Ramadan Idea 6: Share dates with your neighbours/schools

by admin | Ideas for Marking Ramadan with Kids, Neighbours, Ramadan

The importance of neighbours is highly emphasised in Islam anyway, but what better time to fulfil their rights than in this month? In the Psalms of Islam (Sahide Sajjadiya), the grandson of the Prophet welcomes the month of Ramadan with a supplication. In it, he states: “O God… Give us success in this month to… attend to our neighbours with bestowal and giving.” Why not reach out to your neighbours with some dates and this letter?:

Dear Neighbour,

It is the month of Ramadan!

Ramadan is a special month of the year for over two billion Muslims throughout the world. It is a time for inner reflection, devotion to God, and self-control. Muslims think of it as a kind of tune-up for their spiritual lives.

Fasting has many special benefits. Among these, the most important is that it is a means of learning self-control. Due to the lack of preoccupation with eating or drinking and other such physical appetites during the daylight hours of fasting, the focus is on one’s spiritual nature, which becomes a means of coming closer to God. Ramadan is also a time of intensive worship, reading of the Qur’an, giving charity, purifying one’s behaviour, and doing good deeds.

As a secondary goal, fasting is a way of experiencing hunger and developing sympathy for the less fortunate, and learning to be thankful for and appreciate all of God’s bounties. Fasting is also beneficial to the health and provides a break in the cycle of rigid habits or overindulgence.

Muslims break their fast with dates, and today, we would like to share this delicious and nutritious fruit with you.

Fancy a Date?!

Sincerely,

Giving dates to your schools is also a great way to familiarise them with the month and what your child may be going through if they are fasting, etc.

For inspiration, check out all these ways in which people have shared dates with neighbours, friends, schools and community members over the years:

Here’s the first – handing out dates to new neighbours and introducing themselves at the same time – what a great way to get to know the neighbours!:

Love this idea of including the dua for breaking the fast on to these pretty date jars!:

Another great way to share dates – by encouraging Palestinian support!:

Another version of the Date Jars by Islam From the Start She found these great boxes in case you don’t have any jars Download them here: http://www.smartark.com/downloads/misc/datebox1_2.pdf :

Loving this version of date jars for family and friends, made by the child’s hand. As she grows, the parents will have a collection of her growing hand through every Ramadhan :):

From a mum: “Made some date gifts for the teachers at school.”

We were also thinking who else to give dates to – we usually give something to neighbours/people in the community for Eid and so didn’t want to overdo it – and besides – we wanted to give dates to Muslims in particular to get the reward for feeding fasting people! Nowadays giving out dates within our community is quite common, so we have decided to reach out to those we don’t tend to ‘give’ much to – the other Muslims in our school! There are not THAT many so it should hopefully be feasible… Inshallah we are hoping it will be thawaab, as well as a good way to deepen our bonds 🙂

Check out the poem that goes with these dates to be given to teachers and neighbours:

These dates were given out to school friends after a presentation about Ramadhan:

This acrostic poem was given with dates to teachers:

These dates for school friends and teachers were given out after the children did a short talk on Ramadhan to the class:

These classy date jars were handed out to neighbours:

And these bags covered with stars and moons were ideal to give out dates in!:

Instead of dates, we decided to make date cakes to giveout! The big one is for the school staff (note the slightly different wording), and the little stars and for all the Muslim mummies in the school as well as neighbours. Here is the link to the template: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ulvu9hsiiifr…/ramadandatecake.pub…
And here is the recipe!: Blend 1 cup pitted dates with 3/4 cup mil, 1/2 cup sugar and 1/4 cup oil. Stir well. Add 1 cup flour, little at a time, and tsp baking soda.
Bake at 170c, for about 15/20 minutes. Enjoy
- And here’s another date idea! Nut free ones were also made to be given out to everyone in the child’s school class 🙂
- And check out this Date Ball Kit Jar idea!
Download the template here.
- One mum made Shahru Ramadhan treat boxes for little friends: Cookies made and decorated by little one and family, kajur, and a small toy to help celebrate the beginning of this awesome month!
I love this eco-friendly idea! A reusable ziploc bag (in the shape of a jar!) was given out by one family… The printing is the cherry on the top of a beautiful date gift idea 🙂