Nearly all the religions in the world especially the most well-known religions all observe some sort of fasting whether it an obligation or suggested. Here we have three guidelines which all the faiths that observe fasting follow and wish to gain from fasting which is why they pursue it.
Must refrain and not consume food and drinks
All religions that observe fasting all understand and agree that no food or drinks should be consumed during the time assigned for the fast or then it is not acceptable. However certain modified versions of fasting in certain faiths permit the drinking water however historically it is not accepted.
As fasting is a religious requirement for certain religions the believers must complete the fast to the standard required as it has many spiritual meanings behind it.
Refraining from food and water allows the individual to understand the suffering that many poor individuals around the globe have to experience on a daily basis.
Fasting is a form of worship for most religions that observe it, it must be understood and performed correctly so that the worship is accepted, and that God/Gods bless you for pursuing this action.
Abstaining from food and drink helps with the other religious concepts that are related to fasting such as practicing of self-discipline and spiritual growth.
Appreciate your blessings
Appreciating and understanding the blessings upon you are huge factors of fasting and aid in the process of worship.
In Islam appreciating what God has blessed you with is one of the most important guideline rules of Ramadan in which they observe. This teaches the Muslim community that everything comes and goes through God and that God is the one who provides and sustains them, they should constantly give thanks to God.
Many other faiths also obtain and follow this reasoning as everything is temporary and that they are not the true providers, but God/Gods are.
Religions like Hinduism also appreciate their blessings by fasting. Hindus often voluntarily show their thanks and appreciation by offering a fast to their favourite Gods.
In Judaism especially when observing Yom Kippur they display their gratitude to God for forgiving the Israelites and aim to receive more forgiveness by fasting.
Observe self-discipline and restraint
Self-discipline and self-control are extremely important in both religious and everyday aspects of one’s life.
In Buddhism, Buddhists have the belief that one of the best-practiced methods to develop self-discipline and restraint and implement it into your life is through fasting. Self-discipline leads to the acquirement of self-control making the individual more conscious of their actions. Buddhists believe that to obtain self-control you must struggle against your own worldly needs to truly understand and obtain self-control. This is the main reason why fasting is highly recommended to imply in your life in Buddhism.
Many of the other religions that also observe fasting as one of their main practices also follow this reasoning as to why fasting is important.
In the religion of Islam Muslims believe like Buddhists that fasting is one of the best methods to imply in your life to teach you self-discipline to obtain self-control.
In Ramadan Muslims do not only observe physical fasting but also spiritual fasting as they abstain from engaging in harmful and sinful actions, these actions are believed to blacken one’s soul and form negative and inappropriate thoughts within the believer’s mind. Therefore, Islam encourages self-control, so they believe does not fall into temptation and sin.
Many of the faiths all pursue fasting to remove sin from their hearts and actions so that they can purely and wholeheartedly engage in good actions to aid their spiritual growth.
Thank you for reading this post and we hope you have learnt something new about fasting and why many religions implement it in their practices.
