The fourth pillar is fasting in the month of Ramadan.
Fasting is abstinence from food, drink and sex from dawn until sunset, every day of the month of Ramadan. The fasting month begins with the sighting of the new moon the night before the beginning of the month, and ends with the sighting of the new moon, the last night of Ramadan.
During the nights of Ramadan, it is advisable to make night prayer called tarawih, which is performed in congregation at the mosque with an Imam.
This act of fasting, is a purification of the body, is well known that fasting for at least one month a year, is a cleaning and prevents many food-related diseases and bad habits. Besides abstinence, containment and control of the appetites and the more primary animal instincts of human nature, fasting is also abstain from seeing, hearing or saying what is not fair or right.
The patient, whoever is traveling and the elderly who have no forces to continue, can stop fasting. The woman is exempt from fasting during menstruation and postpartum. And you can stop fasting during late pregnancy and during lactation, if you think you can harm your health or the child. But they must make up the days they didn’t fast (fasting other days out of the month of Ramadan). The same rule when it comes to make up the days of fasting, applies to whom has broken out the fast by forgetfulness, or distraction, or due to illness, or because fasting will get him sick, in any of the cases, they will have to recover the lost days once Ramadan is past. Instead, whoever breaks the fast intentionally, apart from recovering the day, also have to pay a fidya (compensation).
It is obligatory to put the intention of fasting on the first night of Ramadan, being meritorious to renew it every night. In addition to abstinence and the prayer, Ramadan is a special month to practice generosity and good works.