The prescription of the Ramadan fast

Ibn Ishaq, in his account of the Helpers and the Emigrants in Medina, says that the prayer was established, alms and fasting were made obligatory, and the penal laws were enforced once the affair of Islam had become firm. ¹ He counts the report of the delegation of Abd al-Qays, in which the fast is listed among the duties of Islam that the Prophet ﷺ named. ²

Ibn Ishaq says that after the Emigrants and the Helpers came together, Islam took its place among the people of Medina, and it became firm: the prayer was established, alms and fasting were made obligatory, the penal laws were enforced, and the lawful and unlawful were laid down. ¹ The biography puts this in the context of the period after the Hijra, and does not fix a particular day at this point for the obligation of the fast of Ramadan.

In the report of the coming of al-Jarud in the delegation of Abd al-Qays, the Prophet counted the duties of Islam one by one, among them alms, fasting and the pilgrimage, and the questioner acknowledged each duty. ²