The Status of Fasting in Our Religion and Its Obligation

The Islamic religion is built upon five pillars—five foundations.It is: The testimony that there is no deity but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, establishing the prayer, paying the obligatory alms, fasting in Ramadan, and performing the major pilgrimage to the House of Allah the Exalted. Fasting is one of these pillars. Allah Mighty and Majestic made it obligatory in the second year of the Hijrah. Among the facilitations of Allah the Exalted for His servants is that, in the beginning, whoever wished could fast, and whoever wished could feed [the poor]. Then fasting became mandatory, so fasting in Ramadan became an individual obligation. One does not switch from fasting to feeding [the poor] unless a person is unable to fast—Meaning: unable to fast—continuously. In that case, he feeds one poor person for every day.