What are similarities between Muslim and Jewish fasting?

Question

Is there any specific month during the year when Jews are obligated to fast? And what is the general purpose behind fasting

Answer 1

dont know im a 16 year old saudi fasting right now!!!!!!!!!!! im hungry! but i in islam fasting is about feeling the blessing you are in [FOOD] pray for me so i dont from hunger ...RAMADAN IS HARD!!        PEACE!  

Answer 2

Peace and blessings be upon you.

i don't know much about jewish fasting , but i'm muslim.

there is fasting which is necessary , means if didn't do it ,it will be a sin ,and it is the fasting in Ramadan ,30 days and sometimes 29 according to the moon .

We don't eat or drink or do s*x during the period from the dawn till the sunset.

but Muslims especially who is in deep faith and love for the God like to fast at any other days and  in the special religious occasions related to the prophet Mohammed or Moses ,.... ,and they do this for the God ,asking him for forgiveness and the reward in the afterlife.

And of course there are many purposes for fasting :

_for our health :it is well known how it relax the body and make it get rid of many of the poisions and harmful substances inside it and how it organize the processes of digestion and secretion.

_To make us feel the needy and who don't find food to eat or water to drink :to make this as a motivation for us to help them as we felt their feeling.

_to learn how can we overcome our body needs , just we decided to fast this day for the God , we will not listen to our hungry stomach ; it is for us to learn ,to control our needs not to let our needs control us.

With all of that , for fasting laws and  ethics:

For the woman in period ,don't fast .

for the ill person ,don't fast if this harm you.

the little child ,it is not necessary if you can't .

if you are in road travelling and can't tolerate fasting ,it's ok , Let's compensate later.

for who fast ; don't lie or cheat or do any wrong behaviour as this will waste the fasting.

Fasting is an education for the body and soul.

Answer 3

Not eating.

Answer 4

I believe it is almost completely different, but I will tell you what I know and you can say if you see any similarities.

In Judaism, we don't have a month of fasting.  Instead, there are minor fast days and major fast days - 5 minor, 2 major.  The minor fast days are similar to what happens during Ramadan, though not as lengthy.  They begin at sunrise and last until sunset.  During minor fast days, sick people, frail elderly people, pregnant and breastfeeding women, and children under 12/13 (girls/boys) are not obligated to fast, though if it presents no problems, they are expected to at least try.  We can not have food or water, can not brush our teeth, can not chew gum.  While there are special prayers that must be said, we can go to work as normal.

The major fast days - Yom Kippur and Tisha B'Av.  - are much more stringent.  They last for around 25 hours - from 18 minutes before sundown the night before, to roughly 50 minutes after sundown the next day.  There is no eating or drinking (not even water), no bathing, no wearing perfume or leather shoes, no sexual relations - it is like we are in mourning.  On Tisha B'Av we actually sit on low chairs until the day is half over, the way that mourners do when they have just lost a loved one.  These fasts are considered important enough that they are required for everyone over 12/13 - even if you are sick, you must still at least attempt to keep them - the only exception is if your doctor says that fasting will endanger your health.  Pregnant and nursing women and the elderly are not exempt (though there is some leniency in a woman 8 months pregnant - as fasting can sometimes hurt the fetus or cause early labor - a doctor's opinion must be consulted. By the ninth month, however, an early labor is no longer considered life-threatening to mother or child, and the woman must attempt to fast).  On Yom Kippur we are not allowed to go to work or do any of the prohibited activities that are considered work - we spend almost the entire day in synagogue, in prayer.  

After a fast day ends, we do not celebrate with a feast, either.  For the major fasts and one of the minor ones, we are not allowed to eat meat or drink wine until mid-day the day after it ends.  Instead, we break the fast with a rough meal - some bread, maybe leftovers, or bagels and lox.  The purpose of fasting in Judaism is to commemorate days when horrible things befell the Jews (Yom Kippur is an exception to this - it is about repentance and atoning for our sins in the past year).  As such, we fast as an act of repentance - to concentrate only on G-d and our prayers, as a way to say that ourselves and our bodies' needs come secondary to those of G-d.  So having a festive meal after a fast ends would be unseemly - like saying okay then, everything is better now, that's not so bad, when in fact we are still recovering from mourning - which deserves a longer period before we shake it off and go back to our regular lives.

So I think there are more differences than similarities, though both religions see fasting as important for spiritual reasons.  

Answer 5

Michelle R - your answer ROCKS!

In addition, a small detail.  My husband is a diabetic.  During fast, he can have 1 oz of water every ten minutes.  This is to keep his body hydrated so his blood sugars won't go completely out of wack.  Both our Rabbi and his doctor came up with the exact solution.  This is only for short fast days.  He is not allowed to participate in full fast days because of the need of insulin.

Answer 6

There are specific days in which Jews fast. There is no entire month, like Ramadan, in which Jews fast.

According to the Torah, only one day is mandated to fast, that being Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

Other fast days are rabbinically mandated.

Of all fast days, all of them are from dawn to nightfall except for Yom Kippur and Tisha B'Av (9th of Av, day on which both Temples were destroyed) which are 25 hour sunset to following nightfall fasts.

In addition, Judaism allows an individual to take on their own personal fast days (this is relatively rare these days). However, one is not allowed to do so on Jewish holidays in which it is actually forbidden to fast.