Riyadh’s northern neighbor is rich in more than just dates.
“When I think of home, I think of Qassim.”
Fatima Al-Badr says she is proud to be from Qassim, one of Saudi Arabia’s 13 regions. Qassim lies north of the Riyadh region, and the two share a border. Most famous for its date farms, Qassim is also home to world-renowned titans of industry and folklore of a highly-honored woman.
Qassim boasts hundreds of farms, big and small, where families grow everything from dates to vegetables. Water is plentiful here, and farms are irrigated by wells across the region, unlike the desalinized water of Riyadh. Fatima Al-Badr, a Saudi dialect guide at Arabius, says the farm atmosphere is her favorite part of life in Qassim.
“When I go to my family’s farm, I can pick vegetables straight from the ground, without going to the market,” she explained, “I love it!”
Qassim also has the biggest date farm in the world*: the Batin Palm Tree Project outside the capital city of Buraidah. It’s a non-profit farm with 200,000 date palms growing 45 kinds of dates. Every year, much of the harvest is donated to people on pilgrimage to Mecca. The rest is open to anyone in need to take for free.
The Buraidah Date Festival* is also the world’s biggest. Lasting anywhere from 30 to 90 days, thousands of farmers bring their harvest to Buraidah to sell. Organizers estimate that roughly 2 billion riyals in dates were sold at this year’s festival.
Selling produce is a family tradition here, a skill passed down from generation to generation. Fatima tells me kids as young as 12 are responsible for selling produce from their grandfathers’ farms. In fact, one of Saudi Arabia’s most prominent self-made billionaires is from here. Sulaiman Al-Rajhi started working on a date farm at age nine before eventually starting the Kingdom’s first Islamic bank. Once among the richest people in the world, Sulaiman has now donated most of his wealth to charity.
Qassim was also home to Moudhi Al-Bassam, a 20th-century woman who is honored “like a man,” according to Fatima. Moudhi came from a wealthy family, but lost her father as a baby. She later lost her husband and five of her children. When war broke out in 1901, Moudhi housed, fed, and cared for wounded soldiers, even helping them get home. In 1909, a horrific famine claimed thousands of lives in what is known as “The Year of Hunger.” Even then, Moudhi’s generosity didn’t stop. She opened the doors to her father’s palace, cooking, feeding, and housing anyone in need.
So famous was her generosity that King Abdulaziz and his aunt would visit Moudhi whenever the king came to Unaizah. A proverb also arose: “If a son is born, his name is Moudhi,” signifying the deep respect she earned from her people. You can still visit her home today at Al Bassam Palace in Unaizah.
Arabius is a cultural center in Riyadh where native Saudi guides teach the local dialect of Arabic. They offer individual, pair, and group rates. If you’re interested in learning more about Saudi dialect and culture, visit arabius.com.
TASTE OF QASSIM
Karath is a healthy veggie native to Qassim. It looks like grass, smells like onions, and tastes like spinach. Fatima says her mother used to eat it straight from the ground!
Kaleejah is a tasty sweet that can be found in most supermarkets, but for the “real thing,” you have to go to Qassim. It consists of sweet bread with a hollow inside containing a sweet sauce of honey, ginger, cinnamon, and more. “You know it’s good and fresh if the sauce spills out when you bite into it,” Fatima laughed.
Want the fresh produce of Qassim without the long drive? Thamar Al- Aqilaat, in northwest Riyadh, always has a healthy supply of dates and other produce fresh from the farms of Qassim.
*Both the Al Batin Palm Tree Project and the Buraidah Date Festival are recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records as the biggest date palm garden and biggest date festival, respectively.
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