it is believed that confectioners in the Levant (Sham) region were the ones who invented knafeh and specifically presented it to the Caliph Muawiyah bin Abi Sufyan when he was the governor of the Umayyad Caliphate. It was offered as a suhoor (pre-dawn meal during Ramadan) to address Muawiyah's complaint of hunger during daylight hours in Ramadan. Muawiyah's physician recommended knafeh as a dish to be consumed during suhoor to stave off hunger. From that time onwards, knafeh became a staple on the tables of kings and princes in the Levant, adorning their Ramadan feasts.