You may be wondering, why on earth I am asking for a favour from you? Well, I thought it would be perfect if we-as an online community- had a ‘sunnah food day/week’, what do you think?
Before the end of Ramadan, I want you to do me a favour- make something sunnah (it doesn’t have to be a big meal) and send us a picture of it. *
Why this month? Because it is the month of Ramadan and within this month Allah Ta’ala increases our reward 70 times more that on a normal day. So, all we have to do, is make intention that:
‘I am making such and such a dish for the pleasure of Allah Ta’ala because it is a sunnah of His beloved ﷺ’
Also, I know that many of us are probably writing exams during May and June, therefore, this challenge is perfect as it only requires us to take a max of ½ hour (depending on what you make). Plus, on top of that, we will receive the reward of making ibadat (worship).
For me, in Ramadan I must at least once make ‘Dates in a cup’ – that’s what I call it (If you can think of another, better name for it then please tell me). Anyway, it was the sunnah of our Nabi ﷺ to have dates with cucumber.
Some of the benefits behind cucumbers are:
- Cucumbers quench thirst
- They calm an inflamed stomach
- Its skin is rich in fibre
- They are an antioxidant
Why did Nabi ﷺ have dates with cucumber?
Dates are classed as a hot food- it creates heat within the body- and cucumbers are a cold food- it cools the body- therefore having them together balances out their effects on the body.
The most beloved dates to the Prophet ﷺ was Ajwa dates. These are the small black dates.
Here’s my special, favourite recipe for ‘Dates in a Cup’
DATES IN A CUP
Time: 15 minutes (max) Equipment:
- ½ cup Dates- preferably Ajwa dates
- 1 Cucumber
- 1-1 ½ tubs mascarpone cheese (the amount is totally up to you)
- Chopped pecan nuts (optional)
- A small spoon
- A large spoon
- A mixing bowl
- A knife
Instructions:
- Make your intention that you are following this recipe as having cucumber with dates is a sunnah
- Remove the seeds from the dates
- Rinse the dates
- Now chop them up into about 1cm cubes and place the chopped dates in the mixing bowl
- Take your washed cucumber and cut it into circles about 3cm in height
- Use a small spoon to scoop out the inside of the cucumber, but leave a layer at the bottom
- Chop up the cucumber that you have scooped out and put into the mixing bowl with the dates
- Next, empty the tub of mascarpone cheese into the mixing bowl
- Add in the chopped pecans
- Mix the mixture of cucumber seeds, dates, mascarpone cheese and pecans well
- Using the small spoon, fill the cucumber cups with the mixture
- Wait for iftar and enjoy!
The left-over mixture tastes amazing by itself as well.
Nabidh is also sunnah. However, when making nabidh, one needs to be careful as it can become fermented and can cause intoxication. The recipe for making Nabidh is as follows.
NABIDH
Time: 1 day
No, I’m joking, it takes less than five minutes but needs to be left overnight.
Equipment:
- About 3-5 dates
- Water
- A bowl/jug
Instructions:
- Remove the seeds from the dates and rinse
- Put the dates in the bowl/jug and add water (depending on how much you want to make)
- Leave overnight
- Strain the liquid.
This liquid is called nabidh and has many many health benefits - Eat the dates and drink the Nabidh
The ratio of dates to water you use determines how strong the drink will be.
TIP: If it’s your first time having it, don’t make it too strong.
Now it’s your turn!
Here are a few other sunnah foods that you could maybe try:
- The prophet ﷺ also said ‘The leader of the food of this world (as in the best food) is meat, then rice’
- Curry – ‘Tharid’
- Milk
- Roti made from barley
- Bottle-Gourd
- Melon- also good to have with dates
- Watermelon
- Olives
- Grapes
- Pomegranate
Don’t forget to send me a picture of the sunnah food YOU make or what sunnah food you have included in your meal. If you have made something that is not included above, then please state your reference.
JazakAllah!
*A few rules (regarding your picture):
- Make sure the picture is only taken of the food-meaning, no hands etc should be seen
- No people, or any animate objects should be visible in the picture or in the background
- Caption the picture with its name or the specific sunnah food you’ve included
- And tell me how much you enjoyed it!
Reference/further reading: All hadith and mentioned sunnah foods are taken from Shamail-e-Kubra (Volume 1)
Images should be sent to info@al-yusra.co.uk with the subject ‘SUNNAH FOOD CHALLENGE‘
