Revealing the real purpose of fasting
February 17, 2010 by ImanK
I used to find it odd – if not heretic – to starve yourself from sunrise to sunset. Anything that went against fasting in the Greek Orthodox way was indeed heretic, or so I thought.
The first time I heard Muslims fast in a different way, my stomach churned and I thought, man you guys are completely off the mark. You need to be saved!
At that point, I’d never researched the proofs for fasting in the Bible or the Quran, but it was my pride that would never let a thought into my brain that said that they might have proof for what they were saying while I have absolutely none – or at least knew of none.
And frankly, I didn’t care. Fasting was one of the zillion rituals of the Greek Orthodox faith that you ‘just believed in’ and didn’t question.
The weirdest thing to me was that Muslims would not only fast from food but actually from ‘bad’ things like drinking, going to bars or dating. Now, that for me was completely illogical ! What does food have to do with having fun?
It was normal for all of us Greek Orthodox to fast before Easter and go out and have fun at the exact same time – without feeling an inch of guilt.
Once you find out why you are supposed to fast in the first place (which, as a Christian I never really did), then you’ll understand that it’s not about the food.
Muslims believe that God revealed to mankind to fast because through self-restraint, you can become pious.
“O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may become Al-Muttaqun (the pious). (Quran 2:183)
You might be asking, What does piety have anything to do with it? I was confused at the beginning too but when I started fasting – starving myself from dawn to dusk actually – I realized that it was a true sacrifice.
It’s like having a close friend that you love more than you love yourself. You give up something that you love the most to make her happy. It’s not like you are forced to do this. You choose this because you love her. That’s when your relationship has gone to a new level – because she’s seen the proof that you put her before yourself.
That’s in a way, the purpose of fasting. When you choose to give up something that is permissible, like food, you realize that you want to because you love God more than yourself. And you want to show Him that love. That’s the journey of piety.
So, really, for anyone who is fasting, whether Muslim, Christian or other, fasting was prescribed for all of us as the verse says. Only when you know what the purpose of fasting is can you really taste the journey of love for God.
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If you are going to be critical of why people fast in the Greek Orthodox Church at least get your facts right! I truly enjoy the bold font to emphasize your prejudice perception of why Christians fast,
“It was normal for all of us Greek Orthodox to fast before Easter and go out and have fun at the exact same time – without feeling an inch of guilt.”
^^ This is the norm for whom eactly? The general Greek Orthodox public? Your personal experiences? Your particular generation or growing up in your particular region in Greece?
Don’t you think that by making bold type statements like this you are stereotyping an entire society? If you want to point out that there are hypocrites who call themselves Christians that is fine, for all societies are full of people who fail to live in accordance to their religion, however since you were once Christian I would assume you had mental capacity to understand from a young age what fasting consists of in the Christian Orthodox world, and it is not simply about avoiding certain foods and going out to have ‘fun.’
From St. John Chrysostom, Homily III;
“I speak not, indeed, of such a fast as most persons keep, but of real fasting; not merely an abstinence from meats; but from sins too.”
Hey there SOS. I think we finally agree on something. I love that we can find a commonality between us. Yes, of course, this post, like many of my posts, are written from my personal experiences in life and religion. I definitely agree that fasting is not about food, but about piety by staying away from sins. In fact, that was the entire purpose of my post. So, we agree.
What I found interesting from your comment is that you now have a little taste of what Muslims feel on a daily basis. It seems like you are trying to show that actions of some Christians does not equal Christianity. Just because some Christians do not follow the scriptures or don’t understand the meanings behind things like fasting etc., that doesn’t reflect poorly on Christianity because a religion is based on its scripture, not its people.
That’s exactly what Muslims want to educate the world on. Just because you see some Muslims that are not educated about Islam doing wrong actions, that does not mean that that is Islam. If you want to know about Islam, you need to go to its scriptures.
But, I guess you already agree with me on that.
Naturally I agree for the most part it is people who fail to act in accordance to scripture. The way in which various people fast in various religions may differ in terms of dates and what foods to avoid, but in its essence the idea behind fasting since antiquty has always been to purify oneself and act as a reminder of abstinence from selfish and carnal desires. Unfortunately more people dwell on the celebrations that comes at the end of the fast ( Yom Kippur, Easter, Ramadan ) rather than on the journey of participating in the fast.
Assalamu alaikom, dear Sister Iman,
May I add a few points there?
I think being a true Muslim is a decision driven by both mind (first) and (then) heart.
Once your mind recognizes that:
1- Indeed, there is nothing worthy of being deified except the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth (Allah),
2- Muhammad (PBUH) is a true (and the final) prophet and messenger of Allah.
3- The Qur’an is the verbatim word of God/Allah.
4-That the painstakingly authenticated Ahadeeth (sayings) and Seerah (life) of Muhammad (PBUH) are true…
…then you’d accept (or should accept) everything else (all the details) blindly without rationalizing, since the mind has already fulfilled its role and a solid rational basis has been established for faith.
That said, if one must look for a rationalization for fasting as we Muslims are ordered to do, I think one could say it’s about realizing the blessings that one enjoys at other times of the year and about sympathizing with people deprived of those blessings.
Some might say: “Well we understand the part on food, but what about water/drink? How many people out there really spend the whole day without a glass of water or drink?”.
Such people (the posers of the question) fail to realize that there are many African communities in dire need of fresh (drinkable) water who toil all day to fetch some impure water to their families, only to expose them to potential unavoidable health hazards”.
Other people might say: “Well what about sex?”.
Again, only if you’ve been leading a religious God-fearing life and abstaining from pre-marital or extra-marital sexual relationships would you appreciate the blessings that an intimate marital relationship can give to the husband and wife.
And… Wa’llahu a’alam (God knows best)!
Fast oh children of Adam, that you may cleanse yourselves, this is better for you if only you knew.
Yes, I agree, when you have a firm belief in God, then things like fasting just come naturally.