Fasting in Islam 

Islam has prescribed and retained the ritual of fasting throughout centuries as a means for purifying the soul of a man in order to draw near to his Creator by selfish motives and base desires of self.  It has a special status among all the devotional worships because it is difficult to perform.  It puts a bridle on the most uncontrolled, savage human emotions. 

 The most unruly human emotions are pride, avarice, gluttony, lust, envy, and anger.  These emotions, by their nature are not easy to control, thus a person must strive hard to discipline them.  Fasting helps do that. 

The Islamic calendar consists of twelve lunar months. Muslims measure their year by the cycles of the moon rather than the sun, so the Muslim lunar year is eleven days shorter than the Christian solar year. Muslims are forbidden to adjust their year by adding an extra month, as the Jews do to keep their lunar calendar in synch with the seasons.  

Hence, the months of the Muslim year do not relate to the seasons.  Each month lasts 29 or 30 days and occurs during different seasons of the year.  A new month begins when the evening new moon is sighted.  The ninth month is called Ramadan and is dedicated to fasting.  

It is pronounced Ramazan by Indo-Pakistanis. Below we list the virtues and rewards of this month and fasting in general.  In the next lesson we will learn how to fast.  In the third and final installment, we will discuss the social aspects of Ramadan.  In the fourth and last lesson, we will learn about the end of month activities.