Nineteen Day Fast

The Nineteen Day Fast (March 2 - March 20) is a nineteen-day period of the year, during which members of the Bahá'í Faith adhere to a sunrise-to-sunset fast.

Background
The Bahá'í fast resembles fasting practices of several other religions. Lent is a period of fasting for Christians, Yom Kippur and many other holidays for Jews, and the Fast of Ramadan is practiced by Muslims. The Bahá'í fasting most resembles the Fast of Ramadan, except that the period of fasting is defined as a fixed Bahá'í month, whereas Muslims fast during a lunar month, whose specific Gregorian dates vary from year to year.

Definition
Fasting is observed from sunrise to sunset during the Bahá'í month of `Ala' (between March 2nd through March 20th). Bahá'u'lláh established the guidelines in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas. It is the complete abstaining from both food and drink (including abstaining from smoking). Observing the fast is an individual obligation, and is binding on all Bahá'ís who have reached the age of maturity (15 years) until the age of 70.

Spiritual nature
Along with obligatory prayer, it is one of the greatest obligations of a Bahá'í. Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith, explains that "It 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 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."

Laws concerning fasting
There are a certain amount of laws and practices associated with the Nineteen Day Fast, and when Bahá'ís are exempted from fasting.


 * The period of fasting begins with the termination of the Intercalary Days and ends with the festival of Naw-Ruz.
 * Abstinence from food, drink and smoking from sunrise to sunset.
 * Fasting is obligatory for men and women once they attain the age of 15.
 * Vowing to fast in another month other than the month of `Ala' is allowed.
 * If one eats unconsciously during the fasting hours, this is not breaking the Fast as it is an accident.
 * In regions of extremely high latitude where the duration of days and nights vary considerably, clocks will be used to determine the beginning and the end of the fasting period.

Exemptions from fasting
The following exemptions to the obligation of fasting are provided, but one may still choose to fast if they so wish:


 * The following are guidelines for travelling during the fast:
 * The traveller is exempt if the journey exceeds 9 hours.
 * When travelling by foot, the traveller is exempt if the journey exceeds 2 hours.
 * If the traveller breaks their journey for more than 19 days, only for the first three days are they exempt from fasting.
 * Those that reach home during the Fast must start fasting from the day of their arrival.
 * Those who are ill.
 * Those who are younger than 15 or older than 70.
 * Women who are pregnant.
 * Women who are nursing.
 * Women who are menstruating (instead they must perform an ablution and recite the verse Glorified be God, the Lord of Splendour and Beauty 95 times a day).
 * Those who are engaged in heavy labour (these people are advised to show respect for the law of fasting by using discretion and restraint).