O you who believe! fasting is prescribed for you, as it was prescribed for those before you ,so that you may guard (against evil). - The Cow - Verse 183.
There are two essential things that must be met for fasting to be valid:
1. To refrain from anything that invalidates fasting, from the break of dawn till sunset. God says in the Qur’an: “Eat and drink until you can see the white streak of dawn against the blackness of the night. Then resume the fast till nightfall.” (2: 187)
2. Clear intention to fast. God says in the Qur’an: “They have been ordered only to worship God making their submission pure to Him alone.” (98: 5) The Prophet says: “Actions are but by intention, and every person shall have but that which he intends.” It is necessary to have the intention to fast before dawn on each night of the month of Ramadan. Hafsah, a wife of the Prophet, quotes him as saying: “He who has not made up his mind to fast before dawn invalidates his fasting.” (Related by Ahmad and others). It is proper to have the intention to fast at any time during the night. There is no need to utter that intention verbally, because intention is a mental decision.
The Prophet s.a.w said, "Ramadan, a blessed month, has come to you during which Allah has made it obligatory for you to fast. In it the gates of Heaven are opened, the gates of al-Jahim are locked, and the rebellious devils are chained. In it Allah has a night which is better than a thousand months. He who is deprived of its good has indeed suffered deprivation." ( Narrated Abu Hurayrah: Tirmidhi, Number 1962 )
Numerous are the traditions of the Prophet s.a.w which explain the great value of fasting as a form of worship.
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Abu Hurayrah quotes the Prophet as saying: “God says: ‘Every action a human being does belongs to him except fasting, which is done for My sake, and I reward it accordingly.’
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Fasting is a protective shield (against sin). When any of you fasts, he should refrain from obscenity, shouting loud and every unbecoming behavior. If anyone insults him or quarrels with him, let him answer by saying: I am fasting (twice).
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By Him who holds Muhammad’s soul in His hand, the mouth-smell of a fasting person is, according to God, of better fragrance on the Day of Judgment than musk. A fasting person has two occasions to feel happy: He feels happy when he ends his fast, and he feels happy when he meets his Lord for having fasted.” (Muslim, Ahmad and Al-Nassaie).
