Bahá'í Fast

Culture of origin: Bahá’í · Cultural

Holiday sources: Bahá'í Faith · Iran

For the nineteen days of 'Alá', the last month of the Bahá'í year, Bahá'ís aged 15 to 70 abstain from food and drink from sunrise to sunset. Instituted by the Báb and confirmed by Bahá'u'lláh in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, the Fast follows Ayyám-i-Há and ends at Naw-Rúz; the sick and travellers, among others, are exempt. Shoghi Effendi called it "essentially a period of meditation and prayer, of spiritual recuperation".