Ramadan treat dates back to Muhammad

(RNS) Brown, sticky, and wrinkly, dates seem a sad or unremarkable
fruit. But every Ramadan, the Islamic holy month that began on Monday
(Aug. 1), dates take on tremendous religious significance for the
faith's 1.6 billion followers.

Throughout the world, Muslims will break Ramadan's required daytime
fasts just as Prophet Muhammad did nearly 1,400 years ago: with dates.

But while emulating Muhammad is said to bring blessings, a quirk of
seasonal timing and dates' growing popularity among non-Muslims are
making the prized fruit harder to get for Ramadan.