The History of Fasting: Adoption and Adaptation of Religions (Section I)

 

The History of Fasting: Adoption and Adaptation of Religions

Every religion has teachings that distinguish one from another. The teachings of a religion usually originate from or continue from other religions, especially those that came first through modifications to become "different" even though the essence is the same.

One of the teachings in Islam that was adopted from the religions that developed in pre-Islamic Arab society was "fasting" (Arabic: "ash-shiyâm" or "ash-shaum" ). The Iraqi-born historian, Jawwâd 'Ali (d. 1987), in his book, Al-Mufashshal fî Târîkh al-'Arab Qabla al-Islâm, narrates that many Arabs before the time of the Prophet Muhammad had been fasting.

The etymological meaning of ash-shaum is to refrain from certain activities or to leave them. People who fast or in Arabic called "ash-shâ`im" means people who refrain from eating, drinking, and intercourse. The word "ash-shaum" is also used to refer to refraining from speaking activities (silence) as in the QS. Maryam 26.

Understanding fasting from a linguistic point of view is an important point to know the fasting practiced by pre-Islamic Arabs. Fasting in pre-Islamic times became one of the identities of Jews and Christians. The Arab community in Yathrib or Medina knew the fasting ritual from the Jews, while the Arabs of Iraq and Syria knew it from the Christians. (Jawwâd 'Ali, 1993: VI, 339).

The encounter between the Jews and the Arabs themselves has been going on for a long time, long before the birth of the Prophet Muhammad. Al-Ashbihânî in his work, Al-Aghânî, tells of Jewish immigration to the Arabian peninsula in two phases, namely 1) when Moses sent troops to crush the tyrant kings, and 2) immigration due to the Roman military attack on Syria.

Arab historians do not give an exact date for the beginning of Jewish immigration to the Arabian peninsula. According to Wolfensohn, author of Târîkh al-Yahûd fî Bilâdi al-'Arab , the immigration is thought to have occurred around 12 BC, but this year is still in doubt. An acceptable and reasonable year of immigration is in the 1st century AD, when the Romans invaded and destroyed Palestine.

This Jewish immigration to the Arabian peninsula took up residence in Medina on the grounds that the land was fertile so that it could grow crops, open industries, and others. To discuss this in Indonesian, please read my book, Star of David in the Arabian Peninsula (eLSA Press, 2017).

The Jews in the Arabian Peninsula were a civilized society, while the Arabs at that time were still backward. Therefore, in culture, Arab society absorbs a lot of Jewish traditions, both related to social, economic, political, and religious.

Apart from the absorption of culture, the encounter of the Arabs with the Jews also led to the knowledge of Jewish customs, one of which was carrying out "fasting".