As I was thinking about breakfast, I began to think about breaking the fast. Often the fast that is used to explain the word breakfast is the daily fast from our evening meal to our morning meal. That fast may be 12 hours or more everyday. We sleep through most of it, but still it is a fast.
As a child, growing up Catholic and going to Catholic school, I learned that the fast in question was actually the one Catholics observed from midnight, no food or drink (even water) until we received the Eucharist at Mass. That tradition changed twice in my lifetime. First the midnight fast was reduced to three hours for food and one hour for drink, then a simple one hour fast. So the religious connection for breakfast pretty much went away for Catholics.
There are still other fasts observed by the three major western religions, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity, that would lend some meaning to the term.
In 2009, Islam observed Ramadan from August 21 to September 19. So Ramadan is just over so let’s look at that fast and its breaking.
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Muslim calendar. The Month of Ramadan is also when it is believed the Holy Quran “was sent down from heaven, a guidance unto men, a declaration of direction, and a means of Salvation”.
It is during this month that Muslims fast. It is called the Fast of Ramadan or sawm and lasts the entire month. Ramadan is a time when Muslims concentrate on their faith and spend less time on the concerns of their everyday lives. It is a time of worship and contemplation.
During the Fast of Ramadan strict restraints are placed on the daily lives of Muslims. They are not allowed to eat or drink during the daylight hours. Smoking and sexual relations are also forbidden during fasting. At the end of the day the fast is broken with prayer and a meal called the iftar. In the evening following the iftar it is customary for Muslims to go out visiting family and friends. The fast is resumed the next morning after a pre-dawn meal called the suhoor.
When the fast ends (the first day of the month of Shawwal) it is celebrated for three days in a holiday called Id-al-Fitr (the Feast of Fast Breaking). Gifts are exchanged. Friends and family gather to pray in congregation and for large meals. In some cities fairs are held to celebrate the end of the Fast of Ramadan.
