The Straight Way of Grace Ministry, INC

“Exposing the Truth about Fasting in Islam”

by Usama Dakdok

Part 1

In this article, we will examine the Muslims’ claim of practicing fasting during the month of Ramadan. Fasting is one of the major pillars of Islam, which is practiced and celebrated by Muslims worldwide for the past 1400 years.

Let us first look at reasons why Muslims are commanded to fast. Allah commanded Muslim believers in Qur’an 2:183-185 to fast: O you who have believed, fasting is decreed to you as it was decreed to those before you, perhaps you may fear. Numbered days, so whoever among you who was sick or traveling, so [he will fast] same number of other days. And as for those who are not able to keep it, the atonement of this will be the feeding of a poor one. And he who volunteers good, so it is good for him; and if you fast, it is good for you, if you were knowing. The month of Ramadan, in which the Qur'ān was sent down a guidance to the people and proofs of the guidance and of the distinguisher, so whoever among you witnesses the month, so let him fast it. And whoever was sick or traveling, so a like number of days. Allah desires the ease for you and does not desire the difficulty for you and that you complete the number. And that you may Kaber Allah [that is to call “Allah Akber,” i.e. Allah is bigger] for his guidance, and perhaps you may be thankful.

From these verses we learn that Muslims claim that they fast during the month of Ramadan simply because they are copying previous people such as the Jews and Christians, The number of days they claim to fast are different from one year to another. It starts after a feast, and it will be a continuation of feasting all during the nights of the month of Ramadan, and then it will end with an even greater feast. When Muslims, with their own naked eyes, see the new moon of the month of Ramadan, this is the first night when Muslims eat all night long until the morning comes. This continues until the new month’s moon appears in the sky, and that is when Muslims have the last feast of that year.

How many actual days do Muslims really fast? The answer is none. What does the word “day” mean? It is actually the Hebrew word “yom,” and the Arabs use the same word, which simply is a 24 hour period which biblically starts at sunset and goes to the following sunset. According to Qur’an 2:187: … Allah has decreed to you and eat and drink until you can discern a white thread from a black thread at the daybreak. Then fulfill the fast till night, …

By doing so, if Muslims practice Islam in the homeland of Islam, Saudi Arabia, they will roughly fast half of the 24 hour day, which is during the daytime, and then they will eat during the second half of the day, which is the night. The length of the daytime will fluctuate between summer and winter. Notice that during the month of Ramadan, Muslims work less. The reason is because they are fasting. However, in reality, they are just simply exchanging the night for the day, as statistics show that during the month of Ramadan, Muslims consume three times the amount of food than any other month of the year. As a result, the majority of Muslims gain weight during the month of Ramadan.

Now, since the lunar year is shorter than the solar year, the month of Ramadan will come around two weeks earlier than the previous year. Here we must ask a question. How many hours do Muslims fast in other parts of the world? For example, if the month of Ramadan just happens to come in the summer, how many hours do Muslims fast in Greenland? The answer is many days because the sun does not go down. The opposite is true in the winter, for it is dark for many days in Greenland, and Muslims will be eating for many long days and fasting very little.

If Muslims cannot fast because of sickness or traveling, they must fast the replacement days later as we mention above in Qur’an 2:183. Now let me share with you other reasons why Muslims fast.

Fasting is used as atonement for missing the pilgrimage, just as in the case of sickness, as we read in Qur’an 2:196: And complete the pilgrimage and the visit to Allah. So if you are prevented, so do whatever offering will be the easiest, and do not shave your heads until the offering reaches the place of sacrifice. So whoever among you was sick or has an injury of his head, so its atonement is fasting or alms or an offering. So when you are secure, so whoever profits himself with the visit to the pilgrimage, so [give] whatever offering will be the easiest. So whoever does not find [something to offer], so fasting three days in the pilgrimage and seven when you return; these are ten complete. This is for whom his family is not present at the forbidden mosque. And fear Allah, and know that Allah is severe in the punishment.

We also read in Qur’an 4:92: And it was not for a believer to kill a believer except by mistake. And whoever kills a believer by mistake so freeing a believer’s neck [from slavery], and the blood-money will be paid to the family of the slain unless they give it as alms. So if the [killed] believer was from an enemy people to you, so freeing a believer’s neck. And if he was from a people between you and them a covenant, so blood-money is to be paid to his family, and freeing a believer’s neck. So who has not the means so fasting two consecutive months’ penance from Allah. And Allah was knowing, wise.

From this verse we learn that if a Muslim kills another Muslim by accident, he must free a Muslim slave and pay blood money, but if he does not own a Muslim slave or does not have money, he must fast two months. What a cheap penalty! For after all, he will just eat all the meals during the night instead of during the day. Add to that, nobody will be watching, and he may also lie about his fasting and eat during the day anyway.

“Exposing the Truth about Fasting in Islam”

by Usama Dakdok

Part 2

In part 2 of this article, we will continue to examine the Muslims’ claim of practicing “fasting” during the month of Ramadan. As we mentioned in part 1, fasting is one of the major pillars of Islam which is practiced by Muslims worldwide and has been for the past 1400 years.

We read in the following verse the Muslims’ claim that fasting during the daytime (remember, Muslims eat all night long) is used as a replacement for one who cannot afford to feed ten poor people or clothe them or free a Muslim. This reason for fasting, in this case for three daytimes, is found in Qur’an 5:89: Allah will not hold you responsible for the mere utterance in your oath, but he will hold you responsible in regard to an oath taken seriously. So its atonement will be to feed ten poor persons with such adequate food as you feed your own families with or to clothe them or to set a neck (slave) free. So who cannot find means, so fasting three days. This is the atonement of your oaths when you will have sworn. And keep your oaths. Likewise, Allah makes his verses clear to you, perhaps you may give thanks.

Fasting is even used as atonement for killing wild game. This is a punishment for disobeying the word of Allah concerning wild game as given in Qur’an 5:95: O you who have believed, do not kill game while you are on pilgrimage. Whosoever among you will purposely kill it, so its compensation the like of what he killed from the livestock of equal value, according to the judgment of fair persons among you, to be given as a gift on arriving at the Kaaba; or its atonement feeds the poor, or in fairness to that fasting, so that he may taste the ill consequences of his deed. Allah forgives what is passed, but whoever repeats it, so Allah will take vengeance on him. And Allah is dear, possessor of revenge.

Fasting guarantees that Muslim men and women will receive a great wage and forgiveness. We read about this in Qur’an 33:35: Surely the Muslim men and the Muslim women, and the believing men and the believing women, and the obeying men and the obeying women, and the truthful men and the truthful women, and the patient men and the patient women, and the humble men and the humble women, and the almsgiving men and the almsgiving women, and the fasting men and the fasting women, the men who keep their private parts (maintain their chastity) and the women who keep, and the men who remember Allah much and the women who remember, there is a great wage and forgiveness prepared for them.

What about Muslim men who desire their ex-wives returned back to them? Well, the fasting of the daytimes for two months by these men is the punishment that can be done in order for the return of their forbidden (divorced) wives. This is found in Qur’an 58:3-4: And those who would forbid their wives (divorced), and then they return from what they said, so freeing a neck (a slave) before they touch each other again. This is what you preach with, and Allah is aware of what you do. So whoever does not find (a captive to be set free), so fasting two months in succession before they touch each other. So he who cannot do, so feeding sixty poor. This is that you may believe in Allah and his messenger. And those are the boundaries of Allah. And to the infidels a painful torment. So in simple words, Muslims do not have to fast, they can just simply feed other people.

Did you know that fasting is evidence of a better wife? Well, according to Qur’an 66:5 it is: Perhaps his lord, if he (Mohammed) divorces you (his wives), he (Allah) will give him (Mohammed) other wives better than you (Mohammed’s wives) in exchange: Muslims, believers, obedient, penitent, servants, fasting, previously married, and virgins.

Notice that none of these reasons for fasting were used by the Jews or Christians. So how can Allah declare in Qur’an 2:183 that fasting is decreed to Muslims as it was decreed to the people (the Jews and the Christians) before the Muslims? In other words, this means here that what Mohammed claimed was a falsehood.

Now, there are times when women can abstain from fasting. We read below what Mohammed said in Sahih al-Bukhari 304, Book 6, Hadith 9, Vol. 1, Book 6, Hadith 301:

Narrated Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri:

Once Allah's Messenger went out to the Musalla (to offer the prayer) of `Id-al-Adha or Al-Fitr prayer. Then he passed by the women and said, “O women! Give alms, as I have seen that the majority of the dwellers of Hell-fire were you (women).” They asked, “Why is it so, O Allah's Messenger?” He replied, “You curse frequently and are ungrateful to your husbands. I have not seen anyone more deficient in intelligence and religion than you. A cautious sensible man could be led astray by some of you.” The women asked, “O Allah's Messenger! What is deficient in our intelligence and religion?” He said, “Is not the evidence of two women equal to the witness of one man?” They replied in the affirmative. He said, “This is the deficiency in her intelligence. Isn't it true that a woman can neither pray nor fast during her menses?” The women replied in the affirmative. He said, “This is the deficiency in her religion.”

Women can abstain from the fast when they are breastfeeding or during their menstruation cycle, once again, which makes Muslim women less religious. They are considered less privileged than men.

What about fasting and intimacy? Not only do Muslims not miss any food during the month of Ramadan, as they eat all night long, but they can also enjoy their women (that is four free Muslim wives, the temporary marriages which is marriage for fun - i.e. prostitution, and an unlimited number of concubines and slaves) sexually. This is found in the first part of Qur’an 2:187: It is lawful for you to have sex with your women the night of the fasting for they are your garment and you are their garment. Allah knows that you were defrauding yourselves in this, so he relents on you and forgives you. So now have a sexual relationship with them and seek that which Allah has decreed to you….

In conclusion, Muslims do not know what the real fasting is in Judaism and Christianity. Muslims may assume that the practice of the pillar of fasting is equal to the fasting practice for the Jews and the Christians. However, in reality, in Islam there is no fasting whatsoever. They literally change their days into nights to enjoy eating, drinking, and having sexual relationships. In part 3 of our article, we will look at the true biblical fasting.

“True Biblical Fasting”

by Usama Dakdok

Part 3

In our first two articles on fasting, we focused on when and why Muslims are to fast. However, the fasting that Allah and Mohammed taught is totally different from the true fasting as described in the Bible. In part 3 of this article on fasting, we will examine when and why the Jews and Christians are to fast.

Did God really command the Jews and Christians who lived before the Muslims to fast? As we investigate the Holy Bible, the Jewish and Christian book, we can only find one time that God commanded the Jews to fast. Fasting was not written into the Mosaic laws. We do not read about God commanding the Jewish people to fast except in the book of Joel. However, in the New Testament, Jesus mentioned that His disciples will fast after His ascension.

Notice that God did not give specific times and places to fast for the Jews and Christians as Muslims claim and do. Biblical fasting is not a half day as Muslims do, but it is a full day or multiple days of fasting. The biblical fasting day is from evening to evening, a full 24 hour period. When we compare the biblical fasting to Islamic fasting, we discover that Muslims have never fasted a day in their lives, but they always start their “claiming days” of fasting by feasting all night long until morning comes.

The Jews and Christians fasted for many reasons. For example, in 1 Samuel 7:6-9: The children of Israel fasted on their own to seek God’s help in their war against the Philistines. God answered their fasting and accepted their burnt sacrifices by defeating the Philistines as stated in verse 10b when He: “thundered with a loud thunder upon the Philistines that day, and so confused them that they were overcome before Israel.”

In 1 Samuel 31:13, the children of Israel fasted seven days after they buried the bones of King Saul and his sons, who had been killed during the battle with the Philistines. God did not ask the Israelites to do this. They did it on their own to show their sorrow. Then we read in 2 Samuel 1:12 that King David and the men who were with him fasted when they heard that Saul and his son Jonathan had been killed by the sword. Once again, they fasted on their own.

In 2 Samuel 12:16, King David fasted six days because his son was very ill, but God did not heal David’s son. When his people asked him why he fasted and wept while his son was sick but ate bread when his son died, David’s reply in verses 22 and 23 gives us the reason why he fasted. He stated: “While the child was alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who can tell whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.”

Fasting in the following case was for an evil plan to commit sin. In 1 Kings 21:8, Jezebel wrote letters, using King Ahab’s name and sealed them with Ahab’s ring, and then sent the letters to the elders and nobles who lived in the same city as a man named Naboth. In verse 9, Jezebel asked them to proclaim a fast, and in verse 10, two false witnesses were brought in to claim that Naboth had blasphemed against God and the king. We read in verse 13 that they took Naboth out and stoned him to death. What a sorrowful type of fasting.

Then in 1 Kings 21:27, King Ahab fasted after he heard the judgment of God on him because of his sin which he committed against Naboth, the man who was murdered by Jezebel, in order for him to inherit Naboth’s land. After he heard the judgment of God upon himself, he rent his clothes and put on sackcloth and fasted. The result of his repentance and fasting was that God answered Ahab’s humbleness by not bringing judgment upon him during his lifetime but that the judgment would come during his son’s lifetime as written in verse 29. Once again, God did not command Ahab to fast, but he did it on his own.

In 2 Chronicles 20:3, Jehoshaphat called for fasting in all of Judah because he was afraid when he heard that the children of Moab and the children of Ammon and others had come to war against him. After his prayer and fasting with all the people of Judah, God spoke to them through Jahaziel the son of Zechariah. He told them that tomorrow: “Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord.” Instead of being in fear, according to 2 Chronicles 20:22-26, they began to sing and praise the Lord, and God gave the children of Judah a great victory.

In Ezra 8:21, Ezra and the chief of the fathers, who had come back with him to Jerusalem after leaving Babylon, as well as with some priests, the sons of Levi, we read that Ezra proclaimed a fast. Once again, he did this on his own. The reason was that they might afflict themselves before God in seeking the right way for themselves and for their children and all their substance. God answered their fasting as written in verse 23.

In Nehemiah 1:4, Nehemiah fasted and prayed when he heard the sorrowful news concerning the Jews who were saved from captivity and the sad news about Jerusalem. Once again, in Nehemiah 9:1, upon hearing the reading of the laws of the Lord, the children of Israel fasted and confessed their sin to the Lord as they separated themselves from the strangers of the land. As a result, the Lord accepted their fasting.

“True Biblical Fasting”

by Usama Dakdok

Part 4

In our last article in part 3, we examined some cases of biblical fasting in the Old Testament. In this article we will conclude our study of biblical fasting.

In the book of Esther in chapter 4, we read about a plot by Haman, an Agagite, to annihilate the Jewish people, not only the Jews living under King Ahasuerus but all Jews. In verse 3, the Jewish people fasted and wept at this news. Then we read in verse 16, that the children of Israel fasted for three days, that is nights and days, 72 hours, according to the request of Queen Esther when her Uncle Mordecai, in order to save the lives of the Jews, asked her to expose Haman’s plot to destroy the Jews to King Ahasuerus. She requested the fasting so that the king would show grace upon her by allowing her to be in his presence uninvited and that God may save the children of Israel. Notice, it was not God who asked them to fast but Queen Esther.

So what it true fasting? To know what true fasting is, we must look at what Prophet Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 58:5. Most people think that fasting is for people to afflict their souls, to bow down their heads, to wear sackcloth and put ashes upon themselves or on their heads. However, Prophet Isaiah, after listing the above description, asked this amazing question: “Wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord?” Then Prophet Isaiah gave us the true understanding of fasting as he wrote in verses 6-7: ^“Is not this the fast that I have chosen? To loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? When thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?” It resulted in God answering, in verses 8-9, that with such fasting: “Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy reward. Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity.”

When does God not accept our fasting? We read in the Bible about fasting and praying which God will not accept. This is when people fast but do not confess their sins. In Jeremiah chapter 14, Jeremiah described the condition of the children of Israel when they were dying of thirst. Even though Jeremiah acknowledged that God was in their midst and that He is their hope and savior, God answered Jeremiah saying he should not pray for them because the Lord remembered their sins. In verse 12, God said this astonishing statement: “When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offerings and an oblation, I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.”

In Jeremiah 36:6, we know that Jeremiah was in prison. He wrote the words of the Lord and asked Baruch to read the words of the Lord before the people on the day of fasting and also to read it in the ears of all the people of Judah who would be coming to their cities. God knows what will happen, but He did not tell Jeremiah the result of this test because He knew that Jeremiah would then not share the words of God with them. Jeremiah said to Baruch in verse 7: “It may be they will present their supplication before the Lord, and will return everyone from his evil way….” So, in verse 9, they called for fasting before the Lord. Then we see in verses 22-23 that the king read the words of God and slowly burned these written words in the fire, and he did not fear, neither did his servants who heard the words of God. They did not tear their clothes nor show any repentance. Then the king gave an order to arrest Baruch and Jeremiah, but the Lord hid them.

One amazing fast in Scripture is the fasting of animals. In Jonah 3:4, after God gave Jonah a second chance to minster to the people of Nineveh, he told them that in 40 days the city of Nineveh would be destroyed. In verse 5, we learn that the people of Nineveh believed in God, and they declared a fast and put on sackcloth. When the king of Nineveh heard the news, he left his throne, laid down his robe, covered himself in sackcloth, and sat in ashes. In verse 7, the king gave the order, which was already established by many of the people, that no one would taste any food or drink, and then the king added that neither would the cattle and sheep eat or drink because of this true repentance. As a result, God did not bring His judgment upon them. Why did the people of Nineveh fast? They fasted so that perhaps God would not destroy them, and because they truly repented and fasted, God honored their request.

Now let us look at fasting in the New Testament. In Matthew 4:2, our Lord Jesus fasted 40 days and 40 nights. Obviously, the reason why Jesus fasted was not because God the Father asked Him to fast. I believe the reason Jesus fasted the 40 days, nights and days, was to give us an example of how to face temptation and have victory over Satan.

In Matthew 17:16 when the disciples of Jesus could not cast demons out of a young man after Jesus had healed him, the disciples asked Jesus why they could not cast the demons out of this young man. The answer of Jesus was two-fold. We see in verse 20 that it was because of their unbelief and in verse 21 that it was because this kind of demon can only be driven out by prayer and fasting.

In Act 13:3, we learn that the church in Antioch was ministering and fasting. The Holy Spirit asked them to separate Paul and Barnabas from the others for He has called them to do another ministry in sending them on a mission to other places. In response, they continued to fast and pray and laid hands over Paul and Barnabas and sent them away.

Another important fact about Christian fasting is that it is practiced in secret, as we see in Matthew 6:16-18, not as in the case of Muslims as they continually announce that they are fasting. Christians do not receive forgiveness for their sins as a result of fasting as Muslims believe and claim, for the Scripture is clear that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness for sin as we read in Hebrews 9:22: ^“And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.”

The Bible is very clear that the wages of sin is death, not fasting. We read this in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” That is why our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ died upon the cross as a substitute to pay for our sins. If fasting could give forgiveness for our sins, there would not have been a reason for our Jesus to die on the cross to pay for our sins. There is only one way to receive forgiveness for our sins, and that is to accept the substitutional death of Christ on our behalf through repenting and confessing our sin to the Father through Jesus Christ, the One who died, was buried, and rose again.

For more information about Islam, visit our website at www.thestraightway.org. To debate the information of this article, please call 941-223-3698.

Seek + Share Truth : M2M Ohio 2023

Usama's Articles

Follow us on Facebook and X