“Wash, dry them for few days before you eat”: Dr Naveed
Ishtiyaq Ahmad
Srinagar : With the Holy Month of Ramadan, devoted to fasting and prayers for Muslims, starting to begin from Saturday, the doctors here have advised the people to take all precautious before consuming the dates.
“Dates are particularly beneficial during Ramadan because they are high in sugar and vitamins such as potassium and magnesium as well as an excellent source of fiber and carbohydrates. But yes we advise people to take all precautions while consuming the dates,” Kashmir’s leading pulmonologist and head of Chest Diseases Hospital, Srinagar, Dr Naveed Nazir Shah told news agency KINS.
However Naveed advised people to properly wash and then dry the dates before eating them “You can buy the open dates from local markets, but yes before consuming them, all you need is to ensure that you wash and leave them for at least three days before eating,” he said.
Dates are also known to help with digestion and can prevent an upset stomach when eating large amounts of food after a long period without eating.
Meanwhile one of the senior doctors, expert in infectious disease here in SKIMS said that there is no published evidence, and we are not aware of unpublished evidence that people have developed COVID-19 illness from touching food or food packaging. “However, the virus causing COVID-19 can survive on surfaces and objects for a limited period of time. So it is better to throw the packing of dates as soon as you bring them home, as the wrapper may have the virus on it,” the doctor told KINS insisted not to be named. He also suggested that dates should be washed and left to dry properly.
The doctor said that the available evidence suggests that the virus can remain for 3 days on hard surfaces and 1 day on soft surfaces.
While the proverb “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” is known all over the world, the saying for Muslims go like “seven dates a day keeps the doctor away. There are different types of dates, the best and most precious one is the round-shaped, curled, black “Ajwa” which is grown in Medina
From April 24 to May 24, Muslims will be observing Ramadan. This is the first Ramadan where people won’t be able to gather.
“In Islam Ramadan is obligatory for Muslims. The Month has a lot of activities of spirituality. It’s all missing this year and then on top of that, if poor people do not have food at home, it’s going to have a huge impact emotionally, physically, and financially to them,” one of the senior citizens here in Srinagar told KINS.
Many are wondering how to safely shop, order, and prepare food to minimize transmission of the novel coronavirus.
The people here feel that it is a dramatic shift in their normal Ramadan practices and activities. “We won’t be able to pray Taraweeh in the mosques in fear of further spreading the virus. The mosques will be sad and thus our hearts will also be sad,” Habibullah a resident of Bemina Srinagar said.
“Perhaps the pandemic will bring us together in new ways we hadn’t considered before.
Although the religious activities that occur every Ramadan will not exist this year, Mohmmad Ramzan, the Islamic studies scholar, says that doesn’t necessarily mean people can’t attain the same level of spiritual fulfillment they ordinarily would.
For instance, Taraweeh, he said, can be offered at home. “Praying Taraweeh in a group inside a mosque is not obligatory; the Prophet Mohammed, peace be upon him, used to offer it individually.” he said. (KINS)
