ABSTINENCE

Arabic Taqwa. Is very frequently enjoined in the Qur'an. The word generally applies to abstinence from idolatry in the first instance but it is used to express a life of piety. An excessive abstinence and a life of asceticism are condemned in the Qur'an, and the Christians are charged with the invention of the monastic life. (Surah lvii. 27.) "As for the monastic life, they invented it themselves." [MONASTICISM, FASTING.]