Coffee drinking is part and parcel of everyday life, though it hasn’t always been that way. Curiously enough, coffee drinking was deemed so controversial in the early 16th century that it was banned in Mecca, the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad and a significant center for Islamic worship within the Arabian Peninsula.
The man behind this infamous ban was Khair Beg, explained History Extra in an article discussing the prohibition and suspicion of coffee at different points in history. The conservative governor of Mecca, legend has it that, along with Muslim jurists and scholars of the era, Khair Beg decreed that coffee was haraam, a term meaning “forbidden” by Allah or “sinful.” However, it remains perplexing as to why coffee, a seemingly innocuous beverage, was classified on par with grave offenses like murder and adultery, or the consumption of intoxicating substances such as alcohol.
The answer lies within the history and culture surrounding this historic brew. Coffee is believed to have been spread throughout the Middle East by the Yemeni Sufi mystics, who had begun to use coffee during their religious rituals to enhance focus and spiritual alertness. The stimulating properties of coffee were believed to aid in maintaining wakefulness and deepening their spiritual experiences, helping them to attain a particular state of euphoria.
Coffee soon spread throughout the Islamic world, bringing with it controversy. In an essay about the so-called Wine of Islam, Kathleen Seidel …
