What happened to the "Ramadan" of the jews and christians?

[AbuMubarak]

History of the Fast

Question: The Quran says that it was an obligation on previous nations to fast
also. Can you give some details about their fast?


Answer: Like the prayer, the fast is also an ancient ritual of worship. In the
above quoted verses of Surah Baqarah, it is mentioned that fasting has been made
obligatory for the Muslims, just as it was made so for earlier peoples. Consequently,
this is a reality that as a ritual of worship that trains and disciplines the
soul, it has existed in various forms in all religions.

The civilizations of Nineveh and Babylon are very ancient. Once these places
were inhabited by the Assyrians. The Prophet Jonah (sws) was sent to them. Initially,
these people rejected Jonah (sws) but later professed faith in him. On this occasion,
their repentance and turning back has been mentioned in the Bible in the following
words:

The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest
to the least, put on sackcloth. When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he
rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth
and sat down in the dust. Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh: By the decree
of the king and his nobles: Do not let any man or beast, herd or flock, taste
anything; do not let them eat or drink. But let man and beast be covered with
sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways
and their violence. (Jonah 3:5-8)

In the Arabia of pre-Islamic times, the fast was a well known ritual of worship.
The mere existence of the word 'Sawm' in Arabic is evidence enough to show that
the Arabs were fully aware of it. Dr Jawwad 'Ali writes:

Some historical narratives mention that the Quraysh used to fast on the day of
'Ashurah. On this day, they would gather, celebrate Eid and enshroud the Ka'bah.
According to the historians, they fasted on this day to atone for a sin they
had committed in the days of Jahiliyyah - a sin whose burden laid heavily upon
them. They would fast on this day to express their gratitude to God for saving
them from the evil consequences of this sin. It is mentioned in certain narratives
that Muhammad (sws) would also fast on this day before his prophethood … another
reason that historians have cited for this fast observed by the Quraysh is that
when once they were struck with famine, the Almighty rescued them from it, and
in order to show their gratitude to Him they started to observe this fast.

In the Shari'ah of the People of the Book too, the fast is a common worship ritual.
The Bible mentions fasts at a number of places and besides using this word it
has used certain other expressions like 'to sadden one's self' and 'self denial'
to connote it.

It is recorded in Exodus:

Then the LORD said to Moses: 'Write down these words, for in accordance with
these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel'. Moses was there
with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water.
And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant - the Ten Commandments.
(34:27-28)

It is recorded in Leviticus:

This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month
you must sadden and not do any work - whether native born or an alien living
among you - because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you.
Then, before the LORD, you will be clean from all your sins. It is a sabbath
of rest, and you must sadden yourselves; it is a lasting ordinance. (16: 29-31)
It is recorded in Judges:

Then the Israelites, all the people, went up to Bethel, and there they sat weeping
before the LORD. They fasted that day until evening and presented burnt offerings
and fellowship offerings to the LORD. (20:26)

It is recorded in Samuel:

They mourned and wept and fasted till evening for Saul and his son Jonathan,
and for the army of the LORD and the house of Israel, because they had fallen
by the sword. (2 Samuel 1:12)

David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and went into his house and spent
the nights lying on the ground. (2 Samuel 1:12)

It is recorded in Nehemiah:

On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together,
fasting and wearing sackcloth and having dust on their heads. Those of Israelite
descent had separated themselves from all foreigners. They stood in their places
and confessed their sins and the wickedness of their fathers. (9:1-2)

It is recorded in the Psalms:

Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth and humbled myself with fasting. When
my prayers returned to me unanswered. (35:13)

It is recorded in Jeremiah:

So you go to the house of the Lord on a day of fasting and read to the people
from the scroll the words of the Lord that you wrote as I dictated. (36:6)

It is recorded in Joel:

The day of the LORD is great; it is dreadful. Who can endure it? 'Even now,'
declares the LORD, 'return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping
and mourning.' Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your
God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love,
and he relents from sending calamity. (2:11-13)

It is recorded in Zechariah:

Again the word of the LORD Almighty came to me. This is what the LORD Almighty
says: 'The fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh and tenth months will become joyful
and glad occasions and happy festivals for Judah. Therefore love truth and peace.'
(8:18-19)

It is recorded in Matthew:

'When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their
faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received
their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,
so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your
Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will
reward you. (6:16-18)

It is recorded in Acts:

While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said: 'Set apart
for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them'. So after
they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.
(13:2-3)

This is a brief history of the ritual of the fast. It is evident from this overview
that like the prayer, the fast too was well known to the Arabs. They were fully
aware of its religious status and its details viz-a-viz its requisites and stipulations.
Consequently, when the Qur'an directed them to fast, these requisites and stipulations
were not unknown to them: in fact, the words in which this directive was given,
shows that they should observe it as an obligatory ritual which they knew as
an age old ritual and an age old Sunnah of the prophets. Viewed thus, the source
of the fast is the consensus and Tawatur (practical perpetuation) of the Muslims.
The only thing that the Qur'an did was to make the fast an obligatory ritual,
stipulating certain principles of lenience for the sick and for the travelers
and to answer certain questions which were raised by the Muslims regarding the
fast.


Studying Islam
www.studying-islam.org (http://www.studying-islam.org)

[History]

Yom Kippur



Level: Basic

http://www.jewfaq.org/hebrew/yvm_kpvr.gif

Yom Kippur is probably the most important holiday of the Jewish year. Many Jews who do not observe any other Jewish custom will refrain from work, fast and/or attend synagogue (http://www.jewfaq.org/defs/synagogue.htm) services on this day. Yom Kippur occurs on the 10th day of Tishri (http://www.jewfaq.org/defs/tishri.htm). The holiday is instituted at Leviticus 23:26 et seq.

The name "Yom Kippur" means "Day of Atonement," and that pretty much explains what the holiday is. It is a day set aside to "afflict the soul," to atone for the sins of the past year. In Days of Awe (http://www.jewfaq.org/defs/days.htm), I mentioned the "books" in which G-d (http://www.jewfaq.org/defs/g-d.htm) inscribes all of our names. On Yom Kippur, the judgment entered in these books is sealed. This day is, essentially, your last appeal, your last chance to change the judgment, to demonstrate your repentance and make amends.

As I noted in Days of Awe, Yom Kippur atones only for sins between man and G-d, not for sins against another person. To atone for sins against another person, you must first seek reconciliation with that person, righting the wrongs you committed against them if possible. That must all be done before Yom Kippur.

Yom Kippur is a complete Sabbath; no work can be performed on that day. It is well-known that you are supposed to refrain from eating and drinking (even water) on Yom Kippur. It is a complete, 25-hour fast beginning before sunset on the evening before Yom Kippur and ending after nightfall on the day of Yom Kippur. The Talmud (http://www.jewfaq.org/defs/talmud.htm) also specifies additional restrictions that are less well-known: washing and bathing, anointing one's body (with cosmetics, deodorants, etc.), wearing leather shoes (Orthodox (http://www.jewfaq.org/defs/orthodox.htm) Jews routinely wear canvas sneakers under their dress clothes on Yom Kippur), and engaging in sexual relations are all prohibited on Yom Kippur.

As always, any of these restrictions can be lifted where a threat to life or health is involved. In fact, children under the age of nine and women in childbirth (from the time labor begins until three days after birth) are not permitted to fast, even if they want to. Older children and women from the third to the seventh day after childbirth are permitted to fast, but are permitted to break the fast if they feel the need to do so. People with other illnesses should consult a physician and a rabbi (http://www.jewfaq.org/defs/rabbi.htm) for advice.

Most of the holiday is spent in the synagogue (http://www.jewfaq.org/defs/synagogue.htm), in prayer. In Orthodox (http://www.jewfaq.org/defs/orthodox.htm) synagogues, services begin early in the morning (8 or 9 AM) and continue until about 3 PM. People then usually go home for an afternoon nap and return around 5 or 6 PM for the afternoon and evening services, which continue until nightfall. The services end at nightfall, with the blowing of the tekiah gedolah, a long blast on the shofar. See Rosh Hashanah (http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday2.htm) for more about the shofar and its characteristic blasts.

It is customary to wear white on the holiday, which symbolizes purity and calls to mind the promise that our sins shall be made as white as snow (Is. 1:18). Some people wear a kittel, the white robe in which the dead are buried (http://www.jewfaq.org/defs/burial.htm). Yom Kippur Liturgy



See also Jewish Liturgy (http://www.jewfaq.org/liturgy.htm) generally.

The liturgy for Yom Kippur is much more extensive than for any other day of the year. Liturgical changes are so far-reaching that a separate, special prayer book for Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah (http://www.jewfaq.org/defs/rosh.htm). This prayer book is called the machzor.

The evening service that begins Yom Kippur is commonly known as Kol Nidre, named for the prayer that begins the service. "Kol nidre" means "all vows," and in this prayer, we ask G-d to annul all personal vows we may make in the next year. It refers only to vows between the person making them and G-d, such as "If I pass this test, I'll pray every day for the next 6 months!" Click the speaker to hear a portion of the traditional tune for this prayer. http://www.jewfaq.org/graphics/sound.gif (http://www.jewfaq.org/sound/kolnidre.mid)

This prayer has often been held up by anti-Semites as proof that Jews are untrustworthy (we do not keep our vows), and for this reason the Reform movement (http://www.jewfaq.org/defs/reform.htm) removed it from the liturgy for a while. In fact, the reverse is true: we make this prayer because we take vows so seriously that we consider ourselves bound even if we make the vows under duress or in times of stress when we are not thinking straight. This prayer gave comfort to those who were converted to Christianity by torture in various inquisitions, yet felt unable to break their vow to follow Christianity. In recognition of this history, the Reform movement restored this prayer to its liturgy.

There are many additions to the regular liturgy (there would have to be, to get such a long service <grin>). Perhaps the most important addition is the confession of the sins of the community, which is inserted into the Shemoneh Esrei (Amidah) prayer. Note that all sins are confessed in the plural (we have done this, we have done that), emphasizing communal responsibility for sins.

There are two basic parts of this confession: Ashamnu, a shorter, more general list (we have been treasonable, we have been aggressive, we have been slanderous...), and Al Chet, a longer and more specific list (for the sin we sinned before you forcibly or willingly, and for the sin we sinned before you by acting callously...) Frequent petitions for forgiveness are interspersed in these prayers. There's also a catch-all confession: "Forgive us the breach of positive commands and negative commands, whether or not they involve an act, whether or not they are known to us."

It is interesting to note that these confessions do not specifically address the kinds of ritual sins that some people think are the be-all-and-end-all of Judaism. There is no "for the sin we have sinned before you by eating pork, and for the sin we have sinned against you by driving on Shabbat" (though obviously these are implicitly included in the catch-all). The vast majority of the sins enumerated involve mistreatment of other people, most of them by speech (http://www.jewfaq.org/defs/speech.htm) (offensive speech, scoffing, slander, talebearing, and swearing falsely, to name a few). These all come into the category of sin known as "lashon ha-ra (http://www.jewfaq.org/defs/lashon.htm)" (lit: the evil tongue), which is considered a very serious sin in Judaism.

The concluding service of Yom Kippur, known as Ne'ilah, is one unique to the day. It usually runs about 1 hour long. The ark (a cabinet where the scrolls of the Torah are kept) is kept open throughout this service, thus you must stand throughout the service. There is a tone of desperation in the prayers of this service. The service is sometimes referred to as the closing of the gates; think of it as the "last chance" to get in a good word before the holiday ends. The service ends with a very long blast of the shofar. See Rosh Hashanah (http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday2.htm) for more about the shofar and its characteristic blasts.

After Yom Kippur, one should begin preparing for the next holiday, Sukkot (http://www.jewfaq.org/defs/sukkot.htm), which begins five days later. List of Dates



Yom Kippur will occur on the following days of the Gregorian calendar:

Jewish Year 5764: sunset October 5, 2003 - nightfall October 6, 2003
Jewish Year 5765: sunset September 24, 2004 - nightfall September 25, 2004
Jewish Year 5766: sunset October 12, 2005 - nightfall October 13, 2005
Jewish Year 5767: sunset October 1, 2006 - nightfall October 2, 2006
Jewish Year 5768: sunset September 21, 2007 - nightfall September 22, 2007
For additional holiday dates, see Links to Jewish Calendars (http://www.jewfaq.org/calendar.htm#Links).

--http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday4.htm