It is said that during his travels, following the practice of the devout, he came across coffee trees that were both plentiful and untouched. After trying the beans, he found that they stimulated the mind, prompted wakefulness, and invigorated acts of worship. He adopted coffee as both sustenance and drink, encouraging his followers to do the same.
Tracing coffee's spread
From Yemen, coffee spread to the Hijaz, then to the Levant, Egypt, and beyond. When it first reached the Hijaz, it was associated with Sufism and gatherings of mystics, valued for its ability to promote wakefulness, sustain energy, and enhance worship. Most saw it as permissible, but some scholars—including Shaykh Shihab al-Din al-Aythawi's father in Damascus, Qutb ibn Sultan, and Shaykh Ahmad ibn Ahmad ibn Abdul Haq al-Sanbati in Egypt—argued that it was harmful.
Over time, coffee's role expanded, and it became associated with a variety of social activities, such as playing chess and dice, participating in political discussions, and engaging in everyday conversations. This meant that the religious and legal discussions surrounding coffee were not limited to the beverage itself but to societal changes.
In Umdat Al-Safwa fi Hill Al-Qahwa, author Abdul Qadir Al-Ansari Al-Jazairi Al-Hanbali says: "Numerous scholars of this era in Mecca, Cairo, and other regions wrote about it, with some taking an impartial, unbiased approach. Poets went to great lengths to celebrate it, crafting detailed verses with diverse rhymes and structures to extol its virtues."
Debating coffee
This is the oldest surviving text that details coffee, as noted in 1001 Inventions: The Enduring Legacy of Muslim Civilisation. Yet the King Abdulaziz Public Library in Riyadh has also unearthed a rare manuscript on coffee dating back more than 400 years, titled Talkhees Umdat al-Safwa fi Hill al-Qahwa. Authored by Sheikh Madin bin Abd al-Rahman Al-Qawsuni, this work summarises Abdul Qader Al-Jaziri's Umdat al-Safwa, which itself condenses a book by Sheikh Ahmed Shihab Al-Din bin Abdul Ghaffar Al-Maliki. The book is divided into chapters. The first—On the Meaning of Coffee—covers the debate over its permission or prohibition.
In Qena, Egypt, a researcher uncovered a manuscript fragment from a lost work by the Hanbali scholar Musa al-Mahawi al-Hanbali, titled Al-ser Al-maknon Fe Medeh Al-qahwa Walbanon. Living in Ottoman-era Mecca, al-Mahawi witnessed protests against a fatwa banning coffee consumption in cafes, writing a text in question-and-answer format ardently defending coffee and extolling its virtues.
First coffee shop
Early records suggest that the world's first coffee shop was in Mecca, predating Levantine and Turkish cafés. There is ample evidence supporting Mecca's pioneering role in founding the world's first coffeehouse, but one particularly telling incident involved the muhtasib (market supervisor), bailiff Khayr Bey, appointed by Sultan Qansuh al-Ghuri in 1511.
It is recorded that one Friday night, Khayr Bey "performed the tawaf around the Kaaba, drank from the Zamzam well, then returned home". On his way, he noticed people gathered in a part of the Grand Mosque, led by the swordsman Qurqmas al-Nasiri, who claimed to be holding a Mawlid for the Prophet.
Before reaching them, they extinguished their lanterns, which made him suspicious. He called for them and found that they were partaking in a drink, with Qurqmas serving them a circulating cup. Assuming it to be an intoxicant, Khayr Bey disapproved and enquired about the drink, whereupon he was told that it was a new beverage called coffee, made from the husks of beans from Yemen. Khayr Bey then declared the drink forbidden, which sparked debate as to whether it should be prohibited.
From Mecca with love
Coffee was becoming popular in Mecca, being sold in venues resembling taverns, where men and women gathered, accompanied by drums and stringed instruments, visitors often playing chess and backgammon. By 1511, there were places in Mecca specifically designated for selling and drinking coffee, known as coffee houses. Mecca is, therefore, the origin of today's ubiquitous café. It was only decades later that the first café opened in Istanbul, in the mid-16th century (during the reign of Sultan Suleiman), established by two merchants whose origins are disputed.
In the Levant, the earliest known café was founded in Damascus in 1572 when Governor Darwish Pasha built a coffee house near the market he established next to the Umayyad Mosque. This café was part of a larger charitable endowment that also included a bathhouse and a souq.
From there, it spread and is today cherished by many. An ancient verse by the Meccan scholar Ibn Abi Kathir, lovingly preserved by Ibn al-Imad al-Hanbali in Shadharat al-Dhahab fi Akhbar man Dhahab, sums up the Arab world's affection thus: "Coffee, balm for the weary heart and healing for souls, adorning beauty's blossoms in all who partake."
