Muslims have been fasting in Ramadan for more than 1430 years since they were ordered by God Almighty through the Glorious Qur’an:
Oh you who believe! Fasting is decreed for you as it was decreed for those before you, so that you may learn self-restraint
(2:183).
The purpose of the fast is meant to purify oneself from thoughts and deeds that counter Islam.
Allah prescribed fasting on many nations before Muhammad (pbuh) was sent as a prophet.
The Qur’an tells us that when Zakariyah (pbuh) prayed and asked Allah to give him offspring, he was commanded to fast three days by abstaining from talking.
Likewise,Maryam the mother of Esa(pbuh) was also ordered by Allah to fast the same way when she became pregnant.
Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) told us that Daud (pbuh) used to fast every other day.
Ramadan has a number of significant relations to the Muslims in general.
For it was in Ramadan that the Holy Prophet was first informed of his prophethood
The first revelation of the divine book Al Quran came down in the month of the month of Ramadan wherein the Sura ”Iqra’ bismi Rabbikalla thee khalaq” was revealed .
The connection we have with the month of Ramadan other than fasting is the illustrious battle of Badr which was fought in this month. The first formal military confrontation took place between the idol worshipers of Mecca and the Muslims in Medina.
Before Hijra, when fasting was practiced by the Prophet in Makkah, there was no such thing as Ramadan. The only kind of fasting that the Holy Prophet and his Meccan companions performed during that period was the ancient form of fasting that had been enjoined upon all the prophets that had come before him namely, to fast three days in each of the twelve months of the year.
Upon his Hijra to Madinah, the fast of Ramadan was made compulsory on the believers in the second year of the Hijra in the form of the ayah that was initially recited.
