“Ayyāman Maʿdūdāt”: Linguistic, Textual, and Intertextual Analysis of the Qur’anic Concept of Limited Days

Method: lexical analysis + internal Qur’anic usage + intertextual comparison (Torah / Tanakh / Jubilees). No appeal to later Islamic tradition as an interpretive authority.

1. Introduction

The Qur’an repeatedly presents itself not as a novel religious system, but as a confirmation and clarification of earlier revelation (e.g., Qur’an 2:41; 5:48). Consequently, any practice described as “as prescribed for those before you” (Qur’an 2:183) requires evaluation within the broader scriptural continuum.

One widely assumed conclusion of later tradition is that Qur’an 2:183–187 mandates a fixed thirty-day ritual abstention across the entire month of Ramadan. However, the Qur’anic text employs a technical expression—ayyāman maʿdūdāt—whose internal Qur’anic usage strongly suggests limitation rather than totality. This article tests the passage’s functionality and meaning by applying strictly textual controls: lexicon, Qur’an-by-Qur’an usage, and intertextual comparison with earlier scripture.

2. The Linguistic Meaning of maʿdūdāt

Qur’an 2:184 contains the phrase:

أَيَّامًا مَعْدُودَاتٍ — ayyāman maʿdūdāt (“counted / numbered days”).¹

The root ʿ-d-d (ع د د) denotes counting, numbering, or enumerating. In Classical Arabic lexicography, maʿdūd does not encode a specific numeral (such as “thirty”), but rather emphasizes that the quantity is limited, readily countable, and therefore not an indefinite or total duration.²

Key point: maʿdūdāt marks a constrained subset relative to a larger whole; it does not itself specify the value of the number.

3. Internal Qur’anic Usage of ayyāman maʿdūdāt

3.1. Limited Punishment

The Qur’an uses the same expression in the context of a claim attributed to some Israelites:

“The Fire will not touch us except for ayyāman maʿdūdāt.”³

In this context, maʿdūdāt clearly functions to denote brevity (a small, delimited duration) contrasted with an implied larger total (extended punishment). The Qur’an does not affirm a particular numeral; it critiques the claim of limitation itself.

3.2. Trivial Monetary Value (Joseph)

In the Joseph narrative, he is sold for:

دَرَاهِمَ مَعْدُودَةٍ — “counted silver coins.”⁴

Here, maʿdūdah highlights insignificance: the sum is small enough to be easily counted, and is portrayed as paltry relative to the value of a human being.

Across Qur’anic usage, maʿdūd / maʿdūdāt signals “a limited, readily countable amount” contrasted with a larger whole (life, punishment, time).

4. Structural Contrast in 2:183–187: shahr vs. ayyām

Qur’an 2:185 introduces a temporal frame:

“The shahr of Ramadan is the one in which the Qur’an was sent down…”⁵

Yet the abstention is described as ayyāman maʿdūdāt (“counted days”), not as “a month.” The coexistence of shahr (a larger period) and ayyām (days) within the same legal passage establishes a natural contrast: the abstention is linguistically framed as a delimited set of days within a known period.

4.1. Rebuttal: “Counted days” as mere lunar variability (29/30)

A common counter-argument claims that “counted days” merely reflects the variable length of a lunar month (29 or 30 days), and therefore requires counting. This fails both linguistically and logically. If the Qur’an intended abstention for the entire month, the natural expression would simply be “a month” (shahr). A lunar month remains a shahr whether it contains 29 or 30 days; its identity as a month is not compromised by its length. There is therefore no linguistic necessity to describe a complete month as “counted days.” Rather, ayyāman maʿdūdāt functions in Qur’anic usage to denote a limited subset relative to a larger whole, not the whole itself.

5. Addendum I: The Meaning of shahr — a Temporal Period, Not a Celestial Object

A central assumption of later jurisprudence is that shahr necessarily denotes a lunar month validated through crescent sighting. Lexically, that is not required.

5.1. Lexical definition

The Qur’anic term shahr (شهر) does not denote a celestial object (such as the moon), nor does it inherently specify the astronomical mechanism by which a month is determined. Rather, shahr designates a recognized temporal period, irrespective of whether that period is established through lunar, solar, or luni-solar calculation.⁶

Lexically, shahr is linked to the semantic field of public recognition and manifestation (shuhra, ishhār). Classical lexicons therefore define shahr as a known, acknowledged span of time—not as an astronomical phenomenon. The term identifies the period itself, not the object by which the period may be measured.

5.2. Qur’anic usage: fixed calendrical structure

The Qur’an uses shahr within a fixed calendrical order:

• “The number of months (shuhūr) with God is twelve…” (Qur’an 9:36).⁷ This presupposes a calendrical structure “from creation,” not a month-by-month discovery via observation.
• “The pilgrimage is in known months (ashhur maʿlūmāt)” (Qur’an 2:197).⁸ The months are “known,” not “searched for” by sighting.

5.3. Empirical linguistic illustration (Gregorian usage)

Arabic usage—Classical and Modern—routinely employs shahr for non-lunar calendar months, including the Gregorian calendar (which has no dependence on lunar visibility): shahr yanāyir (January), shahr māris (March), shahr yūlyū (July), etc. No Arabic speaker understands “January” to require crescent sighting in order to “become valid.” This demonstrates that shahr is a neutral temporal category, not an astronomical descriptor.

5.4. Logical consequences

If shahr meant “a month only valid upon physical sighting,” then:

• the Qur’an would need to mandate astronomical observation—yet it never commands such a practice;
• individuals unable to see the crescent (weather, geography, blindness) would become exempt by default—an absurd legal outcome.

Defining shahr as a lunar object rather than a recognized temporal period introduces contradictions foreign to the Qur’anic text.

6. Addendum II: The Verb shahida in 2:185 — Presence, Not Visual Crescent Witnessing

Qur’an 2:185 contains the clause:

fa-man shahida minkumu al-shahra fa-lyaṣumhu

The widespread translation “whoever witnesses the month” is often interpreted as “whoever sees the crescent,” and is then used to construct a legal duty of lunar observation. Linguistically, this is an over-reading.

6.1. Lexical range

The root sh-h-d (ش هـ د) fundamentally denotes presence/attendance/being there; visual witnessing is only one contextual application. Classical lexicography records uses such as “he was present at the affair” and “he lived through / experienced the time.”⁹

6.2. Textual coherence

Accordingly, the coherent rendering is:

“Whoever is present during that period…”

This reading avoids absurd outcomes implied by a “visual sighting” interpretation (e.g., the blind or those under cloud cover becoming exempt from a normative ordinance). The clause also fits the immediate context, which already contains exemptions for travel and illness—categories about presence and capacity, not eyesight.

7. Addendum III: The Non-Absolute (Conditional) Structure of the Ordinance

7.1. Substitution and capacity

Qur’an 2:184 introduces substitution:

wa-ʿalā alladhīna yuṭīqūnahu fidyatun — “Upon those who have the capacity for it is a compensatory cover.”¹⁰

The verb yuṭīqūnahu (from ṭ-w-q) denotes possession of capacity or means relative to an obligation. Since incapacity due to illness or travel is already addressed separately, the term here cannot signify hardship or inability. Rather, it identifies those who possess sufficient capacity, for whom a compensatory cover (fidyah) is assigned. This establishes substitution as an integral legal option, not an exceptional concession.

7.2. Exemptions

The passage explicitly exempts illness and travel, requiring making up days later rather than insisting on a single uniform performance (Qur’an 2:184–185).¹¹ This legal architecture aligns with a limited-day ordinance and conflicts with the notion that the text’s primary intent is a rigid month-long ritual.

8. Continuity with Earlier Scripture

Qur’an 2:183 grounds the practice in precedent: “as it was prescribed for those before you.” The Torah depicts preparatory discipline prior to revelation: Israel is commanded to prepare for several days before Sinai, including temporary abstention (notably sexual) as part of readiness for encounter with divine speech (Exodus 19:10–15).¹²

The Book of Jubilees repeatedly associates covenantal moments with a specific seasonal/annual framework (notably in the “third month” pattern), emphasizing covenant and revelation as calendrically meaningful, yet without instituting a universal month-long mass fast as the essential mechanism.¹³

9. Conclusion

A strictly linguistic and text-controlled reading of Qur’an 2:183–187 yields the following:

1. Ayyāman maʿdūdāt consistently denotes a limited, readily countable subset, not an entire extended period.
2. The passage itself contrasts shahr (a recognized period) with ayyām (days), supporting restriction rather than totality.
3. Shahr denotes a calendrically recognized period and does not encode “lunar sighting” as a lexical requirement.
4. The verb shahida in 2:185 is best read as “to be present / to experience,” not “to visually sight the crescent.”
5. The ordinance is legally conditional: exemptions (illness/travel) and substitution (fidyah) are explicit in the text.

On this basis, the later construction of a uniform, mandatory thirty-day lunar fast cannot be derived purely from the Qur’anic wording; it depends on extratextual juridical specifications and interpretive conventions.