Tags: Healthy Food and Drinks
By KC Santos
MAKATI CITY, METRO MANILA – The prune-like date fruit is a significant part of the faith, sacrifice and culture of the Muslim community.
The fruit comes from the date palm,which is a tree endemic to Northern Africa and the countries in the Middle East. Whereas mangoes are synonymous to provinces like Guimaras and Cebu in the Philippines, dates are prominent particularly during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Dates are ubiquitous in any Islamic celebration, including the Ramadan when Muslim communities turn to the sweet fruit as the first food they eat after a long fasting during this sacred period of contemplation.
Its religious significance is attributed to the early trade relations between Arab and Chinese merchants who took the Silk Route, one of the most famous trade routes before the time of Christ, and bartered dates for silk the Chinese brought from Central Asia.
Now, dates are still enjoyed dried or fresh or part of Middle Eastern cuisine. Non-Muslims would ask why eat a small piece of fruit when you’re finally allowed by religious order to eat your heart out at dawn and dusk when the fast is completed.
In Middle Eastern and Northern Africa cuisine, dates are considered the healthiest and the fruit provides much needed sugar that one’s body needs during the Ramadan.
From the beginning until the end of the fasting period, dates are consumed for the fruit’s nutritional value to satisfy one’s repressed appetite. During Ramadan, Muslims are still required to work or go to school.
Having dates during and at the end of their fast also validates the Muslim’s high regard for discipline. The ability to hold back demands for more solid foods tells a lot about how Muslims sacrifice for bigger things like helping others and renewing ties with family, which is for them the essence of welcoming the Eid’l Fitr or the End of Ramadan.
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