Benefits Blog: What did the Prophet eat for Iftar?

Looking at the surfeit of food on our Sufras, the sumptuous Suhoor banquets at five-star hotels, the mouth-watering Iftar meals advertised by restaurants, the supermarket trolleys piled high with goodies and the frequent fisticuffs that break out outside Fool-Tamees shops during Ramadan rush hour, it would be understandable if a stray observer concluded that Ramadan is about indulgence, not denial.


It never ceases to appall me how much time, energy, expense and effort is spent in preparing, consuming, serving and clearing up elaborate meals in the name of “maintaining Ramadan traditions.”


It’s no secret that harried housewives and working women have resorted to outsourcing traditional Ramadan fare, and rather than going through the elaborate ordeal of conjuring a multi-course homemade meal every single day, they simply pay someone to supply it. After all, Ramadan “traditions” must be maintained, never mind the cost.


It makes me wonder: Who taught us the tradition of the over-laden table and the distended stomach?


It was certainly not our Prophet (peace be upon him) whose Sunnah we are obligated to follow. Doesn’t it strike us as hugely ironic, that even as we make Ramadan resolutions to improve our acts of worship, and strive to develop Ittiba’ (practice/following) in other areas of our lives, we tend to conveniently overlook this aspect of the Prophet’s life – his moderation to the extent of abstinence in indulging his appetite?


Are we the Ummah of the Prophet (peace be upon him) who said: “The offspring of Adam fills no vessel worse than his stomach. Sufficient for the child of Adam are a few morsels to keep his back straight. If he must eat more, then a third should be for his food, a third for his drink, and a third left for air?” (Musnad Ahmad)


Going by the statistics, which state that cases of acute indigestion and a host of other digestive disorders increase by almost 48 percent all over the world at the beginning of Ramadan, it certainly doesn’t seem so.


For curiosity’s sake, let’s take a look at some of the things the Prophet (peace be upon him) is reported to have broken his fasts with:

1) The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) used to prefer breaking the fast with dates, and if he did not find any, he would then break it with water. For more read here.

Benefits Blog: Jarir – a notable legend in poetry

MOST people who come to the Kingdom carry back fond memories of a chain of bookstores called ‘Jarir’, yet not many of us know much about the eponymous poet after whom the chain of stores is presumably named.



He was Jarir Bin ‘Atiyyah Bin Huthayfah Al-Khatfi Bin Badr Al-Kulaibi Al-Yarboo’i, Abu Hazrah, from Banu Kulaib, a sub-tribe of Banu Tamim.



Born to a humble family in Yamamah during the reign of Caliph Uthman Bin Affan, he later moved to Damascus where he lived through the era of the Umayyad Caliphs (648 to 722 CE). It is said that he succeeding in impressing the tyrant governor of Iraq, Al-Hajjaj Bin Yusuf, with his fawning verse, subsequently made a living by penning eulogies in praise of some of the other Umayyad caliphs.



According to an account in Al-Bidayah wan-Nihayah, Jarir was the only ‘court poet’ who was granted an audience by the ascetic Caliph Umar Bin Abdul Aziz. On the occasion, Jarir recited a few couplets of extempore verse, praising ‘Umar Bin Abdul Aziz for his generosity and comparing him favorably with some other past Caliphs, but he was admonished by Umar Bin Abdul Aziz to “stop lying for a living.”



On hearing this, Jarir asked ‘Umar Bin ‘Abdul-’Aziz for some money, since he was poor and had no other means of sustenance. Umar Bin Abdul Aziz said, “If you could prove to me that you are included among the list of people mentioned in the Qur’an who should be helped with alms, I would be the first person to do so.” When Jarir insisted on receiving some money, pleading his poverty, Umar Bin Abdul Aziz gave him 200 Dirhams from his own pocket, taking care to clarify that it was not from the public exchequer. Jarir later said that those two hundred Dirhams brought him such plenitude, that he was not reduced to begging for money ever again.



For more read here.