Fast Days Quick reference
A Concise Companion to the Jewish Religion
... Days The days in the Jewish calendar set aside for fasting by the whole community. In addition to the major fasts of Yom Kippur and the Ninth of Av , there are three minor fasts commemorating events connected with the downfall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple in ancient times. These are the fasts of 10 Tevet , the 17 Tammuz , and the Fast of Gedaliah on 3 Tishri. In addition to these three there is another public fast day on the day before Purim known as the Fast of Esther . Curiously enough, this fast day is observed by the...
Fast Days
Jonah Reference library
Peter J. M. Southwell and Peter J. M. Southwell
The Oxford Bible Commentary
...large city ( vv. 1–3 ), ‘a three days' walk’ across. Our writer has already exhibited considerable narrative skills, using irony, humour, assonance, and alliteration, and to these he now adds hyperbole. Faced again with so vast a task, this time Jonah, undaunted, faithfully proclaims the message he was given in what must be the shortest prophetic oracle on record (and the only one in this book): ‘Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown’ ( v. 4 ). Interestingly, the Greek tradition here reports ‘three more days’ but is unsupported by any other...
Esther Reference library
Carol Meyers and Carol Meyers
The Oxford Bible Commentary
...Third, it gives a sense of Jewish continuity in presenting Mordecai's family as having survived since the days of Saul. Saul the Benjaminite preceded David the Judahite, and his descendant Mordecai now outlasts Davidic rule. The beautiful Esther is chosen for the king's harem and receives special food and seven serving maids. These two benefits anticipate an important reversal at the turning-point of the story, when Esther and her maids fast for three days ( 4:15 ). Obeying Mordecai's charge, though later she will disobey even the king, Esther does not reveal...
Tobit Reference library
Joseph A. Fitzmyer, SJ and Joseph A. Fitzmyer, SJ
The Oxford Bible Commentary
...). Sennacherib's fate is duly ascribed to a decree of heaven; ‘put to death many Israelites’. This was done in retaliation for the king's failure to take Jerusalem. ‘Looked for them’. Perhaps to expose them to further ridicule and disgrace. v. 21 , ‘forty days’, or ‘forty-five days’ (VL), or ‘fifty days’ (G 1 , Peshitta); ‘killed him’, see 2 Kings 19:37 , where his sons are named as Adrammelech and Sharezer; ‘Ararat’, also mentioned in 19:37 , the traditional spot where Noah's ark landed ( Gen 8:4 ) is today in modern Armenia; ‘Esar-haddon’, another son of...
Joel Reference library
Carl-A. Keller and Carl-A. Keller
The Oxford Bible Commentary
...and priests to ‘awake’, to fast, to assemble in the temple, and to pray. The devastation is undoubtedly attributed to locusts, none the less the swarm is called a ‘nation’ ( v. 6 ), perhaps on account of its strict ‘political’ organization, but more probably in order to suggest something more than locusts: the attack by a strange power of which the locusts are but the visible forms. In 2:25 , this ‘nation’ is, in almost mythological terms, called ‘the great army of God’. ‘Sanctify a fast’ ( v. 14 ): the fast is a holy rite which requires mental...
The Forgotten Duty Reference library
Salam Al-Farag Muhammad Abdel
Islam in Transition: Muslim Perspectives (2 ed.)
...and neither do we live in a Medinan society. When you wish to know in what kind of society we live, consult the paragraph on “The House in Which We Live” (§18). (§84) Fighting is now a duty upon all Muslims When God—Praised and Exalted He is—made fasting obligatory, he said (Qur'ān 2.183): “Fasting is prescribed for you.” In regard to fighting he said (Qur'ān 2.216): “Fighting is prescribed for you.” This refutes the view of whoever says that jihād is indeed a duty and then goes on by saying: “When I have fulfilled the duty of engaging in missionary...
Esther (Greek) Reference library
Adele Reinhartz and Adele Reinhartz
The Oxford Bible Commentary
...perish. Furthermore, Mordecai notes, Esther's ascension to royalty may have been intended for this express purpose. Esther agrees to go, asking only that the Jews of Susa gather and fast for three days and nights, as will Esther and her maids. Addition C: The Prayers of Mordecai ( 13:8–18 ) and Esther ( 14:1–19 ) These prayers were presumably uttered during the three days of fasting stipulated by Esther. Mordecai's prayer, in 13:8–18 , praises God as Lord and Creator of the universe and saviour of Israel, and clarifies—perhaps more for the reader's sake than...
Our Decline and Its Causes Reference library
Amīr Shakīb Arslān
Islam in Transition: Muslim Perspectives (2 ed.)
...contempt or ridicule. The Muslims alone seem not to understand their value. If anyone tells them that they should hold fast to the Qur'ān, their faith, their religious traditions, and their natural characteristics, or that they should not abandon the Arabic language, or that they should preserve their oriental mode of life and conduct and etiquette, they would yell like lunatics: “Down with your traditionalism . . . in these civilized days how can you progress like others with your outworn traditions and customs of the Middle Ages?” . . . As for the conservative...
10 Paper Reference library
Daven Christopher Chamberlain
The Oxford Companion to the Book
...resulted in a strong, very long-fibred pulp. The main change in macerating techniques occurred in the late 17 th century, when the *Hollander beater was introduced. This processed larger batches of fibre faster than either of the previous machines, and by the late 18 th century its use was widespread. It could produce in hours what took days in a stamper or kollergang; however, there was a trade-off. The rapid processing resulted in more stress to the fibres, causing significant breakage and a consequent reduction in their length and strength; there...
Daniel Reference library
P. R. Davies and P. R. Davies
The Oxford Bible Commentary
...continue to act wickedly. Finally comes a more detailed calculation of the time of the end, in terms of days, and dating from the day on which the tāmîd sacrifice was abolished and the ‘abominating desolation’ set up. But there are two different answers in vv. 11 and 12 , and both differ from the 1,150 days of 8:14 and at least one differs from the three and a half years of 9:27 (and 12:7 ). An obvious explanation is that someone, after 1,290 days had elapsed, recalculated, while still hoping (or insisting) that the time was near. The sense of a...
Judith Reference library
Amy-Jill Levine and Amy-Jill Levine
The Oxford Bible Commentary
...she fasts. Nevertheless, she remains ‘shapely and beautiful’ ( v. 7; see Gen 29:17 concerning Rachel) as well as rich in gold and silver, male and female servants, livestock and fields, all inherited from her husband. Finally, so well known was her piety that ‘no one spoke ill of her’ ( v. 8 ). This too is ironic; few maintain such spotless reputations. The specified length of her mourning, three years and four months ( v. 4 ) or forty months, may suggest the number of years Israel spent in the wilderness; it also parallels the thirty-four days of the...
The Problem of ‘Ulama’ Reference library
Alhaji Adeleke Dirisu Ajijola
Liberal Islam: A Sourcebook
...giving wrong education to our young men and women, for any young person who devotes himself only to religious education as presently thought without incorporating professional education as it is imparted today, is ill equipped for the struggle of life and the race for progress in fast-changing Nigeria. Many of the ‘ulama’ who have become Muslim leaders have themselves lost the true spirit of Islam. They do not have the ability to interpret the principles and law of Islam in the light of changing conditions. They have little juristic insight or practical...
The Indonesian Revolution Reference library
Muhammad Natsir
Liberal Islam: A Sourcebook
...one, individually, has to carry out . Hence Islam teaches two kinds of obligation, namely fardu ‘ain and fardu kifaya . Fardu ‘ain is individual duty, the duty of the individual towards his God. This cannot be passed on to someone else, just as worship, the fast and the pilgrimage cannot be contracted out wholesale to other people. Next to fardu ‘ain there is fardu kifaya which must be carried out for one's fellow men, for society. Each individual must perform his fardu kifaya for the community. These two fardu or duties may not...
Religion and Liberty Reference library
Mehdi Bazargan
Liberal Islam: A Sourcebook
...of 1981, we gathered in a friend's house to break fast and hold vigil. On that occasion, an old friend and colleague of mine, Mr. ‘Ezzatallah Sahabi [Iran, born 1932], delivered a speech on the European origins of the notion of freedom. 4 He argued that the roots of modern liberalism lie in the 17th century, when the feudal governments of Europe were struggling to free themselves from the hegemony of the pope and the [Catholic Christian] church. In those days independent and sovereign nation-states did not exist....
Henry VI Part 1 Reference library
Randall Martin and Anthony Davies
The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare (2 ed.)
...added hundreds of lines of Shakespearian pastiche to clarify personal motives and story-lines. Janet Suzman played a zealously determined Joan la Pucelle, David Warner a vulnerably naive and movingly pious Henry. 1 Henry VI was performed unadapted in Terry Hands ’s open and fast-paced 1977 RSC production of the whole trilogy, including a volcanic wooing scene between Helen Mirren as Margaret and Peter McEnery as Suffolk. In 1986 Michael Bogdanov and Michael Pennington reverted to Barton’s condensed format—minus his invented lines—for their...
Islam, Reason, and Civilization Reference library
Shaykh Muhammad ‘Abduh
Islam in Transition: Muslim Perspectives (2 ed.)
...of the contingent world as far as in them lies. Rather, religion must promote this very search, demanding respect for evidence and enjoining the utmost possible devotion and endeavour through all the worlds of knowledge—and all within the true proportions of the goal, holding fast the while to sound itself. Any who assert the contrary do not know what religion is and do despite to it which the Lord of the worlds will not forgive. . . . How then can reason be denied its right, being, as it is, the scrutineer of evidences so as to reach the truth within them...
Extra-canonical early Christian literature Reference library
J. K. Elliott and J. K. Elliott
The Oxford Bible Commentary
...6:5 gives details of how hypocrites pray and how Jesus' followers are to pray. Mt 6:16 is concerned with the manner in which hypocrites fast, and not with the days on which they fast. 6. Other links between the Didache and the NT are disputed. Some scholars argue that the author of the Didache knew and used the canonical gospels. Mt 5:39–47 is said to be behind the interpolated section Did. 1.3 b –2.1, but some of the verses parallel the Lucan version ( Lk 6:27–33 )—see did. 1.3 b –2.1—and it may well be that the parallels are not due to direct...
Consumerism Reference library
An Oxford Companion to the Romantic Age
...activity went speed: ‘no country is so well arranged for comfort and rapid travelling as this,’ observed another traveller. Most admired this bustle, though critics complained the English had no time for anything but moneymaking. Ever pressed for time, they had even pioneered the fast-food takeaway: ‘I happened to go into a pastrycook's shop one morning,’ observed Robert *Southey , and inquired of the mistress why she kept her window open during this severe weather—which I observed most of the trade did. She told me, that were she to close it, her receipts...
Islam and Secularism Reference library
Asghar Ali Engineer
Islam in Transition: Muslim Perspectives (2 ed.)
...of their own socio-religious and socio-cultural situation. In the early days of Islam, particularly in the period of four caliphs succeeding the Holy Prophet, state was very closely identified with religion of Islam. In the Arabia of those days there did not exist even a state before advent of Islam, let alone any laws associated with the state. But a state came into existence when Islam united people of Arabia, transcending tribal bonds. The state needed laws to deal with the fast evolving situation. First they took help of the Qur'ān and then Sunnah of...
