According to local legend, one evening the prophet Mohammed's wife, Fatima, searched her kitchen in vain for something to eat. There was absolutely no food in the house except a small bowl of flour. How could she feed her two young sons who were already restless with hunger? Wearily Fatima glanced outside at the nearby vegetable plot, still bare and unyielding after the long, cold winter. On closer inspection she noticed some tiny, green shoots of wheat poking up through the hard soil. There was nothing for it but for Fatima to gather the seeds and shoots and prepare some food as best she could. Fatima carefully chopped up the wheat seeds and
shoots and then added them to a mixture of flour and water, hoping
that this makeshift meal would stave off the hunger of her boys.
Weak with lack of food herself, she sat down beside them and closed
her eyes as the mixture bubbled away, only to awaken hours later
as the first rays of sunlight began to filter into the room. Still
befuddled with sleep, Fatima noticed a heavy, sweet smell in the
air and suddenly remembered her concoction still simmering away
on the fire. She dashed over to the pot, fully expecting the food
to be burnt or at least dried up and inedible. To her relief, the
mixture had thickened and turned into a brown, sticky paste which
was soothing and sweet to the taste. But what caught her attention
was the definite image of her palm imprinted on the surface of the
mixture. Trembling a little, Fatima whispered a prayer of thanks
to God, for who other than he could have performed such a miracle?
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