The Spiritual Benefits of Fasting
Discussion Question
How does your religios community think about the spiritual benefits of fasting?
Islam (Dr. Hassan)
Ramadan is a period of fasting, reflection, devotion, generosity and sacrifice observed by Muslims around the world. While major holidays of other faiths have largely become commercialized events, Ramadan retains its intense spiritual meaning.
The word "Ramadan" comes from the Arabic root word for "parched thirst" and "sun-baked ground." It is expressive of the hunger and thirst felt by those who spend the month in fasting.
As opposed to other holidays, when people often indulge, Ramadan is by nature a time of sacrifice.
- Through fasting, a Muslim experiences hunger and thirst, and sympathizes with those in the world who have little to eat every day.
- Through increased devotion, Muslims feel closer to their Creator, and recognize that everything we have in this life is a blessing from Him.
- Through increased charity, Muslims develop feelings of generosity and good-will toward others. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) once said, "A man's wealth is never diminished by charity."
- Through self-control, a Muslim practices good manners, good speech, and good habits.
- Through changing routines, Muslims have a chance to establish more healthy lifestyle habits -- particularly with regards to diet and smoking.
- Through family and community gatherings, Muslims strengthen the bonds of brotherhood and sisterhood, in their own communities and throughout the world.
Ramadan is a very special time for Muslims, but the feelings and lessons we experience should stay with us throughout the year.
In the Qur'an, Muslims are commanded to fast so that they may "learn self-restraint" (Qur'an 2:183). This restraint and devotion is especially felt during Ramadan, but we all must strive to make the feelings and attitudes stay with us during our "normal" lives. That is the true goal and test of Ramadan.
May Allah accept our fasting, forgive our sins, and guide us all to the Straight Path. May Allah bless us all during Ramadan, and throughout the year, with His forgiveness, mercy, and peace, and bring us all closer to Him and to each other.
Ramadan Fasting / Quran and Hadith
Quran
O ye who believe! fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you that ye may (learn) self-restraint
(Fasting) for a fixed number of days; but if any of you is ill or on a journey, the prescribed number (should be made up) from days later. For those who can do it (with hardship) is a ransom, the feeding of one that is indigent. But he that will give more of his own free-will―it is better for him, and it is better for you that ye fast, if ye only knew. 2:183,184
Hadith
Abu Hurayrah reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Every action a son of Adam does shall be multiplied—a good action by ten times its value, up to 700 times. Allah says: With the exception of fasting, which belongs to Me, and I reward it accordingly. For, one abandons his desire and food for My sake
Abu Hurayrah reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said
Fasting is a shield; so when one of you is fasting he should neither indulge in obscene language nor should he raise his voice in anger. If someone attacks him or insults him, let him say: "I am fasting!" (Muslim)
Bukhari :: Book 3 :: Volume 31 :: Hadith 125
Narrated Abu Huraira:
The Prophet said, "Whoever established prayers on the night of Qadr out of sincere faith and hoping for a reward from Allah, then all his previous sins will be forgiven; and whoever fasts in the month of Ramadan out of sincere faith, and hoping for a reward from Allah, then all his previous sins will be forgiven."
Poetry
Contemplate this poem by the Sufi poet and spiritual master, Rumi:
There's hidden sweetness in the stomach’s emptiness.
We are lutes, no more, no less. If the soundbox
is stuffed full of anything, no music.
If the brain and the belly are burning clean
with fasting, every moment a new song comes out
of the fire.
The fog clears, and new energy makes you
run up the steps in front of you.
Be emptier and cry like reed instruments cry.
Emptier, write secrets with the reed pen.
When you’re full of food and drink, Satan sits
where your spirit should, an ugly metal statue
in place of the Kaaba. When you fast,
good habits gather like friends who want to help.
Fasting is Solomon’s ring. Don’t give it
to some illusion and lose your power,
but even if you have, if you’ve lost all will and control,
they come back when you fast, like soldiers appearing
out of the ground, pennants flying above them.
A table descends to your tents,
Jesus’s table.
Expect to see it, when you fast, this table
spread with other food, better than the broth
of cabbages.
— Rumi
Judaism (David Arnow/Barry Kenter)
From The Observant Life: The Wisdom of Conservative Judaism for Contemporary Jews
Fast Days
Fasting as a spiritual exercise reflects two very different aspects of human nature: the desire to afflict the soul for spiritual gain and the desire to limit the practice of asceticism to certain communal, predetermined rituals that will prevent the kind of excessive self-denial that might conceivably be misconstrued as a rejection of God’s gifts to humankind. Both of these concepts have a place in Judaism. On the one hand, the Torah recognizes the positive place of self-denial in sensitizing people to the degree to which they must be thankful to God for the good things in their lives . On the other hand, by setting aside predetermined fast days, Judaism simultaneously gives license and limit to this tendency. There are three different kinds of fasts within Jewish spiritual and legal tradition: statutory public fasts, occasional public fasts (i.e., those decreed on an ad hoc basis), and private fasts undertaken by individuals for their own private reasons. The second and third of these kinds of fasts are rare today, but many statutory public fasts are well-known and widely observed. The best known in this category, of course, is Yom Kippur, the sole statutory fast decreed by the Torah itself. The other statutory fasts are the Fast of Gedaliah, the Tenth of Teivet , the Fast of Esther, the Seventeenth of Tammuz, and the Ninth of Av.
The Work of Yom Kippur
The themes and mood of Yom Kippur are subtly different from those of Rosh Hashanah [New Year]. The atmosphere in synagogue is more serious and more solemn, as the effort to renounce sin and return unto God in heartfelt repentance intensifies. There is a certain spirit of homey good will on Rosh Hashanah that finds expression in family feasts, in the custom of eating apples dipped in honey, and even in the practice of gathering together for Tashlikh. Yom Kippur, on the other hand, is a day spent entirely, or almost entirely, in the synagogue as worshipers engage in the kind of intense soul searching that comes from an earnest desire to wipe clean the slate of life and begin anew. Yom Kippur calls on each of us to review our lives, to reconsider our ways, and to reimagine our hopes and our dreams. Yom Kippur challenges us to confront honestly the people we have become, to dare to envision the persons we wish we were (and know we could actually become), and then to begin the hard work of moving ourselves from where we are to where we wish to be.
Yom Kippur is a long, exhausting, and difficult day not because of the fasting, but because of the emotional and spiritual concentration required. At the end of this twenty-five -hour journey to the center of the human heart, worshipers emerge exhausted and emotionally spent, yet also refreshed, renewed, and energized to face a new year. All the prohibitions that pertain to Yom Kippur accentuate the seriousness and solemnity of this special day. One is not permitted to eat, drink, bathe , anoint oneself with perfumes or scented oil, wear leather shoes, or engage in marital relations (M Yoma 8: 1, SA Oraḥ Hayyim 611: 1). These restrictions are the halakhic elaboration of the biblical command found at Leviticus 23: 27 to afflict oneself on this day, and the point is very well taken: it is precisely acquisitiveness, gluttony , and indecency that led to the large majority of the sins for which we seek forgiveness on Yom Kippur. But these prohibitions also serve another function by effectively eliminating the distractions of everyday life that would naturally impede concentration on the matters of the moment .
Abstinence on Yom Kippur from food and drink, as well as from different kinds of sensual pleasure, demonstrates not only the control people can exercise over their lives and their appetites, but also the possibility of gaining purposeful , meaningful perspective on life through introspection and ruthless self-analysis. In the minds of most, fasting is the central mitzvah of Yom Kippur. A young person is obliged to begin fasting on Yom Kippur upon becoming a bar or bat mitzvah , but children should be introduced to the concept of fasting at a much earlier age. Indeed, if properly inspired , young children may even wish to fast before they are fully obliged to do so and, within reason, this can be a positive feature of a child’s development . Younger children, for example, can begin by giving up favorite foods for the entire day. Then, as they approach bar and bat mitzvah age, they may want to limit their eating by skipping one meal or two, gradually increasing their ability to fast so that the transition to the full adult obligation is a subtle one. This will not only make the full fast easier for them when they become adults, but it will also help them to think of themselves as a part of a spiritual community even from a very young age. If fasting presents a possible health issue , a physician must be consulted. If the physician says that fasting is likely to cause an individual significant harm, then the patient should observe Yom Kippur without fasting. There is a tendency for people to be overly pious and to insist that they know themselves better than any physician ever could, especially one who forbids them to fast on Yom Kippur. Such behavior is in violation of Jewish law (Klein, p. 210; SA Oraḥ Hayyim 618: 1). In fact, the halakhah is just to the contrary: a physician who forbids fasting must be obeyed, but patients who truly feel unable to fast should listen to their own instincts over the advice of a physician who believes they will be able to fast. In other words, the benefit of the doubt always falls on the side of health and safety. Pregnant women and nursing mothers instructed by their doctors not to fast are permitted to eat on Yom Kippur. For all these people, eating on Yom Kippur becomes permitted. However, they should nevertheless only consume as much food as they feel is necessary. Since such eating is licit, it should be preceded by the appropriate blessing and, if bread is consumed, followed by the Grace after Meals. The latter should include the typical holy day insertions.
… Yom Kippur is a day that is wholly given over to this enterprise. It is as if the entire year is telescoped into this twenty-five-hour viddui experience. Immersing ourselves in prayer and soul-searching for one whole day we achieve so much more than when we are distracted by our everyday concerns. Everything about this day calls on us to get things right with God. Viddui, confession, is the means and s’liḥah, forgiveness, is the goal. We fast, we pray, we isolate ourselves from all other normal distractions in the hope that we will emerge cleansed and renewed. It is one of the most spiritually powerful experiences in Judaism— and as the shofar sounds at the end of Ne’ilah we feel both physically exhausted and spiritually energized by the assurance that one who goes through this day wholeheartedly is guaranteed forgiveness from God.
Christianity (Chuck Chesnavage)
Scripture about fasting is primarily read during the season of Lent. On Ash Wednesday, we hear from the Prophet Joel.
"Even now, says the Lord, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning." Joel 2:12-18.
The Gospel is from Mathew.
"When you fast, you are not to look glum as the hypocrites do. They change the appearance of their faces so that others may see they are fasting. I assure you, they are already repaid. When you fast,, see to it that you groom your hair and wash your face. In that way no one can see you are fasting but your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you." Matthew 6:16-18
Matthew is the only Gospel that has this account on fasting. Why is a good question???
It should be noted that fasting before baptism is NOT mentioned in the scriptures, but does become part of the preparation for baptism in the early church. It is believed to have been borrowed from other Mystery Rites at the time of the early Church, since it was part of their initiation rites.