Ramadan, the month of fasting, is also the month in which the Qur’an was revealed. Allah tells us:
شَهْرُ رَمَضَانَ الَّذِي أُنزِلَ فِيهِ الْقُرْآنُ هُدًى لِلنَّاسِ وَبَيِّنَاتٍ مِنَ الْهُدَى وَالْفُرْقَانِ
“It was in the month of Ramadan
that the Qur’an was sent down,
as a guide for humankind,
with clear signs of guidance and
criteria of right and wrong.” (Al-Baqarah 2:185)
Ramadan is not only the month of the Qur’an’s revelation—it is the month of divine revelation in general. The Prophet ﷺ said:
نَزَلَتْ صُحُفُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ فِي أَوَّلِ لَيْلَةٍ مِنْ شَهْرِ رَمَضَانَ، وَأُنْزِلَتِ التَّوْرَاةُ لِسِتٍّ مَضَيْنَ مِنْ رَمَضَانَ، وَأُنْزِلَ الإِنْجِيلُ لِثَلاثَ عَشْرَةَ مِنْ رَمَضَانَ، وَأُنْزِلَ القُرْآنُ لِأَرْبَعٍ وَعِشْرِينَ خَلَتْ مِنْ رَمَضَانَ. (رواه أحمد)
“The scriptures of Ibrahim were revealed on the first night of Ramadan, the Torah was revealed on the sixth night of Ramadan, the Gospel was revealed on the thirteenth night of Ramadan, and the Qur’an was revealed on the twenty-fourth night of Ramadan.” (Narrated by Ahmad)
In the same verse that speaks of Ramadan as the month of revelation, Allah then commands:
فَمَن شَهِدَ مِنكُمُ ٱلشَّهْرَ فَلْيَصُمْهُ ۖ
“So whoever among you
is present during the month
should fast in it.” (Al-Baqarah 2:185)
Here, Allah establishes a direct correlation between revelation and fasting. It is as if He is saying: Because the Qur’an was revealed in this month, you must fast.
I would now like to take a closer look at that connection. On the surface, the most immediate response that comes to mind is gratitude.
The Prophet described acts of worship as expressions of gratitude, and fasting in particular was something he observed regularly as an act of thanks. When asked about his fasting on Mondays, he responded:
فِيهِ وُلِدْتُ وَفِيهِ أُنْزِلَ عَلَيَّ. (مسلم)
“It is the day on which I was born and the day in which revelation was sent down to me.” (Muslim)
Similarly, we see this pattern of gratitude reflected in the fast of Ashura.
When the Prophet arrived in Madinah and saw that the Jews were fasting on the 10th of Muharram, he inquired about the reason. He was told that they observed the fast in gratitude for the day when Allah saved Moses and his people from Pharaoh. Upon hearing this, the Prophet declared. “We are more entitled to Moses than they are.” So, he fasted that day and encouraged his followers to do the same.
Just as Moses fasted in gratitude for the salvation of his people, we fast in gratitude for our salvation through the Qur’an.
Not only will the Quran be in intercession for those who recite it, as the Prophet said,
الصيامُ والقرآنُ يَشْفَعانِ للعبدِ، يقولُ الصيامُ : أَيْ رَبِّ ! إني مَنَعْتُهُ الطعامَ والشهواتِ بالنهارِ، فشَفِّعْنِي فيه، ويقولُ القرآنُ : مَنَعْتُهُ النومَ بالليلِ، فشَفِّعْنِي فيه ؛ فيَشْفَعَانِ
“Fasting and the Qur’an intercede for the servant. Fasting says: ‘O Lord! I deprived him of food and desires during the day, so allow me to intercede for him.’ And the Qur’an says: ‘I kept him from sleeping at night, so allow me to intercede for him.’ So they are granted intercession.” (Ahmad)
But just as Allah split the Red Sea to grant Moses (peace be upon him) and his people an escape from Pharaoh’s oppression, He has also split through the veils of darkness and ignorance to grant us a path to salvation through the Qur’an’s guidance.
The Red Sea stood as an impassable barrier, yet by Allah’s command, it parted, leading the believers to freedom and drowning their enemy behind them. Likewise, the Qur’an is a divine opening—cleaving through confusion and misguidance, providing clarity and a way out for those trapped in the waves of worldly distractions and spiritual heedlessness.
Just as Moses emerged on the other shore in safety, we, through the Qur’an, are guided toward a shore of spiritual awakening, where our souls find refuge in divine truth.
In gratitude for this miraculous deliverance, Moses fasted on the Day of Ashura, recognizing Allah’s mercy in granting them salvation. Similarly, we fast in Ramadan as an expression of gratitude for one of the greatest of all blessings—the revelation of the Qur’an, which leads us from darkness to light, from bondage to freedom, and from heedlessness to divine presence.
The correlation between fasting and the Quran doesn’t stop there, but goes even deeper.
Both are acts of devotion that work together to purify the heart and elevate the believer. Fasting is not merely abstinence from food and drink—it is a means of softening the heart so that it can truly absorb the light of the Qur’an.
In essence, fasting prepares the heart by freeing it from worldly distractions.
Throughout the year, our hearts are weighed down by indulgence—excessive food, entertainment, social distractions, and sins.
The spiritual masters of our tradition remind us that “the heart cannot be filled with the light of Allah while it is drowning in the desires of the world like excessive eating.”
يُروى عن لقمان الحكيم أنه قال لابنه “يا بُنَيَّ، إذا امتلأتِ المَعِدَةُ نامَتِ الفِكْرَةُ، وخَرَسَتِ الحِكْمَةُ، وقَعَدَتِ الأعضاءُ عنِ العِبادةِ”
Imam al-Ghazali relates in his Ihya that Luqman the Wise advised his son saying, “O my son, when the stomach is full, reflection goes dormant, wisdom is silenced, and the limbs are restrained from worship.”
Fasting removes these distractions and clears the heart’s path toward Allah’s guidance.
Hunger also softens the heart. Our great masters explain that when the stomach is full, the heart becomes hard and lazy in worship.
وقال الفُضَيلُ: (ثَلاثُ خِصالٍ تُقَسِّي القَلبَ: كَثرةُ الأكلِ، وكَثرةُ النَّومِ، وكَثرةُ الكَلامِ)
Al-Fudayl said there are three qualities that harden the heart, excessive eating, sleeping, and talking.
When hunger is felt for the sake of Allah, the heart softens, becoming more receptive to divine wisdom.
Fasting also breaks the ego, allowing for guidance to be welcomed and received.
Badi’al-Zaman in his Wisdoms and Secrets said, that fasting in Ramadan directly shatters the ego’s illusion of lordship, forcing it to recognize its servitude and exposing its helplessness. This act carries profound wisdoms. One of them is that the ego (ego) resists acknowledging its Lord—it craves dominion, inflating itself with a tyrannical arrogance, like that of Pharaoh. Even when it is disciplined or subdued, the root of this imagined self-sufficiency remains. It does not break, nor does it submit, except before the crushing force of hunger.
The fast of Ramadan therefore delivers a decisive blow to the self’s arrogance, breaking its defiance and unveiling its true weakness, dependence, and need.
It teaches the ego what it truly is.
It is said that Allah once asked the ego: “Who am I, and who are you?” The ego replied: “I am me, and You are You.” So, Allah punished it and cast it into Hell, then asked again: “Who am I, and who are you?” Once more, it stubbornly responded: “I am me, and You are You.” No matter how much torment it endured, it would not let go of its ego.
Then, Allah disciplined it with hunger—leaving it to starve. When He asked again: “Who am I, and who are you?” the ego finally surrendered: “You are my Lord, the Most Merciful, and I am Your powerless servant.”
Without taming the ego, we close ourselves off from Allah’s guidance. A heart weighed down by arrogance will continue to feel self-sufficient—like a lost traveler who stubbornly refuses to ask for directions. But fasting is our opportunity to break that illusion, to humble ourselves before our Creator, and to rediscover our need for Him. So let us make the most of our fasts—not just by abstaining from food and drink, but by unlocking its deeper wisdoms—so that by the end of Ramadan, we emerge as better believers, truly deserving of the joy that comes with Eid.
Now that we have uncovered the deep connection between fasting and the Qur’an, what is the first lesson we should seek as we begin our recitation this month? It is not merely something to learn, but something to experience—a spiritual awakening. Before we can truly absorb the guidance of Allah’s words, our hearts must first be shaken from heedlessness. And to access this awakening, we must return to the very first revelation—Surat al-`Alaq, the divine call to awareness.
It was in the darkness of the Cave of Hira, during this blessed month, that the Prophet ﷺ received the words that would transform humanity:
ٱقْرَأْ بِٱسْمِ رَبِّكَ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَ
“Read in the name of your Lord who created.” (Al-`Alaq 96:1)
This command was not merely a call to literacy—it was a call to awakening. The Qur’an did not begin with laws or stories, but with a powerful reminder of who Allah is: the Creator, the One who brought us from nothing, the One who sustains us, and the One to whom we will inevitably return.
After these opening words, Allah immediately warns of arrogance—the very trait that leads to misguidance and sin:
كَلَّا إِنَّ ٱلْإِنسَٰنَ لَيَطْغَىٰ. أَن رَّءَاهُ ٱسْتَغْنَىٰ
“But humans transgress
all bounds,
thinking themselves
self-sufficient.” (Al-`Alaq 96:6-7)
This is the root of ghaflah (heedlessness), the opposite of yaqadha (awakening). It is the illusion of independence—the false belief that we are in control and do not need Allah. But fasting shatters this deception. The hunger of Ramadan teaches us the same lesson that the Qur’an does: we are not self-sufficient. Our strength, our provision, and our very existence are in Allah’s hands. When the ego is tamed by hunger, its arrogance is subdued, making it receptive to divine guidance.
This realization is the foundation of yaqadha—awakening to the fact that we are not in control, that we exist under Allah’s constant watch, and that we are accountable for our actions.
In the same surah, Allah warns of those who reject His guidance:
أَرَءَيْتَ ٱلَّذِى يَنْهَىٰ. عَبْدًا إِذَا صَلَّىٰ
“Do you observe the person
who prevents
Our servant from prayer?” (Al-`Alaq 96:9-10)
Then comes the piercing question:
أَلَمْ يَعْلَم بِأَنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَرَىٰ
“Does he not know
that God observes?” (Al-`Alaq 96:14)
This is the wake-up call of the Qur’an. The first revealed surah does not merely teach us that Allah exists—it forces us to confront the reality that He is always watching. Nothing is hidden from Him. Every thought, every action, every moment is known to Him.
Without this awareness, the heart remains asleep. We move through life heedlessly, absorbed in distractions, feeling distant from our Creator. But the moment we internalize this truth—that Allah sees us—we step into yaqadha.
The next step in yaqadha is realizing that not only does Allah see all that we do, but that we are moving toward a moment of ultimate accountability before Him. He reminds us:
إِنَّ إِلَىٰ رَبِّكَ ٱلرُّجْعَىٰ
“all shall return to your Lord.” (Al-`Alaq 96:8)
This is the reality the ego tries to ignore. It transgresses, believing it is free to do as it pleases. But in truth, we are always moving toward our inevitable return to Allah. No action is hidden, no moment overlooked—every breath, every deed, every thought is recorded, and one day we will stand before Him.
If we do not awaken to this reality and put an end to our heedlessness, our arrogance will be our downfall.
Let this be the Ramadan in which we truly awaken. Let hunger humble us, let the Qur’an guide us, and let our hearts break free from heedlessness so that we may return to Allah as grateful servants.
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