Fasting is a common practice in many religions, serving as an act of sacrifice, penance, or faith. Different religions have specific rules and requirements for fasting, including varying lengths of time, restrictions on food and drink, and specific days or periods of fasting. Fasting is observed in major religions such as Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, as well as in minor religions such as Raelism and Jainism. While not required in most Christian denominations, fasting is seen as an external observance and is a common practice during Lent in Catholicism and on feast days in Anglicanism.
Many religions require fasting as an act of penance, obligation, or faith. The act of abstaining from food or drink is usually practiced in different religions for a specific period of time. It is exercised as a sign of sacrifice to a god, and many religions around the world have prescribed days and times for fasting. Some periods are continuous for a number of days and some allow for eating and drinking after dark. Some strictly prohibit and some allow certain foods. Fasting is, in almost all cases, an important act of devotees and is practiced in Islam, Catholicism and Buddhism, among many other religions.
Fasting is an essential part of the Hindu religion, and is varied in different localities. The rules of Hinduism are flexible, allowing for different lengths of abstinence at various times. Different devotees fast on different days according to a number of deities, and many festivals may be fasted, though they need not be. Judaism, on the other hand, is strict in its rules and requires complete abstention from food, drink and water for up to six days a year, including Yom Kippur and Tisha B’Av. In Judaism, it is a form of atonement.
Islam, like Judaism, imposes strict rules on devotees. Followers of the Muslim faith are obliged to fast during the holy month of Ramadan, every day from sunrise to sunset. There are also many non-mandatory days throughout the Islamic calendar, when Muslims are prohibited from eating, drinking, smoking and having sexual intercourse. Fasting is one of the most important actions of the Islamic faith and is known as one of the pillars of Islam. Even observing the obligatory sunrise-to-sunset fasts, the Baha’i Faith of West and Central Asia establishes the practice as a time of meditation and prayer.
While not required in most Christian denominations, fasting is practiced by many Christians as an external observance. It can be found in the Bible with Moses, King David, and Jesus, and is seen with meal-reduction and abstinence from meat on Fridays during Lent in Roman Catholicism. In Anglicanism, it is practiced on the feast days of many saints, while Eastern Orthodoxy has four different fasting seasons, including two different 40-day periods.
Fasting is also an important tenet of the Buddhist faith, practiced by monks and nuns, but not by lay Buddhists. It is also practiced in many minor religions, including Jainism, an ancient religion of India; Raelism, a recent French religion founded in the 1970s; The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the first Sunday of each month; and Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians on different days.
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