Islam and Christianity: A shared encounter in fasting

At every joint religious celebration between Christians and Muslims, many of us find ourselves wondering why we so often fail to speak openly about the rich common values that unite us and could bring us closer in shared encounters of faith.

For nearly twenty years, we have celebrated together the National Feast of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary. Last year, for the first time in the history of Islamic-Christian relations, this was followed by a joint celebration at the Church of Fidar on “Job’s Wednesday,” during which Christians were introduced to longstanding Beirut Muslim customs and traditions associated with that day.

Soon, we will gather again to commemorate the “Seven Sleepers,” known in Islam as Ahl al-Kahf (the People of the Cave). Since 1954, Louis Massignon brought Muslims and Christians together each year on the last Sunday of July at an ancient church bearing the name of the Seven Sleepers in Brittany, France.

In certain years, Muslims and Christians even enter periods of fasting at the same time, meeting spiritually in what resembles a relay between a departing fast and one that is beginning.

It is well known that although fasting is an Islamic obligation, its legislation draws from the revealed religions that preceded it. In Judaism, there are seven separate fast days, among them the Fast of Atonement, the only day explicitly mandated by Jewish law, observed on the tenth day of the seventh month according to the Hebrew calendar. It is observed from sunset to sunset the following day, during which one abstains from food, drink, marital relations, perfume, leather garments, and bathing. The other fast days begin at sunrise. The purpose of fasting is not hunger or thirst, but repentance and the seeking of forgiveness.

Christians fast for forty consecutive days, though the manner of fasting varies among denominations and traditions. In general, Christians abstain from certain foods and drinks during specified periods of the day and night. Among the recommended practices is not to display hardship or fatigue. As Jesus says in the Gospel:

When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, 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 others 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.

In addition to the prescribed fast, the Pharisees fasted every Monday and Thursday as an expression of personal devotion, considering Thursday the day the Prophet Moses ascended the mountain to receive revelation, and Monday the day he descended.

As for the pre-Islamic Arabs, they were not familiar with fasting except through what was practiced in Judaism and Christianity, or among the Hanifs who followed what remained of the religion of Abraham and Ishmael. It is reported that Quraysh fasted on the day of Ashura and clothed the Kaaba with a new covering after a drought was lifted, fasting in gratitude and reverence. Yet more accurate accounts suggest that their fasting did not necessarily mean abstaining from food and drink, but rather refraining from speech for limited periods.

In its early phase, Islamic fasting also included the fast of Ashura. According to narrations reported by al-Bukhari, when the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) arrived in Medina, he found the Jews fasting on that day. They said: “This is a great day; it is the day on which God saved Moses and drowned Pharaoh’s people. So Moses fasted it in gratitude.” The Prophet responded: “I am closer to Moses than they are,” and he fasted it and instructed others to fast. Initially obligatory, this fast later became recommended after the obligation of fasting the month of Ramadan was established.

Whatever the historical narrations, the Qur’an clearly commands fasting during the month of Ramadan, presenting it as a continuation of the fasting prescribed for earlier communities:

“O you who believe, fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may attain piety… The month of Ramadan in which the Qur’an was revealed as guidance for mankind and clear proofs of guidance and criterion."

So whoever witnesses the month, let him fast it… God intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship.

One of the subtleties of this Qur’anic passage is its distinction between sawm and siyam. When speaking of Mary (peace be upon her), God commands her to fast from speech rather than respond to accusations:

So eat and drink and be content. And if you see any human being, say: I have vowed to the Most Merciful a fast, so I will not speak today to any human being.

In the verses concerning Ramadan, siyam refers to abstaining from food, drink, and marital relations:

“Eat and drink until the white thread of dawn becomes distinct from the black thread; then complete your Sawm till the nightfall.”

But the sawm of Mary did not involve abstaining from food or drink, as God commanded her to eat and drink while simultaneously vowing a fast. Here, fasting meant refraining from speech. Mary knew that when her people saw her carrying her child, they would accuse her unjustly. She knew she was innocent, and that when falsely accused, one’s instinct is to defend oneself immediately. Yet she was commanded to remain silent, patient, obedient, and trusting in God.

In this sense, fasting becomes refinement and discipline of the soul, abstaining from harmful, hurtful, degrading, or shameful speech. The conclusion of siyam does not mark the end of sawm, for it is an ongoing training of the self when faced with insult or harm. If one enters the month of fasting without patience, responding to offense with offense, then one’s share of that month may be nothing more than hunger and thirst.

As in the earlier revealed traditions, the purpose of fasting is not hunger or deprivation, but the restraint of vice, mastery over instincts, and attachment to God. Fasting is not limited to abstaining from food and drink; it requires guarding the eyes, the ears, the hands, the feet, and all the limbs from wrongdoing. Its aim is to lead the believer beyond its outward form toward its inner spirit and higher purpose.

How many exhaust themselves in hunger and thirst while mixing obedience with sin, turning fasting into mere habit and imitation. As the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

“Perhaps a fasting person gains nothing from his fast except hunger.”