All about the Bahá'í custom of fasting as a spiritual discipline, and their annual Nineteen-Day Fast.
Bahá'ís and fasting
Last updated 2009-09-24
Bahá'ís and fasting
A spiritual fast
Bahá'ís practise fasting as a discipline for the soul; they see abstaining from food as an outer symbol of a spiritual fast.
By this they mean the practice of self-restraint in order to distance oneself from all the appetites of the body and so concentrate on oneself as a spiritual being and get closer to God.
Abstaining from food is not an end in itself but a symbol, and if it doesn't result in improvements in character and concern for others then it has not been undertaken in the right spirit.
Fasting was practiced by all the prophets revered by Bahá'ís.
The Nineteen Day Fast
Bahá'u'lláh designated a 19-day period of fasting each year immediately before the Bahá'í New Year.
The fasting is seen as a period of spiritual preparation and regeneration for the new year ahead. In the Western calendar, this occurs between 2nd and 21st March (the Bahá'í month of Ala meaning 'loftiness').
Exemptions from fasting
The sick, elderly, and very young are exempt from fasting, as are pregnant or nursing mothers, travellers and those doing heavy physical work.
If a Holy Day occurs during the traditional period of fasting, then the fast is not obligatory on those days.
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