Imam Johari Abdul-Malik of the Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church, Virginia describes the rituals and spiritual significance of Eid al-Fitr, the three-day festival marking the end of the month-long Ramadan fast. More →

July 1, 2016

“If I’m hungry I should eat. If I’m thirsty I should drink. But because of a recognition of a greater and higher need, I choose not to,” says Abdu’l Karim Ewing-Boyd. We visited him and his family in Washington, DC as they prepared to break the long fast leading up to the Baha’i New Year. More →

March 4, 2016

“All of the experiences that I have during Ramadan when we’re on tour fasting have always been a blessing,” says Native Deen group member Abdul-Malik Ahmad. “So during the month of Ramadan, I feel that it’s my time to say thank you to God, basically, for all these opportunities.” More →

June 12, 2015

“The fast is a time for me to remind myself, to reclaim myself, to be in charge of my body and not simply respond to random physical promptings. This is just something that I look forward to more and more every year and it gives me more time to recognize my strength in prayer.” More →

March 20, 2015

Iconographer Seraphim O’Keefe talks about how icons play a role similar to fasting in the Orthodox tradition. Both, he says, are ways of finding order and beauty. More →

May 1, 2013

“We asked religious scholars and they said that if we’re out on a mission like this, there is no problem with not fasting on the condition that when you return, you fast the days you lost, because fasting like prayer is obligatory,” says Abu Rmeileh, the first Palestinian to qualify for the Olympics. More →

July 20, 2012

In the Orthodox Christian tradition fasting is not about deprivation or suffering, says Catherine Mandell, author of “When You Fast: Recipes for Lenten Seasons.” More →

March 2, 2012

We visit a Virginia mosque that feeds Muslims and non-Muslims alike at its daily iftar meal to break the Ramadan fast. More →

August 19, 2011

“Ramadan is that really intense, focused way of fasting and working on our own selves,” says Rahima Ullah, “and then working on our relationships to others and ultimately to God.” More →

July 29, 2011

An interfaith coalition is launching a prayer and fasting campaign to protect federal funding for programs that help the poor. More →

March 28, 2011