Jews’ Forty Days of Fasting According to Quran
A verse in the Holy Quran explains this, and Seyed Abbas Qaem Maqami, former head of the Islamic Center Hamburg, has discussed the issue. Excerpts of his remarks are as follows:
We read in verse 142 of Surah Al-A’raf: “We appointed for Moses thirty nights, and We completed them with ten more; so that the appointment with his Lord took forty nights.”
A point that can be understood from this verse is that ‘forty’ is a perfect number and that the period of forty days has been determined by God for a complete program for man’s spiritual growth.
The second point is that it is a number after completion of which spiritual growth can be achieved.
Another point to remember is that the verse does not say God appointed for Moses forty days at first but says, “We appointed for Moses thirty nights, and We completed them with ten more”. But why did that happen? When God appointed for Moses, the prophet was ready for thirty days and it had been planned for thirty days. But then Moses (AS) made the best of the opportunity and God gave him another opportunity to perfect what he had begun. That is why the phrase Atmamnaha (We completed them) comes in this verse.
In some ancient texts it has been claimed that after thirty days, Moses (AS) was punished for some reason and had to wait for ten more days. However, the Quran considers the ten more days as an opportunity for competition of spiritual perfection.
