The Prophet’s Breaking of Fast
The Prophet Muhammad, as an exemplary figure, never demonstrated in hadiths the way we currently break our fast. He adhered to the principles of gratitude, simplicity, and humility.
The Prophet never once used his status as the beloved of Allah to indulge extravagantly in anything, including matters of food.
In hadiths, the Prophet demonstrated breaking fast with fresh dates, or if not available, with dried dates, and if those were unavailable, with a few sips of water. Quoting NUOnline from the book As-Syamail Muhammadiyyah by Imam At-Tirmidzi, it’s mentioned that once the Prophet broke his voluntary fast with a dish called hais. This sweet-tasting snack was a type of dough made into round shapes, consisting of dates, clarified butter, cheese, and flour.
The hadith about breaking fast with dates or a combination similar to dates shouldn’t be understood literally. While eating dates is a practice of the Prophet, it doesn’t mean only dates are Sunnah.
If dates aren’t available, one can break fast with other sweet foods or drinks, like watermelon or a glass of sweet tea.