?How was fasting before Islam
Fasting God Almighty said: “O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you.” This is evidence from the Book of God of the existence of fasting before Islam. Everyone knows that fasting is an act of worship imposed by God Almighty on creation, and fasting is the second pillar of Islam through which the servant draws closer. To his Lord, worshiping God Almighty, staying away from the forbidden things that God Almighty has forbidden us and commanded us to stay away from. But what not everyone knows and many are ignorant of is that fasting existed before the emergence of Islam. The children of Israel and the ancient Egyptians used to fast, but of course the fasting of Muslims differs from the fasting of the ancient Egyptians and the children of Israel. Israel and fasting among Christians. In this topic, we will discuss the method of fasting for each of them.
Fasting among the ancient Egyptians
The ancient Egyptians considered fasting a religious obligation to get closer to the dead by abstaining from food and drink because the dead do not eat or drink. Fasting was divided into the fasting of the people and the fasting of the priests. The people would fast for seventy days in which they would eat nothing but vegetables and drink nothing but water. There is another fast, which is Fasting four days a year and fasting at harvest time. However, the fasting of the priests had specific dates and they abstained from food, drink, and intercourse with women from sunrise until sunset for forty days, believing that it would increase their sanctity.
Fasting among the children of Israel
Fasting was considered by the children of Israel as a sign of sadness and depression and to atone for sins and transgressions, thinking that through fasting the tragedy would not be repeated to them. The children of Israel used to fast many days in the year, such as fasting before the Inauguration Day, which is the thirteenth day of March, and fasting for three weeks extending. From the seventeenth of July to the ninth of August, and these weeks are called the weeks of mourning, and fasting on the first, second, and also the seventeenth days of Yubiu because of their belief that on such days our Master Moses, peace be upon him, destroyed the tablets of the law, and fasting on the ninth of August, on which the First Temple was destroyed, and fasting on the days in which it is read. The Torah is on Monday and Thursday of every week, and they used to fast on the last day of every month, which is called Yom Kippur.
Fasting among Christians
They used to fast fifty-five days, which is the holy fast, and they fasted forty-three days, the Nativity Fast, and the Virgin Mary fasted twenty-five days, and the Apostles fasted between fifteen and forty days, and their fast consisted of abstaining from eating meat, dairy, and their derivatives.
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