A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance where participants fast as an act of political protest, usually with the objective of achieving a specific goal, such as a policy change. Hunger strikers that do not take fluids are named dry hunger strikers.
In cases where an entity (usually the state) has or is able to obtain custody of the hunger striker (such as a prisoner), the hunger strike is often terminated by the custodial entity through the use of force-feeding.
In Islam, fasting (called ṣawm in Arabic: صَوم [sˤɑwm], or ṣiyām صيام [sˤɪˈjæːm]) is the practice of abstaining from food, drink, sexual activity, and anything that substitutes food and drink. During the holy month of Ramadan, fasting is observed between dawn and sunset when the prayer call of the dawn prayer and the sunset prayer is called. Ramadan is the ninth month of the Muslim lunar calendar and fasting is a requirement for able Muslims as it is the fourth of the five pillars of Islam.
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting (sawm), communal prayer (salah), reflection, and community. It is also the month in which the Quran is believed to have been revealed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The annual observance of Ramadan is regarded as one of the five pillars of Islam and lasts twenty-nine to thirty days, from one sighting of the crescent moon to the next.
Fasting from dawn to sunset is obligatory (fard) for all adult Muslims who are not acutely or chronically ill, travelling, elderly, breastfeeding, pregnant, or menstruating. The predawn meal is referred to as suhur, and the nightly feast that breaks the fast is called iftar. Although rulings (fatawa) have been issued declaring that Muslims who live in regions with a midnight sun or polar night should follow the timetable of Mecca, it is common practice to follow the timetable of the closest country in which night can be distinguished from day.
Asceticism is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from worldly pleasures through self-discipline, self-imposed poverty, and simple living, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world or continue to be part of their society, but typically adopt a frugal lifestyle, characterized by the renunciation of material possessions and physical pleasures, and also spend time fasting while concentrating on religion, prayer, or meditation. Some individuals have also attempted an ascetic lifestyle to free themselves from addictions to things such as alcohol, smoking, drugs, sex, porn, lavish food, and entertainment.
Asceticism has been historically observed in many religious and philosophical traditions, most notably among Ancient Greek philosophical schools (Epicureanism, Gymnosophism, Stoicism, and Pythagoreanism), Indian religions (Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism), Abrahamic religions (Christianity, Judaism, Islam), and contemporary practices continue amongst some of their followers. Practitioners abandon sensual pleasures and lead an abstinent lifestyle, in the pursuit of redemption, salvation, or spirituality. Many ascetics believe the action of purifying the body helps to purify the body and soul, and that in doing so, they will obtain a greater connection with the Divine or find inner peace. This may take the form of rituals, the renunciation of wealth and sensual pleasures, or self-mortification in order to pursue spiritual goals.
Easter, also called Pasch (/pæsk/) or Pascha (Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , paskha; Greek: πάσχα, páskha) or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in the New Testament as having occurred on the third day of his burial following his crucifixion by the Romans at Calvary c. 30 AD. It is the culmination of the Passion of Jesus, preceded by Lent (or Great Lent), a 40-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance.
Easter-observing Christians commonly refer to the last week of Lent, before Easter, as Holy Week, which in Western Christianity begins on Palm Sunday (marking the entrance of Jesus in Jerusalem), includes Spy Wednesday (on which the betrayal of Jesus is mourned), and contains the days of the Easter Triduum including Maundy Thursday, commemorating the Maundy and Last Supper, as well as Good Friday, commemorating the crucifixion and death of Jesus. In Eastern Christianity, the same events are commemorated with the names of days all starting with "Holy" or "Holy and Great", and Easter itself might be called Great and Holy Pascha. In both Western and Eastern Christianity, Eastertide—also known as the Easter or Paschal season—begins on Easter Sunday and continues for seven weeks, concluding on the 50th day, Pentecost Sunday. However, in Eastern Christianity, the leavetaking of the feast occurs on the 39th day, the eve of the Feast of the Ascension.
The blood sugar level, blood sugar concentration, blood glucose level, or glycemia is the measure of glucose concentrated in the blood. The body tightly regulates blood glucose levels as a part of metabolic homeostasis.
For a 70 kg (154 lb) human, approximately four grams of dissolved glucose (also called "blood glucose") is maintained in the blood plasma at all times. Glucose that is not circulating in the blood is stored in skeletal muscle and liver cells in the form of glycogen; in fasting individuals, blood glucose is maintained at a constant level by releasing just enough glucose from these glycogen stores in the liver and skeletal muscle in order to maintain homeostasis. Glucose can be transported from the intestines or liver to other tissues in the body via the bloodstream. Cellular glucose uptake is primarily regulated by insulin, a hormone produced in the pancreas. Once inside the cell, the glucose can now act as an energy source as it undergoes the process of glycolysis.
The Islamic New Year (Arabic: رأس السنة الهجرية, Raʿs as-Sanah al-Hijrīyah), also called the Hijri New Year, is the day that marks the beginning of a new lunar Hijri year, and is the day on which the year count is incremented. The first day of the Islamic year is observed by most Muslims on the first day of the month of Muharram. The epoch (reference date) of the Islamic era was set as the year of the emigration of Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina, known as the Hijrah, which equates to 622 CE in the Gregorian calendar. All religious duties, such as prayer, fasting in the month of Ramadan, and pilgrimage, and the dates of significant events, such as celebration of holy nights and festivals, are calculated according to the Islamic calendar. Hijri New Year is observed by 24 countries as a public holiday.
While some Islamic organizations prefer determining the new month (and hence the new year) by local sightings of the moon, most Islamic institutions and countries, including Saudi Arabia, follow astronomical calculations to determine future dates of the Islamic calendar. There are various schemas for calculating the tabular Islamic calendar (i.e. not based on observation), which results in differences of typically one or even two days between countries using such schema and those that use actual lunar sightings. For example, the Umm al-Qura calendar used in Saudi Arabia was reformed several times in recent years. The current scheme was introduced in 1423 AH (15 March 2002).
Breakfast is the first meal of the day, usually eaten in the morning. The word in English refers to breaking the fasting period of the previous night. Various "typical" or "traditional" breakfast menus exist, with food choices varying by regions and traditions worldwide.
Bogomilism (Bulgarian: богомилство, romanized: bogomilstvo; Macedonian: богомилство, romanized: bogomilstvo; Serbo-Croatian: bogumilstvo / богумилство) was a Christian neo-Gnostic, dualist sect founded in the First Bulgarian Empire by the priest Bogomil during the reign of Tsar Peter I in the 10th century. It most likely arose in the region of Kutmichevitsa, today part of the region of Macedonia.
The Bogomils were dualists or Gnostics in that they believed in a world within the body and a world outside the body. They did not use the Christian cross, nor build churches, as they revered their gifted form and considered their body to be the temple. This gave rise to many forms of practice to cleanse the body through fasting or dancing.