Sawm (Arabic: صوم) is an Arabic word for fasting regulated by Islamic jurisprudence. In the terminology of Islamic law, Sawm means "to abstain from eating, drinking intercourse". The observance of sawm during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan is one of the Five Pillars of Islam, but is not confined to that month.
Ṣawm is derived from Syriac: ܨܘܡܐ ṣawmā. Literally, it means "to abstain", cognates to Hebrew tsom.
For example, the Muslims of Afghan...
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Sawm (Arabic: صوم) is an Arabic word for fasting regulated by Islamic jurisprudence. In the terminology of Islamic law, Sawm means "to abstain from eating, drinking intercourse". The observance of sawm during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan is one of the Five Pillars of Islam, but is not confined to that month.
Ṣawm is derived from Syriac: ܨܘܡܐ ṣawmā. Literally, it means "to abstain", cognates to Hebrew tsom.
For example, the Muslims of Afghanistan, India, Iran, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Central Asia use the word rozah which comes from the Indo-Iranian language of Dari. In Turkey, Sawm is called oruç (compare Kyrgyz öröz), while the Malay community in Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore call it puasa, which is derived from Sanskrit, upvaasa. Puasa is also used in Indonesia, Southern Thailand and Southern Philippines. Interestingly, the word is also found in the Maltese language.
Muslims are prohibited from eating, drinking, smoking, and engaging in sexual intercourse from dawn (fajr) to...
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