Muslims are asked this question ‘why do you fast in the month of Ramadan’, and the most common answer is ‘to empathise with poor’ or ‘to know what it is like to be hungry’. Although these answers are partially true, Allah سبحانه و تعالى says in the Holy Qur’an that fasting is ordained so that mankind may attain Taqwa (God consciousness, piousness, fear of Allah, love for Allah, and self-restrain).
Allah عز و جل says,
“O you who have believed, fasting is decreed upon you as it was decreed upon those before you so that you may attain Taqwa.”
[Qur’an; 2: 184]
What is Taqwa:
In broader terms, Taqwa is one’s self-restraint so that they don’t even get near to the sin. It is the precautionary measure to abstain oneself from bad deeds or from that which may lead to the wrong doings.