Best date ever!

from Shane's Muslim Connect

There are lots of good dates: Your baby’s due date! The date you finally graduated or finally killed your student debt. The date you came to Christ. 

There are the second kind of dates: Like when my wife-to-be took me for a hot air balloon ride. Or tonight when we celebrate our fifth anniversary! 

And then the best dates: The fruit of the God-blessed date palm tree! Two episodes loom large in my memory: When visiting a short term team in Tunisia, I bought a bag of dates from a street vendor, planning to share them with the team. When I offered, however, they responded with, “Ooooh, ick, yucky, gross. We don’t like dates.” (Apparently this team went straight from 2nd grade to North Africa!) But I got to eat the whole bag! 

The second was earlier in my career during a summer in Jordan. I’d gone for dinner at a new friend’s house. After eating he sneakily beckoned me into his parents’ bedroom, reached high up on a dresser and brought down an ornate box. I assumed this contained the heirloom knife he would use to ceremonially kill me. (I was not long out of Indiana!) Instead the box contained the family’s “good dates.” And, oh my, were they delicious! 

Why am I making you drool over dates? Because dates are big in Islam and particularly during Ramadan. They are mentioned 22 times in the Quran and Muhammad himself is said to have cultivated them. Dates are used to break the daily fast during Ramadan, paired with a cup of tea. 

Here’s the challenge for this week: Make your way to a halal grocery and buy some dates! Ask the proprietor about the significance of dates for Islam. Big time bonus points if you take a selfie with your new friend or simply yourself enjoying dates, and post it for the rest of us to see. Ramadan Mubarak! 

Here’s a brand new weekly prayer guide for Ramadan. I’d love for you to join me in making this available at your church this weekend. (Ramadan begins tomorrow!)