NOURNEWS- Fasting is one of the acts of worship of a person who is very much covered, that is, if we do not speak and do not tell anyone that we are fasting, no one will notice that we are fasting. That is why it is considered as one of the secret acts of worship. Therefore, its value and status are beyond imagination to the extent that God says in a holy speech: “Fasting is for me and I reward it myself.”
In this short article, the history of fasting in pre-Islamic religions and even human rite is considered.
By studying the history of different nations and religions and by witnessing the Holy Quran, we find that among most societies and followers of different religions, the principle of fasting has been proposed and is still prevalent with time differences and the quality of action. Like the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Indians, etc., and among the heavenly religions: Islam, Judaism, and Christianity, and among man-made religions such as the Sabeans, the Manicheans, the Brahmins, and the Buddhists.
The early Egyptians fasted to worship their idol, Lysis. The Greeks fasted to worship the idol of their cultivation called "Dhimtar". The Romans, in the name of the star Jupiter, fasted a lot and fasted whenever they had trouble.
The Indians were very strict about fasting and often fasted to please their Gods. The same is true of fictitious religions. The Sabeans who believe in the sanctity of the stars. According to the order of this ritual, its followers must fast for 30 days, for 9 days in honor of the moon and for 9 days in honor of the Blessed Lord (Jupiter Star) and for 7 days in honor of the Lord of the Good (Sun). The sun refuses to eat and drink until sunset.
Ibn al-Nadim in his book “Al-Fihrest” on the Manichean religion, which appeared in Iran in the third century AD and its founders, Mani, acknowledged the prophethood and brought the book Arjang.
He writes: The Manicheans had a variety of fasts that depended on specific times of the sun and moon. When the sun entered the arc and the moon's disk appeared, they fasted for two days. On the first night of seeing the moon, they fasted for two days without breaking the fast, and after eight days of the month, they fasted for 30 days.
In the Brahmin religion, which is obligatory for four days in each lunar month, these days are called "Yubazata" and are: first, ninth, fifteenth and twenty-second. There is also a strong emphasis on resting these days, and even preparing food for Iftar or breaking fast should be done before sunrise.
Regarding fasting in Zoroastrianism, it should be said that fasting and not eating water and food is disgusting because it causes weakness in the body and lack of useful activity and daily work. Because these cases have not been condemned in the Zoroastrian religion and unemployment and laziness have been strictly forbidden, and in Vandidad, chapter III, paragraph 33, it is written:
“.… One who eats whole foods is able to pray, farm, and have children. The living thing survives from eating and dies from not eating.” But in order not to overdo the eating of animal meat, on the second, twelfth, fourteenth and twenty-first days, Zoroastrians avoid eating meat every month.
Fasting is now practiced in the heavenly religions of Judaism and Christianity, as Ayatollah Allameh Tabatabai puts it: At present, the Torah and the Bible do not require fasting, but fasting is praised for being a good deed. But Jews and Christians fast on certain days of the year with various attributes.
In Judaism, they fasted five days a year, the twenty-fourth day of the seventh month, and the other four days because of the calamity that befell the place of sacrifice at the synagogue. And the ninth day of the seventh month of each year, which is the day of the conquest of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, the third day of the seventh month, which is called the day of the attack, plunder, and massacre of the city of Jerusalem. The tenth day of the tenth month is the day of the siege of Jerusalem. In addition to these days, Mustahabb or recommended fasts are also held to commemorate the prophets and their elders and to commemorate other historical events that last a total of 25 days.
Christians also fast on various occasions, such as the Christian Catholic sect on Wednesday for condemning Christ and Friday for hanging Christ. Their obligatory fast is before Christmas. The same day that Moses, Jesus, and the apostles fasted. In the fifth century AD, the church instituted a new fast: the days before Christmas, the Feast of Tabernacles (the day the Holy Spirit dissolved the disciples), the Feast of the Transfiguration of Mary, and the Feast of All Saints.
But there are more difficult conditions in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Armenians, Copts, and Nestorians fast on Wednesdays and Fridays, as well as 10 weeks each year. But the Christian Protestant sect does not consider fasting obligatory, but because it is a good practice, they refrain from eating and drinking only during the days of fasting.
Happy Ramadan & Happy Feast of Fitr
NOURNEWS