What Is Fasting ?

WHAT IS FASTING ? What is fasting? Fasting is training in self-control. It is an exercise in discipline. For this training, something has been chosen that is among the most essential of all human needs—that is food and water. In the month of Ramadan, food and water are given up from morning to evening for 30 days so that a person can develop the ability to leave something even when he desires it. The aim is to teach a person to live in such a way that when he takes something, he does so on the basis of principles, and when he gives up something, he does so with the same sense of discipline. His desire should be governed by conscious decision—not disconnected from it. The act of giving up food and water in the month of fasting is actually a symbolic form of giving up. It does not mean that simply by avoiding food and drink for a fixed number of hours, the purpose of fasting is fulfilled, and after that, a person is free to do whatever he wants. No, the leaving of food and drink during fasting is just the beginning of a greater form of self-restraint. Through this practice of