Note 25

25. We have enjoined upon you fasting during a brief period # 16

Fasting and obligatory prayer constitute the two pillars that sustain the revealed Law of God. &Baha'u'llah in one of His Tablets affirms that He has revealed the laws of obligatory prayer and fasting so that through them the believers may draw nigh unto God.

Shoghi Effendi indicates that the fasting period, which involves complete abstention from food and drink from sunrise till sunset, is

...essentially a period of meditation and prayer, of spiritual recuperation, during which the believer must strive to make the necessary readjustments in his inner life, and to refresh and reinvigorate the spiritual forces +P177 latent in his soul. Its significance and purpose are, therefore, fundamentally spiritual in character. Fasting is symbolic, and a reminder of abstinence from selfish and carnal desires.

Fasting is enjoined on all the believers once they attain the age of 15 and until they reach the age of 70 years.

A summary of the detailed provisions concerning the law of fasting and of the exemptions granted to certain categories of people is contained in the Synopsis and Codification, section IV.B.1.-6. For a discussion of the exemptions from fasting see notes 14, 20, 30 and 31.

The nineteen-day period of fasting coincides with the &Baha'i month of &Ala', usually 2-20 March, immediately after the termination of the Intercalary Days (see notes 27 and 147), and is followed by the feast of &Naw-Ruz (see note 26).