Surah Al-Baqara (2) — Ayah 187

187. It has been made lawful for you to approach your wives during the nights of fasting. They are a garment for you and you are a garment for them [239]. Allah knows that you were betraying yourselves [240], so He turned to you in mercy and forgave you. So now, you may have relations with them and seek what Allah has ordained for you [241]. And eat and drink until the white thread of dawn becomes distinct to you from the black thread [242], then complete the fast until night [243]. And do not have relations with them while you are in retreat in the mosques [244]. These are the limits set by Allah, so do not even approach them [246]. Thus does Allah make His commandments clear to the people so that they may become mindful.

[239]
The Meaning of Husband and Wife Being Garments for Each Other:

For the relationship between husband and wife, Allah Almighty has used a very subtle metaphor, which can have several meanings. One is that just as there is nothing between the garment and the body, similarly, the relationship between husband and wife is with each other. Secondly, that both of you are confidants and keepers of each other's secrets. Thirdly, that both of you share in each other's honor. And fourthly, that both of you are coverings for each other, etc., etc.

[240]
Permission for Intercourse at Night in Ramadan:

In the early days of Islam, there was no clear command regarding intercourse with one's wife during the nights of Ramadan. However, the Companionsؓ themselves considered it impermissible. Yet, some Companionsؓ, despite considering it disliked, could not refrain from this act. Thus, Bara bin Azibؓ says that when fasting was made obligatory, people would not go to their women for the entire month. Then some people did this secretly. Then Allah Almighty revealed this verse. [بخاري، كتاب التفسير، زير آيت مذكوره]
[241] That is, intercourse should be done so that Allah Almighty may grant the offspring He has destined, as if from this verse, the prohibition of coitus interruptus, sodomy, and intercourse in the anus, etc., is established.
And if a person has intercourse during the day in Ramadan while fasting, he must pay its expiation, as is clear from the following hadith:

Expiation for Breaking the Fast:

Hazrat Abu Hurairahؓ narrates that a man (Salamah bin Sakhr Bayaziؓ) came to the Messenger of Allahﷺ and said: I am ruined. The Prophetﷺ asked him, why, what happened? He said: I had intercourse with my wife during Ramadan. The Prophetﷺ asked him: Can you free a slave? He said: I do not have the ability. Then the Prophetﷺ asked: Can you fast for two consecutive months? He said: No (if I had the ability, why would I have broken the fast?). Then the Prophetﷺ asked: Can you feed sixty poor people? He said: No. The Prophetﷺ said to him: Then sit down. Meanwhile, a basket of dates was brought to the Prophetﷺ, which could hold fifteen sa’ of dates. The Prophetﷺ said to him: Take the basket and distribute it among the needy. He said: Should I distribute it among those who are more needy than us? By the One Who sent youﷺ with the truth, there is no household in the two sides of Madinah more needy than ours. Hearing this, the Prophetﷺ laughed so much that his molar teeth became visible and said: Go, feed it to your wife and children. [بخاري۔ كتاب الايمان والنذور۔ باب من اعان المعسر فى الكفارة] From this hadith, two things are known: one, that the expiation for breaking an obligatory fast is exactly the same as mentioned in Surah Mujadilah, verses 3 and 4; and second, that if the one giving expiation is needy and destitute, he can be helped from charity and alms, as is evident from the chapter heading.

[242] That is, when the darkness of night is distinguished from the whiteness of dawn, as is clear from the following hadith.

Some Companions Erring in Understanding the Quran:

Adi bin Hatim says that I placed a white string and a black string (under my pillow) at night. I kept looking at them but could not distinguish (and kept eating and drinking). When morning came, I mentioned it to the Prophetﷺ: "O Messenger of Allahﷺ! I had placed two strings under my pillow." The Prophetﷺ (jokingly) said: "Your pillow is very big, under which the white string (of morning) and the black string (of night) have come." [بخاري، كتاب التفسير، باب آيت مذكور]

[243] Bara bin Azibؓ narrates that: Among the Companions of the Prophetﷺ, when anyone fasted and slept before breaking the fast, he could not eat anything until the next evening. Qais bin Sirmah fasted, and when it was time to break the fast, he asked his wife: "Is there anything to eat?" She replied: No, but I will go and bring something for you. The wife went out, and Qais, being tired from the day's labor, fell asleep. When the wife returned and saw this, she was very saddened. In short, he fasted again without eating or drinking anything. But only half the day had passed when he fainted. When this was mentioned to the Prophetﷺ, this verse was revealed at that time. [بخاري۔ كتاب الصوم، باب قول الله آيت احل لكم ليلة الصيام الرفث۔۔ الخ، اور ترمذي، ابواب التفسير، باب آيت مذكور]

[244]
Hastening to Break the Fast and Delaying Suhoor:

That is, the time for fasting is from the beginning of dawn until the beginning of night, i.e., sunset. One should break the fast immediately after sunset. The Jews, out of caution, would not break the fast until darkness had completely fallen after sunset. Therefore, the Prophetﷺ said that my Ummah will remain upon goodness as long as they hasten to break the fast. (One should hasten to break the fast and delay eating suhoor.) [بخاري، كتاب الصوم۔ باب تعجيل الافطار]
1. It is also narrated from Abdullah bin Abi Awfa that we were on a journey (the expedition of the conquest of Makkah) with the Messenger of Allahﷺ. He said to a man (Bilalؓ): Dismount and mix sattu (barley flour) for me. He said: O Messenger of Allahﷺ! There is still sunlight. The Prophetﷺ said: Dismount and mix sattu for me. Bilalؓ again said: O Messenger of Allahﷺ! There is still sunlight. The Prophetﷺ then, for the third time, said: Dismount and mix sattu for me. Finally, he dismounted and mixed the sattu. The Prophetﷺ drank it, then pointed with his hand towards the east and said: When darkness begins from this side, then it is time to break the fast. [بخاري: كتاب الصوم، باب الصوم فى السفر والافطار]
2. Abdullah bin Mas’udؓ narrates that the Messenger of Allahﷺ said: Beware! Do not stop eating suhoor because of Bilalؓ’s adhan. Bilalؓ gives the adhan so that the one standing in tahajjud prayer may return. And the light of morning or fajr is not that which is long like this. Then the Prophetﷺ raised both hands upwards to show that this is the false dawn. Then, separating one hand from the other, he stretched them right and left (this is the true dawn). [بخاري۔ كتاب الطلاق۔ باب الاشارة فى الطلاق والامور] Similarly, it is better to eat and drink until the last moment before starting the fast. [بخاري، كتاب الصوم باب تاخير السحور]

Prayers and Fasting at the Poles:

Some people raise the question that near the poles, where night and day last for several months, how can the times for prayer and fasting be determined? This question is merely for the sake of questioning, because at the poles, the cold is so severe that it is impossible for humans to survive there, and where human habitation begins, even if the days and nights are not as clear as at the equator, they are clear enough that the commandments of morning and evening appear regularly on the horizon, and the inhabitants there set their sleeping, waking, working, and leisure times accordingly. Therefore, there is no reason why these commandments cannot be used to determine the times for prayer and suhoor and iftar. And where there are months-long days and nights, not only the issue of fasting arises, but other issues of life also arise. For example, how many hours do those people sleep? When and how do they earn and conduct business, and for how many hours? The answer to all these matters is that in such places, due to the cold, humans cannot survive at all.

[245]
Rulings and Issues of I'tikaf:

From this verse, it is understood that i'tikaf can be observed in any mosque, and only in a mosque. It can be observed in Ramadan and outside of Ramadan, but since in Ramadan the reward is much greater than in other months, and in Ramadan i'tikaf is considered a communal obligation (fard kifayah), therefore it is more important. It is better to spend the last ten days of Ramadan in i'tikaf. However, it can be for a shorter period, even for one day. During i'tikaf, one should not go out without a valid Shari’ excuse, nor should one be overly engaged in worldly matters, and during i'tikaf, intercourse with one's wife is also prohibited.

The jurists have described two types of i'tikaf. One is the Sunnah I'tikaf, which is established from the Sunnah of the Prophet. Its usual duration is ten days, and in the case of the last ten days of Ramadan, it is nine or ten days, depending on the sighting of the Eid crescent. Once, when youﷺ went towards your tent for i'tikaf, you saw that several of your wives had also set up tents in the Prophet's Mosque for i'tikaf. Upon seeing this, youﷺ said that these wives have not done this out of good intention but out of rivalry. Therefore, remove all their tents. Then youﷺ also had your own tent removed, and this was the last ten days of Ramadan. Then youﷺ did not observe i'tikaf in Ramadan that year, but did so in Shawwal after Eid.

And once youﷺ observed i'tikaf in the middle ten days of Ramadan. Then Jibreelؑ informed you that Laylatul Qadr would be in the last ten days of Ramadan, so youﷺ spent the last ten days in i'tikaf as well. Thus, that year yourﷺ i'tikaf became twenty days. From all these hadiths, it is understood that the sunnah i'tikaf is not less than one ten-day period, and the best i'tikaf is the last ten days of Ramadan. And in this matter, the one observing i'tikaf has the choice to begin after the Isha and night prayer on the twenty-first night, or after Maghrib, or after performing the morning prayer.

The second type of i'tikaf is the obligatory i'tikaf, i.e., the i'tikaf which the person makes obligatory upon himself by making a vow to Allah. There is no fixed duration for this; it can be seven days, three days, one day, even just one night, and there is no fixed time for it, whether in Ramadan or any other month. The proof for this is the following hadith:

Hazrat Abdullah bin Umarؓ says that Hazrat Umarؓ asked the Messenger of Allahﷺ: I had made a vow in the days of ignorance to observe i'tikaf for one night in Masjid al-Haram. "So the Prophetﷺ said: Fulfill your vow." [بخاري، كتاب الصوم۔ باب الاعتكاف ليلا]

It should be noted that only such vows should be fulfilled in which there is no disobedience to Allah, and if a vow is made for something against the Shari’ah, it should never be fulfilled.

[246] Allah Almighty did not say do not transgress these limits, but rather said do not even go near these limits, and the difference between these two types of statements is clear to all.