Encyclopedia of Islam

Further reading: Robert Dannin, Black Pilgrimage to 

Islam (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002); Mat-

tias Gardell, In the Name of Elijah Muhammad: Louis 

Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam (Durham, N.C.: 

Duke University Press, 1996); Eric C. Lincoln, The 

Black Muslims in America (Trenton, N.J.: Africa World 

Press, 1994); Jane I. Smith, Islam in America (New York: 

Columbia University Press, 1999).

Farsi

  See p

ersian

 

language

 

and

 

literature

.

fasting

 

(Arabic: 

sawm or siyam)

The primary fast in Islam, and one of its F

ive

 p

il

-

lars

, takes place during the month of r

amadan

,

when observant Muslims refrain from eating, 

drinking any liquids, smoking, or having sexual 

intercourse during daylight hours. The beginning 

and end of the fast each day are marked by calls 

to 

prayer

: before dawn, when a white string can 

be distinguished from a black one, and again at 

sunset. Muslims generally break their fast with a 

drink of thick fruit juice and a date, after the cus-

tom of m

Uhammad

 (d. 632). Some will then pray 

before a large meal (futur), consisting of dishes 

special to the month, is served. These meals are 

occasions for families to gather and for neigh-

bors and friends to visit one another. Indeed, it 

is not unusual for large quantities of food to be 

consumed at night during Ramadan, despite the 

daylight fasting requirements. The end of the 

month and of the fast is marked by the i

d

 

al

-F

itr

,

or “feast of fast-breaking.”

Muslims look to the quranic chapter “The 

Cow” (Q 2:183) as the injunction from God 

to fast. It reads, “O you who believe! Fasting 

is prescribed for you, as it was prescribed for 

those before you, so that you may guard against 

evil.” Although children often participate for a 

few hours a day or a few days in the month, all 

Muslims who have reached puberty are expected 

to fast. Temporary exceptions are made for those 

who are in poor health, for those who are travel-

ing, or for menstruating and pregnant women, 

with the idea that these missed fast days will be 

made up at a later date.

Outside the month of Ramadan, fasting is also 

observed on the day before the i

d

 

al

-a

dha

, which 

marks the end of the formal 

haJJ

 season. Some