While choice of food items depends upon preferences and geographical locations, mostly all Muslims include dates in their food to break their fast.
The holy month of Islamic religion – Ramadan started on April 2 this year. Muslims from around the globe are observing fasts during this religious period. During this holy month, Muslims practise abstinence and keep fasts from sunrise to sunset.
As per tradition, they are allowed to eat only two meals, one before the sunrise (called as sehri) and one after the sunset (called as iftar). To celebrate the occasion of Ramadan, Muslims enjoy a variety of foods during iftar. While the choice of food items depends upon preferences and geographical locations, mostly all Muslims include dates in their food to break their fast.
Dates are considered to be sacred in Islam as they are said have appeared more than 20 times in Quran, which is advocated by the Prophet Muhammad himself.
1. What is the history of dates?
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The date palm is known as one of the oldest cultivated trees in the world. According to culinary anthropologist, archaeologist, and historian - Kurush Dalal, dates were first spotted in India during the Harappan time.
Sharing further details about the variety of dates in India, Dalal said, “We have both kinds of dates in India: Phoenix Dactylifera and Phoenix Sylvestris. The latter is usually seen in the coastal regions, mostly used to make date palm wines or to turn them into jaggery by boiling them down. Dates that are directly eaten are Phoenix Dactylifera which are mainly domesticated and bred for size, shape, meat etc. in West Asia. From there, they directly come to our country. Indian dates have little meat on them”.
Also, READ: Ramadan 2022: Everything you need to know about the holy month
Dates are largely used in Gulf because it comes from one of the few trees that grow in that region and Islam has originated from that place, he added.
According to Dalal, dates are as important to the people of Arabia and West Asia as the coconut tree is to the people of coastal India.
2. What is the significance of dates in Islam?
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According to the author of ‘Masala Lab: The Science of Indian Cooking’- Krish Ashok, “For any religion that originated in deserts, like Islam, dates are naturally going to be a part of its central identity. Any long journey in deserts, just like the journey of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina, definitely involves dates. Thus, Muslims consume dates because they are religiously significant in Islam. Dates are not native to India and many other parts of the world, but you find them here because people consume them as a cultural marker.”
Based on the Hadith literatures, the Prophet used to break his fast by eating ripe dates. If fresh dates weren’t available, he used to eat dry dates and if not that, he used to drink few sips of water.
Due to the traditional associations of Islamic religion with dates, Muslims around the world consume dates during the holy month of Ramzan.
