It has also been used for abstaining from talking as we read...
It has also been used for abstaining from talking as we read in the following verse in which the Blessed Mary has been ordered not to talk in the form of a fast: فَكُلِي وَاشْرَبِي وَقَرِّي عَيْنًا فَإِمَّا تَرَيِنَّ مِنَ الْبَشَرِ أَحَدًا فَقُولِي إِنِّي نَذَرْتُ لِلرَّحْمَنِ صَوْمًا فَلَنْ أُكَلِّمَ الْيَوْمَ إِنسِيًّا "So eat and drink and cool (thine) eye.
And if thou dost see any man, say, 'I have vowed a fast to (God) Most Gracious, and this day will I enter into no talk with any human being'" [The Holy Qur’an, Maryam 19:26] Fasting before Islam From the verse Baqarah 2:183 that was cited above we can also conclude that fasting is not limited to Muslims and it has been prescribed for those before us.
It is most probable that the similarity is only in its prescription for the religions that came before Islam, not in its number of days or time of fasting. Fasting in the Old Testament We read the following in the Old Testament regarding fasting: وَكَانَ هُنَاكَ عِنْدَ الر َّبِّ أَرْبَعِينَ نَهَاراً وَأَرْبَعِينَ لَيْلَةً لَمْ يَأْكُلْ خُبْزاً وَلَمْ يَشْرَبْ مَاءً. فَكَتَبَ عَلَى اللَّوْحَيْنِ كَلِمَاتِ الْعَهْدِ الْكَلِمَاتِ الْعَشَرَ.
“And he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.”[^2] [The Old Testament, Exodus 34:28] Fasting in the New Testament We read the following in the New Testament regarding fasting: ثُمَّ أُصْعِدَ يَسُوعُ إِلَى الْبَرِّيَّةِ مِنَ الرُّوحِ لِيُجَرَّبَ مِنْ إِبْلِيسَ. فَبَعْدَ مَا صَامَ أَرْبَعِينَ نَهَاراً وَأَرْبَعِينَ لَيْلَةً جَاعَ أَخِيراً.
“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.” [The New Testament, Matthew 4:1-2] Fasting of the Disciples We read the following in the New Testament regarding fasting by the disciples: وَقَالُوا لَهُ: «لِمَاذَا يَصُومُ تَلاَمِيذُ يُوحَنَّا كَثِيراً وَيُقَدِّمُونَ طِلْبَاتٍ وَكَذَلِكَ تَلاَمِيذُ الْفَرِّيسِيِّينَ أَيْضاً وَأَمَّا تَلاَمِيذُكَ فَيَأْكُلُونَ وَيَشْرَبُونَ؟» فَقَالَ لَهُمْ: «أَتَقْدِرُونَ أَنْ تَجْعَلُوا بَنِي الْعُرْسِ يَصُومُونَ مَا دَامَ الْعَرِيسُ مَعَهُمْ؟ وَلَكِنْ سَتَأْتِي أَيَّامٌ حِينَ يُرْفَعُ الْعَرِيسُ عَنْهُمْ فَحِينَئِذٍ يَصُومُونَ فِي تِلْكَ الأَيَّامِ “And they said unto him, Why do the disciples of John fast often, and make prayers, and likewise the disciples of the Pharisees; but thine eat and drink?
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