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Ahimsa
Guest
As Ramadan starts tomorrow, I expect a few Christians to start fasting.
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FabiusMaximus
Guest
That makes me uneasy.As Ramadan starts tomorrow, I expect a few Christians to start fasting.
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Ahimsa
Guest
What’s so bad about fasting?
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MartinJordan
Guest
The real test will be if the Christian doesn’t start binging after the fast is over for the day:thumbsup:
MJ
MJ
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chevalier
Guest
Motivations can be. There’s much room for controversy in sharing in a practice of a different religion. According to my knowledge, ramadan is related to Abraham and not Muhammad, but I’d still be cautious not to give an impression of indifferentism, as chivalrous as it may be to share in a neighbour’s fast to support him as a person. I don’t see a problem in supporting a Muslim person but I see a problem in supporting Islam, at least where it diverges from the Judeo-Christian root and embarks on Muhammad’s own introductions, which I do not see as divinely inspired.
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GaryTaylor
Guest
Absolutely nothing as long as one is in the correct state of heath to begin with. The thinking that it evokes a higher state of spiritual awareness is up for debate. But thats another issue.
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FabiusMaximus
Guest
Because I am suspicious of the motivations.
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ConstantineTG
Guest
Its the start of the Dormition fast for Byzantine Rite Christians (Catholic and Orthodox) that follows the Gregorian Calendar. 
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hn160
Guest
Muslims fast the daylight hours, but feast at night, that is fasting?
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ConstantineTG
Guest
Fasting in the West is different from fasting in the East. Muslims have taken a lot of their ritual from Eastern Christians. For example, in the Byzantine Rite, Advent is a 40-day period instead of 4 Sundays before Christmas. Advent is a period of fasting. The fasting ends only on Christmas Day itself. Yet in the Ukrainian tradition, there is a Christmas Eve meal which is a 12-course meal, representing the 12 Apostles. Now you’d ask how is a 12-course meal fasting? Well, its a meatless meal, there is fish and vegetables. But of course its because fasting in the East simply has a different concept that what the West has come to understand as Fasting.
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famdigy
Guest
I would argue that many Muslims only follow the letter of the law without fully appreciating the spirit of the fast. Aside from all of the health benefits of fasting (from personal experience). In essence, denying ourselves our usual comfort and ease in this month is meant to spiritually uplift us.
The fast is not just about staying away from food during the day. It serves as a reminder of the thirst and hunger we will go through on the day of judgement. it’s a catalyst to give in charity to the poor and needy. To look after our elderly and be kind to our little ones, connect with our kin and to look after orphans in particular. To keep our tongues, eyes, and ears what’s been forbidden to speak of, look at and listen to.
It’s an opportunity for us to strive and turn a new leaf in our lives by repenting to God, asking for forgiveness, improving our manners and our interactions with others.
These are universal values every good person naturally gravitates towards.
Whether it’s a workout program or a diet program or a lifestyle change or educational en devour, we are always joining some sort of program to improve ourselves. This is Islam’s Spiritual program. The only caveat is the person fasting has to make full use of it to achieve the goals of Ramadan.
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Ahimsa
Guest
Very interesting!Its the start of the Dormition fast for Byzantine Rite Christians (Catholic and Orthodox) that follows the Gregorian Calendar.
“She in all due justice stands not only near, but at the right hand of God, since where Christ is enthroned in the Heavens, She also stands there, having gone up from earth to Heaven. Not only does She love, She is also loved in return more than anyone else, according to the laws of nature, and because She is His true Throne. Isaiah also saw this Throne amidst the choir of the Seraphim and he called it high and exalted (Is. 6:1), thus indicating that the Mother of God is exalted above the Heavenly Powers.”
oca.org/FSsermons-details.asp?SID=4&ID=9
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LDNCatholic
Guest
I wonder does he fast for Lent? Or Advent?As Ramadan starts tomorrow, I expect a few Christians to start fasting.
This is foolish.
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rbarcia
Guest
Why even mention that you are fasting, are you looking for praise?
Matthew 6
16 “Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 17 But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
Matthew 6
16 “Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 17 But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
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Publisher
Guest
I think it is as much fasting as when some Christians abstain from meat on Fridays in order to “fast” yet gorge themselves on fish/seafood…doesn’t seem like much of a “sacrifice” to me to not eat a small amount of red meat yet “pig out” on seafood and claim they are “fasting”.
I know Friends who fast with our Muslim brothers and sisters…they confess a deep spiritual experience in the practice.
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Cavaradossi
Guest
You must not be familiar with the original fasting tradition of the Church, where we abstain from meat, dairy, eggs, fish, wine and oil every Wednesday and Friday, as well as maintaining the same abstinence for every weekday (with wine and oil allowed on weekends) during all of great Lent and for the two weeks prior to the Dormition of the Theotokos (that fast, as some have mentioned, begins today if you are following the new calendar). Then there are the apostles’ fast (which can be anywhere from 1-6 weeks, depending on when Pascha happens) and the nativity fast (the 40 days leading up to the Nativity), which have fish, oil and wine allowed on all days except for Wednesdays and Fridays, which observe strict fasting, and also the two weeks leading up to the Nativity which also observe strict fasting (with oil and wine allowed on the weekends).
To say that Christians merely abstain from meat on Fridays and instead pig out on fish is a gross oversimplification of authentic Christian fasting practice.
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hn160
Guest
My problem is that when Christians fast with Muslims, you are giving credence that Islam is equal to Christianity and that it doesn’t matter if you believe in the Christian God ( Three in One ) or the Muslim god.
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Publisher
Guest
We worship the same God…there is no “Muslim god”…there is the Muslim understanding of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob…but not a "different’ God…My problem is that when Christians fast with Muslims, you are giving credence that Islam is equal to Christianity and that it doesn’t matter if you believe in the Christian God ( Three in One ) or the Muslim god.
Quesion…since the Jews don’t believe in the “three in one”…do they too worship a “different god”?
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Publisher
Guest
But the comment about Muslim fasting is not a “gros oversimplification of authentic Muslim fasting practice?”
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