Middle Eastern Cafes Forerunner to European Ones

The first coffee houses were originally religious meeting places that later turned to social gatherings for gossip, singing and story telling. But it was these very celebrations that led to their criticism by devout Musims.

The governor of Mecca (whose name was Khair Beg) saw some people drinking coffee before a night-long prayer vigil. Furious at the sight, Beg drove the group from the mosque and ordered all coffee houses in the city to be closed. A heated debate soon followed, and it was only resolved when the Sultan of Cairo intervened and reprimanded Khair Beg for banning the drink without consulting his superior first. In 1512, when Khair Beg was accused of embezzlement, the Sultan had Beg put to death.

The picture of Arabic coffee houses as dens of iniquity were exaggerated by religious zealots. In reality, the Middle Eastern coffee house was the forerunner of the European Cafe society and the coffee houses of London. These coffee houses were enlightened meeting places for intellectuals, where news and gossip was exchanged daily and clients were regularly entertained by traditional story-tellers.