The Virtues of Fasting in Ramadan

A look at fasting in ramadan in Islamic teaching, drawn from the Quran and authentic hadith.

Of the four pillars of Islam performed as physical acts of worship, fasting occupies a place scholars describe as uniquely private. A person can be observed praying, giving charity, or performing Hajj, but only the individual and Allah know for certain whether a fast has genuinely been kept, which is part of why the reward attached to it in Islamic teaching is described differently from every other act of worship.

Fasting in Ramadan: “It Is for Me, and I Will Reward It”

A hadith recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, in the category known as hadith qudsi, has Allah stating directly that every deed of the son of Adam is for himself, except fasting – that is for Me, and I will reward it. Classical scholars have offered various explanations for this distinction, with several pointing precisely to the concealed nature of fasting explained above: because no one else can verify it, the reward for it is described as uniquely unmeasured, unlike deeds that carry a known, calculable multiplier.

Purpose Stated Directly in the Quran

Surah al-Baqarah states the purpose of fasting without ambiguity: “O you who believe, fasting has been prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may attain taqwa” (2:183) – God-consciousness, positioning the discipline of abstaining from food, drink, and marital relations from dawn to sunset as a means toward a specific inward state, rather than an end valued for the hardship itself.

Two Moments of Joy

A hadith recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim describes the fasting person as having two moments of joy: one at the breaking of the fast each evening, and one at meeting their Lord, when they will rejoice over their fasting – a pairing scholars read as connecting an ordinary daily pleasure, the simple relief of iftar, with the ultimate reward awaiting the same act in the hereafter.

The Gates of Heaven and the Smell of Fasting

Several hadith describe cosmic responses specifically tied to the month of Ramadan and to fasting: a hadith recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim describes the gates of Paradise being opened and the gates of Hell being closed when Ramadan begins, with devils chained during the month. A separate hadith records the Prophet ﷺ describing the breath of a fasting person as more pleasing to Allah on the Day of Judgment than the fragrance of musk – language scholars point to as evidence that the physical discomfort of fasting is treated in Islamic teaching as spiritually valuable precisely because it is undertaken purely for Allah’s sake.

A Specific Gate Reserved for Those Who Fasted

A hadith recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim describes a gate of Paradise called ar-Rayyan, reserved exclusively for those who fasted, through which no one else will enter; once the fasting people who are meant to enter have passed through it, the gate is closed. Scholars cite this hadith as one of the clearest illustrations in the hadith literature of how fasting is treated not merely as one obligation among several equal ones, but as carrying its own distinct and separately guarded reward in the hereafter.

Fasting as a Shield

A hadith recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim describes the Prophet ﷺ teaching that fasting is a shield, junnah, and instructs that a fasting person who is insulted or provoked to fight should respond only by saying, “I am fasting,” rather than returning the provocation. Scholars read this description of fasting as a shield in two directions at once: protection from sin, since the discipline of the fast is meant to extend into restraint over the tongue and temper as well as the appetite, and protection from the Fire in the hereafter, a connection drawn from a separate hadith recorded by Imam Ahmad describing fasting as interposing itself between a person and the Fire the way a physical shield deflects a blow in battle. Classical commentators point to the instruction to simply state “I am fasting” rather than retaliate as evidence that the Prophet ﷺ treated the discipline of the fast as incomplete if it touched only food and drink while leaving a person’s speech and conduct toward others unchanged for the day, a theme reinforced by a further hadith warning that whoever does not give up false speech and acting upon it, Allah has no need of him giving up his food and drink.

Seen in this light, fasting in Ramadan is treated less as an isolated rule and more as part of a coherent whole.

A related area of Islamic teaching is covered in our piece on Laylat al-Qadr: The Night of Decree. The verses and hadith cited above can be cross-referenced in full at Sunnah.com.