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Sawm
Sawm is fasting the month of Ramadan: from the break of dawn until sunset, abstaining from food, drink and marital relations, with the intention of worshipping Allah. Allah prescribed it, as He prescribed it for those before us, so that we may attain taqwa.
It is required of every Muslim who has reached puberty, is of sound mind and is able to fast. Someone who is ill or travelling may break the fast and make up the days later; a woman during menstruation or post-natal bleeding does not fast and makes the days up afterwards; and one who can never fast, such as the very elderly, feeds a poor person for each day instead.
The fast is more than an empty stomach. The Prophet ﷺ said that whoever does not give up false speech and acting upon it, Allah has no need of his leaving his food and drink, and he called fasting a shield. In a hadith qudsi Allah says that fasting is for Him and He Himself will reward it.
Whoever fasts Ramadan out of faith and hoping for Allah's reward has his past sins forgiven, the Prophet ﷺ said, and when Ramadan comes the gates of Paradise are opened, the gates of the Fire are closed and the devils are chained.
The four schools differ on some details. Show them
Each school's ruling, with the schools that share it named together.
Must the intention to fast Ramadan be made for each day, or does one intention cover the month?
2 of 4 schools agree. Differing: Hanafi, Maliki.
Show each school
- Each day, by night or before middayHanafi
- Once for the whole monthMaliki
- Each night, before dawnShafi'i · Hanbali
- Hanafi
- Each day needs its own intention, which may be made at night or during the day up to before the midpoint of the day counted from dawn, so long as nothing breaking the fast has happened.
- Maliki
- Ramadan's days form one continuous act of worship, so a single intention made on the first night suffices, unless the sequence is broken, for example by illness or travel.
- Shafi'i
- Each day is a separate act of worship, and the hadith "whoever does not intend the fast before dawn has no fast" requires the intention to be made at night.
- Hanbali
- The relied-upon position agrees with the Shafi'is; a narration from Imam Ahmad, like the Malikis, allows one intention for the month.
- Qur'an 2:183
- Qur'an 2:184
- Qur'an 2:185
- Qur'an 2:187
- Sahih al-Bukhari 38 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih al-Bukhari 1899 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih al-Bukhari 1903 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih al-Bukhari 1904 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sunan Abi Dawud 2454 Graded by Al-Albani: Sahih · Muhammad Muhyi Al-Din Abdul Hamid: Sahih · Zubair Ali Zai: DaifSahih
What the hadith grades mean
- Sahih (authentic): an unbroken chain of trustworthy, precise narrators, free of hidden flaws or contradiction. It is acted upon.
- Hasan (good): like sahih, but a narrator's precision is slightly lighter. It is also accepted and acted upon. "Hasan sahih" means it reaches sahih by its routes.
- Da'if (weak): a break in the chain or a narrator who is not reliable enough. It is not used to establish beliefs or rulings.
- Very weak (munkar, matruk): a seriously flawed chain or a narrator accused of lying. It is not relied on at all.
- Mawdu' (fabricated): falsely attributed to the Prophet ﷺ. It may not be narrated as his words except to warn against it.
- The two Sahihs: every hadith with a full chain in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim is accepted as sahih by the scholars of hadith.
- Historical report: biographies and histories (Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabari) record events with chains that are often incomplete. They are used for the story, not for rulings.
- Hadith scholars grade a narration; the four madhhabs do not. Where a hadith carries a ruling, the page shows which schools act on it.
The positions of the four schools are summarised from their standard references and are pending review by a qualified scholar. Follow the school you were taught, and for your own situation, ask a scholar.
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