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Sawm

Fasting in Ramadan · the fourth pillar of Islam
Pillar 4 of IslamFasting as it was decreed on those before

Sawm is the fast of Ramadan, from first light to sunset. The Quran says fasting was “decreed upon those before you”. The Hebrew Bible and the Gospels show fasting as a long-standing act of worship, kept alone and by whole communities.

What it is in Islam

The Quran says in the verse that decrees the fast that it was decreed on earlier communities too.

Quran 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 -”
Quran 2:185
“The month of Ramadhan [is that] in which was revealed the Qur’an, a guidance for the people and clear proofs of guidance and criterion. So whoever sights [the new moon of] the month, let him fast it;”
Quran 19:26
“So eat and drink and be contented.”
Said to Mary in the Quran; the verse goes on to a vow of silence, a fast of speech.
Sahih al-Bukhari 1904Sahih (Bukhari)
“Allah said, ‘All the deeds of Adam’s sons (people) are for them, except fasting which is for Me, and I will give the reward for it.’”
Narrated by Abu Huraira. English as shown on sunnah.com.
In the earlier scriptures

Passages are the King James Version unless marked otherwise. Each carries a tag: a close parallel, a shared principle, or an interpretation (Muslim or traditional), which is a reading we offer as a reading and not as a proven fact.

Hebrew Bible and Torah
Leviticus 16:29–31Traditional reading
“in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you:”
The Day of Atonement. The verse says “afflict your souls”. Jewish tradition reads this as fasting.
Interpretation: the verse itself does not use the word “fast”. It is read that way because Isaiah 58:3 joins “fasted” and “afflicted our soul” and Psalm 35:13 says “humbled my soul with fasting” (both below).
Samaritan Pentateuch, Leviticus 16:29Samaritan text
“In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and shall do no manner of work, either the native or the stranger that sojourns among you”
Translation by Florentin and Tal (Open Book Publishers, 2024). The translation writes the divine name as “Shema”, the Samaritan way of saying “the Name”.
The Samaritan Torah has the same command, and the same wording “afflict your souls”.
Isaiah 58:3Close parallel
“Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge?”
Fasting and afflicting the soul are named together.
Psalm 35:13Close parallel
“But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into mine own bosom.”
“I humbled my soul with fasting.”
Exodus 34:28Shared principle
“And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water.”
Moses on the mountain with no food and no water. This is an extraordinary fast, not the ordinary fast of the community.
Jonah 3:5–8Close parallel
“So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.”
A whole people fasts together in repentance.
New Testament
Matthew 4:2Shared principle
“And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.”
Jesus fasts forty days and nights.
Matthew 6:16–18Close parallel
“Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: … But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.”
Jesus says “when ye fast”, which treats fasting as an expected practice. The reward is with the Father who sees in secret. The hadith above says the same of the fast: “for Me, and I will give the reward for it”.
Where this page stands: fasting itself is plain in the Hebrew Bible and the Gospels. The Islamic fast has its own form (from dawn to sunset, in Ramadan), and the forms of earlier fasts, including a day-long fast and a forty-day fast, differ from it. We show the shared practice and do not claim the forms are the same.
Sources

Quran (Sahih International, via api.alquran.cloud; links go to quran.com)

Hadith (English from sunnah.com)

Hebrew Bible and New Testament (King James Version, text via bible-api.com; links go to BibleGateway)

Samaritan Pentateuch

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