Rituals compared
Fasting across the world
Why go without food? Fasting turns a bodily need into a religious act: by giving up food, drink or particular foods for a set time, people mark repentance, mourning, preparation for a feast or the search for a vision. Traditions differ on who fasts (everyone, adults only, monks, initiates), on what is given up (all food, only daylight eating, grains, meat) and on the purpose, from atonement and self-discipline to transcendence or, in Jainism, a deliberate death.
One borrowing is documented: Hadith literature derives the early Muslim fast of Ashura from the Jewish fast of Yom Kippur, which Muhammad found observed in Medina. The Christian Lent and the Buddhist, Jain, Hindu, Daoist and Native American fasts arose independently as far as is known.
Across the world
| Version | Tradition | What is done, and why |
|---|---|---|
| The fast of Yom Kippur 500 BCE | Judaism | On the 10th of Tishrei, the Day of Atonement, observant Jews keep a full fast with other forms of abstinence, accompanied by long prayer services and confession of sins. The day centres on atonement and repentance; in Temple times it was the occasion of the sacrificial service commanded in Leviticus 16. |
| Fast of Ashura 622 CE | Sunni Islam | A fast on the 10th of Muharram, observed by Muhammad and his followers after arriving in Medina; it became optional once the Ramadan fast was prescribed and is now kept voluntarily by Sunnis. Hadith reports that Muhammad saw the Jews of Medina fasting on this day and adopted the practice. |
| Sawm in Ramadan 624 CE | Islam | During the ninth lunar month, able adult Muslims abstain from food, drink and sexual activity from dawn to sunset, with exemptions for illness, travel and pregnancy. It is the fourth pillar of Islam, practised to develop self-control, piety and compassion for those in need. |
| Lent 325 CE | Christianity | A forty-day season of fasting, prayer and penitence before Easter; in the Roman Rite it runs from Ash Wednesday to Holy Thursday, and Eastern churches keep it as Great Lent. It echoes the forty days Jesus spent fasting in the desert before his public ministry. |
| Fasting at Paryushana 450 CE | Jainism | Jains fast on holy days and especially during Paryushana, an eight-day (Svetambara) or ten-day (Digambara) monsoon festival; fasts range from a single daily meal with boiled water to full fasts. Fasting is a form of self-control in line with the teachings of Mahavira, and monks fast as penance for errors. The year is approximate: the Kalpa Sutra that governs the festival was written down at the Valabhi council in the 5th century CE, though tradition credits it to the ancient sage Bhadrabahu. |
| Sallekhana 600 CE | Jainism | A supplementary vow in which a Jain voluntarily fasts to death by gradually reducing food and liquids; inscriptions after 600 CE record it at Shravanabelagola. It is seen as thinning the passions and the body, destroying karma that causes rebirth. |
| Ekadashi | Hinduism | On the eleventh lunar day of each half-month, Vaishnava Hindus fast fully or partially, and any meal eaten avoids grains and legumes. The fast is offered as worship to Vishnu and practised for self-discipline. |
| Uposatha 500 BCE | Buddhism | On observance days tied to the moon, devout lay Buddhists take the Eight Precepts, which include not eating after midday, in imitation of a rule for monks. The Buddha is said to have taught the Uposatha for the cleansing of the defiled mind. |
| Bigu, grain avoidance 168 BCE | Taoism (Daoism) | Daoist adepts avoid grains, or sometimes all food, often combined with breathing exercises; the oldest documented grain-avoidance regimen is a Mawangdui manuscript of 168 BCE. It was associated with reaching transcendence (xian) and with starving the grain-eating Three Corpses that shorten life. |
| Nesteia at the Thesmophoria 430 BCE | Ancient Greek Religion | The second day of the women-only Thesmophoria festival of Demeter, called the nesteia, was a day of fasting. The fast imitated Demeter's mourning for the loss of her daughter. |
| The Nineteen-Day Fast 1848 CE | Bahá’í Faith | Bahais aged 15 to 70 fast from sunrise to sunset for the nineteen days of the month of Loftiness, ending at Naw-Ruz in March, with exemptions for illness and pregnancy. Instituted by the Bab in the Persian Bayan and confirmed by Bahaullah in the Kitab-i-Aqdas, it is practised as abstinence from carnal desires. |
| Vision quest | Indigenous American Traditions | In some Native American cultures a young person, prepared by elders, fasts completely for four days and nights alone at a chosen sacred site, praying for a vision. The vision is sought to reveal the person's purpose and role in the community; "vision quest" is an English umbrella term for varied rites. |
| Fast Sunday 1896 CE | Latter-day Saints | On one Sunday a month, usually the first, Latter-day Saints fast for 24 hours and give the money saved as a fast offering; the fast day moved from the first Thursday to Sunday in 1896. The offering funds help for those in need, and the day includes a testimony meeting. |