Is it sunnah to eat dates before going to eid al-Fithr prayer?

Question

Asslamu alaikum,

Is it sunnah to eat dates before going for eid al-Fithr prayer? Any references for that?

Jazak Allah Khair

Answer 1

Yes it is :-)

It's sunnah to eat (in general) before going to Eid Al-Fitr prayer, and is sunnah to eat dates especially. And it's sunnah not to eat before going to Eid Al-Adha prayer, but rather eat after coming back from it.

For Eid Al-Fitr, here is a Hadith that confirms it is sunnah to eat dates before going to Eid Al-Fitr prayer:

Narrated Anas bin Malik: Allah's Apostle never proceeded (for the prayer) on the Day of `Id-ul-Fitr unless he had eaten some dates. Anas also narrated: The Prophet used to eat odd number of dates.

حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ عَبْدِ الرَّحِيمِ، حَدَّثَنَا سَعِيدُ بْنُ سُلَيْمَانَ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا هُشَيْمٌ، قَالَ أَخْبَرَنَا عُبَيْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ أَبِي بَكْرِ بْنِ أَنَسٍ، عَنْ أَنَسٍ، قَالَ كَانَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم لاَ يَغْدُو يَوْمَ الْفِطْرِ حَتَّى يَأْكُلَ تَمَرَاتٍ‏.‏ وَقَالَ مُرَجَّى بْنُ رَجَاءٍ حَدَّثَنِي عُبَيْدُ اللَّهِ قَالَ حَدَّثَنِي أَنَسٌ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم وَيَأْكُلُهُنَّ وِتْرًا‏.‏

[Sahih Bukhari]

Hope that's helpful.