Muslim and Christian Attitudes toward Fasting in Southeast Asia
Fasting is practiced by members of every worldwide religion. A study of this phenomenon offers an opportunity to understand the similarities and differences among these religions. The research involved the study of 1,437 students at five Southeast Asian universities. The sample included Muslims, Rom...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Springer
1977
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| In: |
Review of religious research
Year: 1977, Volume: 19, Issue: 1, Pages: 3-15 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Parallel Edition: | Non-electronic
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| Summary: | Fasting is practiced by members of every worldwide religion. A study of this phenomenon offers an opportunity to understand the similarities and differences among these religions. The research involved the study of 1,437 students at five Southeast Asian universities. The sample included Muslims, Roman Catholics, Protestants and nonaffiliates. This report deals with the phenomenon of fasting within Islam and Christianity. As a result of the research, it seems clear that fasting is more important to Muslims than to Christians. It was anticipated that fasting would mean something different to the two groups. This seems true. Consistently, more Muslims gave as their reason for fasting "to show obedience to God." The mystical reason for fasting found little support among either Christians or Muslims. There is some evidence to suggest that with modernization the meaning of fasting for Muslims will shift from being an expression of one's relation with God to being a means of attaining this-worldly goals, such as selfcontrol or identity with the poor. The article concludes with a discussion of why modernization does not seem to be causing a decline of fasting among Muslims. |
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| ISSN: | 2211-4866 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Review of religious research
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2307/3509576 |