Healing with Fasting: Reflections on the Holy Month of Ramadan

Why would anybody spend a whole day eating and drinking nothing? How is it possible that some people can forsake their most essential addictions, like a strong coffee in the morning? This is exactly what Muslims do every year for an entire month. They do this not for health reasons - they do it for faith reasons. Spending their days with fasting and nights with devotional prayers, Muslims find an opportunity in the observance of Ramadan to withdraw a bit from their hectic lives to be reformed in mind, body, and spirit. The holy month of Ramadan is a reminder that by "fasting" from our passions and not allowing our biological composition to dominate over us, we can attain true inner and outer peace. In Healing with Fasting, you will find reflections on how it can be possible during Ramadan to attain "vigilance," "freedom," and "mercy"; how observants "share" and "set goals"; and how this ancient practice of fasting is a broad common denominator that can bring members of different faith traditions around the same table to break bread together.