Rabat – Moroccan King Mohammed VI chaired the sixth Religious Lecture of the Ramadan series of Hassani Lectures, with the company of Crown Prince Moulay Hassan at the royal palace in Rabat on May 30.
Delivered by the Goodwill Ambassador of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), professor Abdelwahab Zayed, the lecture revolved around the theme of the significance of palm trees in the Islamic faith.
The religious evening drew on the Qur’anic Verse 25 of Surah Maryam (Chapter 19), “And shake toward you the trunk of the palm tree; it will drop upon you ripe, fresh dates. So eat and drink and be contented. And if you see from among humanity anyone, say, ‘Indeed, I have vowed to the Most Merciful abstention, so I will not speak today to [any] man.“
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The lecturer highlighted Morocco’s efforts in providing special care to palm plantation to produce the best quality dates in the Kingdom, initiated by ordering the plantation of 3 million varieties of high quality palm trees in Morocco’s best palmeries, which set on a land stretch of 60,000 hectares.
Zayed noted that palm trees, praized in the Qur’an and sunnah for their health benefits, are always linked to the “good word” and referred to as “inexhaustible source of benefits.”
A staple on every Muslims’ iftar table during Ramadan, the blessed fruit is mentioned more than any other fruit, in more than 20 Qur’anic verses. The verses call attention to their health benefits as invoked in Surah Maryam, when God provided her with dates to relieve childbirth pain.
Nutritionally speaking, the lecturer noted that a number of contemporary scientific studies corroborate the health benefits of the fruit for being rich in carbohydrates, along with glucose, fructose and fibre for digestion, providing the human body with enough energy to carry out their daily activities.
Additionally, dates also contains high levels of mineral salts, vitamins, potassium, sodium, zinc, magnesium and cobalt, besides its richness in blood- and growth-related essential elements such as vitamin A, as well as elements that protect from cancer and heart and kidney diseases.
He also highlighted how dates are equally important for pregnancy for containing iron and antioxidants.
Zayed concluded the lecture by presenting a series of books to King Mohammed VI.
