Is fasting only about food and drink?
No — and this is said unusually bluntly. Someone who fasts from food while continuing to lie, abuse and behave badly has, in the Prophet’s ﷺ words, given Allah no reason to need his hunger. The abstention from food is the mechanism; restraint of tongue and temper is what it is training.
The four schools concur on this.
It is easy to reduce Ramadan to a timetable — when to stop eating, when to start again — and to treat the rest as atmosphere. The tradition closes that door directly:
“Whoever does not give up forged speech and evil actions, Allah is not in need of his leaving his food and drink” (Sahih al-Bukhari 1903).
That is a strong statement. It does not say such a fast is invalid — the day still counts and is not made up — but it says the point of it has been missed entirely.
What this means in practice during the month:
- Lying, backbiting, insults and arguments are more serious while fasting, not less.
- If someone provokes you, the instructed response is to withdraw rather than escalate — famously, to say “I am fasting” and leave it there.
- Anger is the common failure. Low blood sugar makes people short, and “I’m fasting” gets used as an excuse for irritability when it is supposed to be the reason for patience.
- Generosity is meant to increase, not merely charity in money but attention, food shared, and patience with people at home.
A useful test at the end of the month: not how many days you completed — most people complete them — but whether the people who live with you found you easier or harder to be around. That is closer to what the fast was measuring.
None of this makes an imperfect fast worthless. A person who loses their temper on day nine has not wasted the month; they have found the thing the month was pointing at.
- HadithSahih al-Bukhari 1903