Alhagi maurorum

Family: leguminosae.

Origin of word:

A saccharine food which Allah provided to the children of Israel when they were wandering in the Sinai desert after their exile from Egypt.

Tiny insects living on the plant are responsible to produce the Mann, a sweet gum.

These insects puncture the bark of the host plant through which a liquid oozes out during the intense heat of the sunny day and hardened into the form of a gum during the cool nights.

The insects were identified as Coccus manniparus and the trees as Tamarix. For certain tribes living around the area of Sinai, the exudate was the only source of sweetness they collected from the trees.

The Mann was obtained from 2 different types of plants: The Hâj or Aaaqul (Alhagi maurorum named also locally Turanjbin) called also Shauqul –jamal; the camel’s fodder. It is a thorny shrub that do not grow beyond 3 feet in height, but it has long roots that can go 15 to 20 feet deep in the ground.

Apart from the Hâj, there was another plant called Tamarix mannifera that grows in the same region and can be also a Mann plant, a small tree with scaly leaves. It is named Gazanjbin.

The sweet Mann is still traded over the world, but mainly used in medicine since it has medicinal as well as nutritional properties.

The plant has been referred with the Salva bird or Quail eaten with the Mann during 40 years (1491 B.C. to 1451 B.C.) as a balanced diet.

Nakhl

Nakhil (plural)

Nakhlat (singular)

Leenat [58:5}

Naqir [4:53&124]

Qitmir [35:13]

Annava [6:95]

Al-Arjun

Compared to the new Moon [36:39]

Habl & Dusur are palm-fibre [lahab:5; 54:13]

Tamar: thedate fruit

Phoenix dactylifera Family Arecaceae

8 times the date-palm is mentioned alone; at 12 places it is clubbed with other fruits like olive, pomegranate and grapes.

The domestication and cultivation of date-palm started 6,000 to 8,000 years back in Mesopotamia. That might be the first cultivated fruit plant in the world, that is why palm-trees are tightly associated with the development of human culture and civilization.

An old Arabic saying says that the uses of date-palm are as many as the number of days in a year!

Its wood is used as building material and big leaves are used to make handicrafts like fans, ropes, sticks, mats, etc.

During mass-rejoicing, old Arabs used to hold date-palm leaves in their hands.

The date-stone when soaked an powdered is a good cattle feed.

The fruit is sweet and delicious and one of the best nutritious diet for mankind.

It contains sucrose, glucose, protein, cellulose, starch, vitamin A, b, C.

It is a dioeceous tree which means male and female plants occur separately and the cross pollination between their flower is responsible for the production of fruits.

One male can suffice 100 females.

The date-palm garden is called Nakhlistan or oasis.

Old Arabs would cut down palm-trees, especially males of the enemy tribe.

This practice was highly discouraged by Muslims! This was considered by tem a sacrilege on earth (Fasad –Fil-Arz) even during war expeditions.

This acute sense of the conservation of plants was a revolutionary concept at the time of the Revelation! It was also very practical forthe development of the Muslim society!

During the confrontation with the Bani Nadir, Muslims had to cut down the enemy’s trees to facilitate war movement, but they did it with extreme sadness.

Dates have a great medical value as nutritious and health tonic:

It is a demulcent, an emmollient, a heart stimulant and helps in checking the loss of memory.

It helps respiratory disorders, especially asthma.

It is a laxative, a diuretic and aphrodisiac.

A paster of powdered palm-stones helps in the cureof eye diseases (keratites, ophtalmia)

It is very beneficial for pregnant women.

Good dates are obtained when the roots of the palm tree remain submerged in water and the upper part is exposed tot he fiery heat of the sun. Date-palm is 50-80 feet in height; good fruiting occurs only for one hundred years or so and the live-span of the tree is 200 years.

The palms are propagated by the seeds as well as suckers (yielding the best fruits).

It is atall tree, but its roots are not well anchored (no more than 5 feet deep in the ground).

In Sura Qamar [verse18-20] it ois said that the mis-directed people of Ad were thrown dead by the strong winds just like the date-palm trees would get uprooted in similar conditions.

It is cultivated in all Mediterranean countries. It is not a tall tree (upto 8 meters in height)

Olive originated in Phoenicia (northern part of Arab peninsula) 2000 BC then was brought to the West (Europe) and the East (Africa).

Sura Nur says: [35] "As olive neither of the East not of the West."

Olive is cultivated through grafting since it is useless ungrafted. Unripe olive is bitter The first expression of olives give a high quality oil; the later crushing give an oil used in cosmetics and other usage.

The olive oil has great medical value. It is a nutrient, demulcent and a mild purgative. It helps with gastric and duodenal ulcers.

The external application soften the skin and crusts in eczema and psoriasis. It is good for massage and is used in ointments and plasters.

It can be used as lamp fuel [Nur-35]; when lighted in a lamp, the olive oil gives brightness tot he glass because it is pure.

When Allah’s wrath destroyed men and Noa shipped with the animals, a dove appeared with an olive twig in its beak, signifying relief and peace..

Grapes might have existed already at the tie of Noah.

It may have sarted in Azerbaijan or Armenia.

8 000 varieties are cultivated, especially in Europe.

It is a great source of glucose and fructose, minerals like Sodium, Potassium, Calcium and Iron. The vitamin P in it check bleeding caused by diabetes, helps with inflammation of veins and cures Atherosclerosis. It is also a good stimulant, digestive, demulcent. stomachic, refrigerant and diuretic. It increases and purifies the blood. Juice of unripe fruit is astringent and is a remedy for ailments of throat. The sap from the stems is useful in skin diseases and in ophtalmia. Grapes are beneficial in chronic bronchitis, heart-diseases and gout. It helps during cold and fevers and is a good diet for persons suffering from jaundice.

80% of grapes in the world are used to make wine and 7% to make raisins (Zabib) and Vinegar.

Wine production was discouraged and banned since the advent of Islam, but grape cultivation was encouraged. This really helped the Arabs in improving their lot since wars and turpitudes were often the consequences of drinking too much wine.

Some psychological steps were taken in order to make sure the consumption of alcohol stopped among Muslims.

Wine is bad [2-219]

Sura Nisan-43: One shoul dnot go for prayers in a state of drunkenness.

Then it was banned: Sura Almaida: 90-91 .

Rumman

Al-anam-14 says that just after the harvest of fruit crops, it is the duty of the owner to distribute a part of it to the needy and deserving.

So, the monopoly and ownership of the agriculture is not favored by Islam.

Pomegranate comes from Iran and it is a delicious juicy fruit.

During the time of Prophet Musa quality pomegranate was cultivated in Palestine Syria and Lebanon.

It is a rich source of Sodium and riboflavin, thiamin, niacin, vitamin c, Calcium and Phosphorous.

It is tonic for the heart, check heart pain and helps best with stomach inflammation. It acts like medicine for diarrhoea and dysentery, but also high blood pressure, anaemia, colitis.

Given with honey, it reduces biliousness, and it is a good homeopathic medicine to calm disorders.

Al-Teen

Ficus carica Linn

Allah swears by the Fig, Olive, Mount Sinai and Mecca that Man has been created on this earth in the best possible mould and conditions.

Fig and olive are highly useful. Mount Sinai is where Musa (PBUH) received Divine Summons.

The leaves of Fig tree were used by Adam and Eve to cover themselves.

The Fig is average 30 feet high and produces fruits twice a year!

Only fruits appear on trees where the insect figwasp are present.

People recovering from long illnesses will take fig since there is no fiber in it and it is highly nutritious.

It contains 60% sugar; it removes the gravel in the kidneys or the bladder and helps in the removal of the obstruction of the liver and spleen in sub-acute gases, and also gout and piles.

The word Philisopher comes from Plato who was called the lover (philo) of Fig (Sokos).

In Sura Saba, it is mentioned as an earth tree while in other suras it is mentioned as a Paradise tree!

The root of gigantic Sidrah would be on the 6^th sky while its branches spread over the 7^th sky.

Maybe a tree separating this world from the other world, as stated by Maulana Majid.

[luqhat al quran –83 defines the Sidr as the utmost boundary of human knowledge.

Allah has mentioned this tree to emphasize its beauty, strength and grandeur. It has survived the the destruction by the devastating floods of Eram at Maarib with 2 other trees: the Tamarisk (i.e., Athal) and the Mustard Tree (Khamt or Salvadora persica), all 3 deeply rooted trees

Furtermore, Maarib is a hilly area with a cold climate (4000 feet altitude)

The Cedar of Lebanon (Cedrus libani or in Arabic Arz al-Rab or Shajaratul-Allah) is the most beautiful and imposing tree of Arabia and probably the grandest among the entire plant kingdom.

It can each the height of 150 feet with a trunk of 8 feet diameter and often with a girth of 40 feet. It has a thick growth of dark green foliage with spread out branches. The plant with its terraced effect of the foliage gives to the tree a dignity and grandeur of a big pyramid when seen from a distance.

The wood is quality timber: it is shiny, light, durable and pleasant smell. It is said that the palace of Suleiman (PBUH) was built with the cedar as many temples before Christianity. During the period of Pharaons the forests of Lebanon were cut down and the wood used for palaces and temples lasting hundred of years!

Unfortunately the trees went scarce because of deforestation.

A Hadith in Abu Daud (30) says that "all those who would cut Sidr would be sent to Hell with their heads down" since people in Mecca were using the tree to make doors.

This Islamic policy later helped preserve the forests of Lebanon.

It is also reported that a hadith says that the Sidr al-Muntaha was a huge tree with its leaves (branches ) looking like the ears of an elephant and its fruits (cones) like the water pots of Hajr.

Many hadiths say to mix Sidr leaves in the warm water meant fo giving bath to the dead body since they are a disinfectant and the oil from the resin is deodorant. The Juniper tree also can serve the same the same purpose in case of non-presence of cedar trees.

Athl (Tarfa, Gaz etc., in Arabic)

Tamarix aphylla

Family Tamaricaceae

Saba (Yemen) was a beautioful country. Big dams were constructed to contain rain water for irrigation. In 542 A.D., the dam burst desructing almost aal the Gardens if dates, grapes andfruits. The only trees that were left were Khamt (Salvatora Persicaa), Athl (Tamarix) and Sidr (Cedrus).

Khamt (Mustard tree, Shajr Miswak, Arak, Khardal)

Salvatora persica L

Family: Salavadoraceae

Al-Arak has edible berries, but they have the taste of mustard oil.

The fruit prompts the appetite; it helps with fever, affections of spleen.

Prophet Hazrat Muahammad aadvised to clean teeth with Miswak:

He would clean his mouth before praying and even on his death bed.

Kafur (henna, Kopher,,Copher, Yoranna, Hinnan)

Lawsonia inermis

Family: Lythraceaa

A wine with a flavor of kafur is consumed by the inhabitants of Jannat without the harmful effects, being different from the earthly camphor. Scholars think the camphor of Qur’an is actually the word Copher which means Henna. There are several references about prophet Muhammad (PBUH) asking people to use kafur over the dead body for last rites, after the final bath. Henna was much more common that camphor in Arabic of the 6^th century, and the camphor was equal to that of gold.

Zanjibil

Zingiber officinale

Allah provides a wine with the taste of ginger. Arabs loved ginger and used to mix it in their water. Their imported it from India.

Ginger is now used for cooking.

It is a stimulant to the gastro-intestinal tract, digestive, help with colic, vomiting, spasm, help with the stomach and asthma.

It prevents the loss of appetite taken before meals with lemon-juice and rock salt. It relaxes sore-throat, hoarseness and loss of voice when chewed.

Useful in diabetes and chronic rheumatism, beginning of headache

Adas

Lens culinaris

It is one of the food the Jews hate in Egypt during their enslavement along with onion (Basal), Garlic (Fum), Cucumber (Qiththa), Vegetable (Baql).

At that time, lentil was used to make bread for the poor ( not pulse) .

Basal

Allium Cepa

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) disliked the smell of garlic and onion and advised his followers to refrain from eating them before entering the mosque for fear of disturbing others.

Fum

Allium sativum

In Arabic, garlic is called Soom contrary to the Noble Qur’an.

It checks high blood pressure; it is stimulant, carminative, emenagogue, antirheumatic, anthelmentic, alterative and helps with bronchial and asthmatic complaints.

Garlic juice diminishes cough and helps breathing for tuberculosis.

Qiththa

Cucumis melo

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) would have eaten fresh date with cucumber together.

Talh

Acacia seyal

This tree is abundant in Arabia and Afica and is called also seyyal.

It is a thorny tree of 30 feet height, bearing bright yellow fragrant flowers. It provides shadow, fuel and timber.

It is described as a recompense for the "Companions of the Right hand" in Paradise.

Acacias are the source of the commercial Gum Arabic (Samagh-e-Arabi) .

It is the tree under which Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) took oath from his companions, described as Baiat al-Rizwan.

Talh Gum is sued as food, pharmaceuticals, textile, paper, inks, paints, adhesive,….

Yaqtin

Lagenaria siceraria

The story of Prophet Yunus (Jonah) (PBUH) shows that out of the fish, Allah caused a plant, from the Gourd kind, to grow over him.

The plant protected him from the scorching sun and provided fruits to eat before he could again go back to Nineveh to finish his mission.

Khardal

Brassica nigra

Al-Rehan

Ocimum basilicum

The plant is a gift and favor of Allah in Paradise.

The plant is highly fragrant; it is stimulant, styptic, demulcent, carminative.

Al-Zaqqum

Euphorbia species

Zaqqum is a tree of hell and poisonous food for sinners. It is a thorny plant with bitter taste.

It is also called in the Qur’an Shajr al-Maluna, i.e., ‘Cursed Tree’.

It is reported that a plant named Zaqqum (Thohar or Sehnd, Lebbein, Rummid, etc.) grows in Tehama in Hijaz region; it has bitter taste, smells bad, the latex from its stem causes blisters; it is cactus like and grows in abundance in Africa, Asia, Australia, and America.

When eaten the Zaqqum causes burning in the stomach; its stems or clusters look like the head of a satan (big round thing); and plant of the sinners.

Dhari

Some trees have not been named or identified but are called ‘shajar’

Adam’s forbidden tree: (2: 35; 7: 19-22; 20-120)

Flame tree of Moses: (28: 29-30; 20:10; Naml: 7)

Musa was travelling with his family in the Sinai desert when he saw a distant tree that seemed to burn. He approached and instead heard Allah’s voice.

Tree of Bai’at Rizwan: (fath 48: 18)

Prophet Muahammad (PBUH) asked his followers to join him in the Baiat Rizwan to vow fidelity (Fealty Oath) under a tree.

Fire obtained from trees: (36: 80; 46: 72)

The Arabs used to rub two pieces of wood together to start a fire.

Goodly tree and evil tree: (14: 24, 26)

"Seest thou not how

Allah sets forth a parable?

A goodly tree

Whose root is firmly fixed

And its branches (reach)

To the heavens

And the parable

Of an evil word

Is that of an evil tree

It is ton up by the root

From the surface of the earth