and makes fasting obligatory.
Muhammad said: His saying: "the white thread" means the whiteness of the day, "from the black thread" means the blackness of the night; and this becomes distinct from that at the rise of the second dawn.
His saying, the Almighty: "And eat and drink" is a command of permissibility. "And do not have relations with them while you are staying for worship in the mosques" (i'tikaf). The interpretation of al-Suddi: A man used to perform i'tikaf, and when he would exit his place of prayer and meet his wife, he would have relations with her, so Allah forbade them from that until he finished his i'tikaf. "These are the limits of Allah, so do not approach them," meaning: do not approach what Allah has forbidden to you. [Verse 188]
