿqūl al-maʿnā) from rules accepted as acts of devotion (taʿabbudī) (a standard distinction; no named source for it was read), where the form is fixed even if its full reason is not stated — the number of units in each prayer, for example.

How to tell which is which. A practical rule of thumb (this page's, not a named scholar's): where a text gives a reason (2:183's taqwā; 2:185's "ease"), the rule is reasoned at least in part; where the form of a worship act is fixed without a stated reason (times, numbers, directions), it is devotional. Most acts of worship have both: a stated purpose and a fixed form.

The reasoning

God's care is for us. The Quran and hadith are clear that God gains nothing (35:15; Muslim 2577). If He commands something, it is not because He lacks it. The command is for the worshipper — "that you may become righteous". Like a parent who tells a child to sleep, the instruction serves the one instructed.

What fasting does. It interrupts the most basic habits — eating and drinking — for a month, by choice, for God. A person who can say no to food at noon learns that they can say no to other things. That is what Bukhari 1904's "shield… from committing sins" points to. The fast is also shared: everyone in a community is hungry at the same time, and breaks the fast together.

Following a rule you don't fully understand is not blind. A patient follows a doctor's exact dose without knowing the pharmacology, because they have reasons to trust the doctor. Obedience is blind when it has no reason to trust; it is reasoned when the one commanding has shown wisdom and care elsewhere. For a Muslim, many rules show their purpose openly, and that grounds trust in the ones that don't.

Limit: this works only for someone who already has reason to trust the source. For someone who doubts revelation itself, the question becomes the earlier one ("Why believe Muhammad was a prophet?").

What science says

Weight and body fat. [Moderate] In a 2019 meta-analysis (Fernando et al., Nutrients; 70 publications, 90 comparison groups, 2,947 participants), weight fell by 1.34 kg (95% CI −1.61 to −1.07) by the end of Ramadan, and was still 0.59 kg lower (−0.99 to −0.20) two to five weeks later. Fat mass fell by 0.98 kg. At follow-up the paper is not consistent with itself: its Discussion says fat measures were back to baseline, but its results section (3.2.1) reports a small remaining fall in fat percentage (−0.94%, 95% CI −1.73 to −0.15). The authors describe "Consistent—albeit transient—reductions in weight and fat mass", especially in people with overweight or obesity.

Metabolic markers. [Low-quality evidence] An umbrella review of eleven meta-analyses (Jahrami, Ammar, Glenn, Saif, Chtourou & Trabelsi, Nutrition Reviews, 2024, doi:10.1093/nutrit/nuae001) found small changes after Ramadan fasting, given as standardised mean differences (SMD; about 0.2 is conventionally called "small"): waist circumference −0.30 (95% CI −0.33 to −0.27), body weight −0.34 (−0.39 to −0.29), HDL +0.20 (0.10 to 0.30), LDL −0.10 (−0.13 to −0.07), total cholesterol −0.15 (−0.21 to −0.09), triglycerides −0.16 (−0.24 to −0.08), systolic and diastolic blood pressure −0.20 each, fasting glucose −0.10 (−0.12 to −0.08). The authors warn that "the methodological quality of the included reviews ranged from low to critically low", "necessitating cautious interpretation of conclusions drawn from these data". Non-English studies were excluded (2 Minute Medicine summary).

Risks. No clinical guideline on fasting risks was read. The Quran's exemption for the ill (2:184) covers anyone for whom fasting would cause harm.

Self-mastery and empathy. No study measuring changes in self-control or empathy during Ramadan was read. These are the tradition's claims (Bukhari 1904) and a common experience, not measured findings here.

The strongest objection, and the reply

"If God needs nothing, my fast is pointless." Reply: it is pointless for God; it is not pointless for you. That is the Quran's own claim (2:183; 35:15). Limit: if one doubts that the fast does anything for the soul, the reply rests on experience and trust, not proof.

"If it's for health, a doctor could prescribe something better." Reply: health is not its stated purpose; taqwā is. The health effects are modest and temporary (Fernando et al. 2019). Limit: someone who values only measurable outcomes will not be persuaded by an inner purpose.

"The rules are arbitrary." Reply: many rules serve stated or obvious purposes (al-Shatibi's five universals); others are fixed forms of devotion, which give a shared shape to worship across the world. Limit: the exact reason for some details is not known, and Muslims accept them on trust.

The range of views

Classical jurists — fasting is obligatory for every adult Muslim able to fast; exemptions as in 2:184–185, with the schools' differences on fidya.
Al-Shatibi and the maqāṣid tradition — the law serves five universal interests. (That worship keeps its fixed form is a common framing; no named source for it was read.)
Some modern writers — emphasise health benefits (which the evidence supports only modestly).

Questions readers ask next

Does God need my fasting, or is it purely for me?

God does not need it (35:15; Bukhari 1903). It is for you: "that you may become righteous" (2:183).

How do I tell which rules have clear purposes and which are "pure devotion"?

Where a text states a reason, the rule is at least partly reasoned. Where a worship act has a fixed form without a stated reason (numbers, times), it is devotional.

If a rule has no reason I can see, why is following it not blind obedience?

Because trust can be reasoned: when a source has shown wisdom and care in what you can understand, it is reasonable to follow it in what you cannot.

What does Ramadan fasting involve, and who must do it?

No food, drink or sexual relations from dawn to sunset (2:187), for the month of Ramadan (2:185), for adult Muslims who are able.

What is taqwā?

Awareness of God that guards a person from what displeases Him; the stated purpose of the fast (2:183).

Who is exempt, and what do they do instead?

The ill and travellers make up the days. The very old and chronically ill pay fidya (feeding a poor person each day). Pregnant and breastfeeding women may not fast if they fear harm; the schools differ on whether they make up, pay fidya, or both.

Key verses

يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ۝١٨٣

Transliteration: yāayyuhā alladhīna āmanū kutiba ʿalaykumu l-ṣiyāmu kamā kutiba ʿalā alladhīna min qablikum laʿallakum tattaqūna

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

2:183

Translation: Saheeh International