Day 82-The Story of Coffee

TODAY'S topic revolves around a book, a painting, 4 brass goblets and Norway.

The Book is an old Koran or Qur'an, 1" long and 5/8" wide with 15 pages of extracted Arabic teachings printed from real miniature Qur'an.

The painting, 2 1/2" by 1 7/8", is of a Mullah or religious teacher being transported on his elephant howdah:

The 4 brass goblets, from a set of more than 20 years old, standing at 3/4" high with rim of 1/2" in diameter,(if you only see 3, that's because 1 is being used) are crafted, not for wine but for another just as intoxicating drink.

I am sure you can tell by now with such obvious clues that today's topic is about coffee. Creamy, caffienated and completely addicting, coffee.

Coffee and The Koran

Coffee, as many of you know, was believed to have originated from the Muslim world. Legend has it that a Yemenite Sufi mystic Shaikh ash-Shadhili, when traveling in Ethiopia, observed some dancing goats with unusual vitality, and, upon trying the berries that the goats had been eating, experienced the same vitality and started twirling as well. That was coffee bean of course and the Shaikh is today regarded as the patron saint of coffee-growers, coffee-house proprietors and coffee-drinkers, and in Algeria coffee is sometimes called shadhiliyye in his honor.

Coffee spreads in the Moslem world quickly for its ability to drive away sleep makes it a popular beverage amongst the Sufis. Inevitably, more and more people gather together for a cuppa and soon coffee houses were established.

The very 1st coffeehouse in the world was in Istanbul, Turkey in 1554. When I was there, many of them claimed to be The One. The word "coffee" is said to have been derived from the Turkish word "Kahve" which in turn was from the Arabic word "qahwa"

Coffee and the Goblets

At first, the Arabians made wine from the pulp of the fermented coffee berries, known as qishr. When alcohol was banned, coffee became the substitute beverage in spiritual practices. The beverage became known as qahwa — a term formerly applied to wine — and was referred to by the Europeans as "The Wine of Islam."

Like wine, Sufi poets and mystics waxed lyrical of its euphoric effect and even gave a special term for "ultimate coffee high" or "maqawa", an experience you acquire if you imbibe your coffee with prayerful intent and devotion. This experience is likened to "the enjoyment which the people of God feel in beholding the hidden mysteries and attaining the wonderful disclosures and the great revelations"!!

Part of the prayerful devotion way of drinking is to use brass goblets, similar to how one may drink wine.

Coffee and the Travelling Mullah

In the first few centuries of its history in the Islamic world, much controversy surrounded coffee. The effects of caffeine and the gatherings in which it was consumed seemed debauched to some and subversive to others. Soon, coffeehouses competed with mosques for attendance, and as unsupervised gathering places for wits and learned men, provided spawning grounds for sedition.

Till today, many rebellion started with the seeds in coffeeshops where people tend to complain loudly, usually about their government (even in Singapore) after a few cuppas, sometimes even when he is alone.

There were countless attempts to ban coffee. Coffee was made to stand trial in Mecca and later on, even the Christians banned the drink for a while.

In Persia, coffeehouses evolved into hotbeds of lasciviousness and political dispute soon after they were introduced. Shah Abbas I responded by installing mullahs at the most fashionable establishments.

The Mullah would arrive early in the morning, using the speediest howdahs he can find and upon reaching the coffeeshops, would propound on topics of religion, history, law and poetry. He then encourage those assembled there to be off to their work. This method worked so well to ensure a pious ambience and controlled envrionment that centuries later, when mullahs no longer visit these places, pictures of them are put up, hopefully to achieve the same effect.

Coffee and Norway

And after all that, how does Norway figure in a coffee topic? Believe it or not, Norwegians are one of the biggest coffee drinkers in the world. 41 tonnes worth of coffee imported a year for a 4.5m population means each person above the age of 15 drinks at least 4 cups of coffee a day!

Maybe Helene of Pubdolls can verify this for after all, not only is she from Norway, she is the maker of all these beautiful "clues" which I received on 3/7/09. All because I sent her a hookah, a couple of elephants and a Vespa.

Some time back, Helene created an Oriental Room and I can't help thinking that that room will make such a great coffeehouse. One where artist and prince, man and woman , poor and rich can gather and enjoy each other's company. Or they may be happy just being by themselves, reading, drinking or admiring a work of art, not whining or complaining about anybody, just contented in their bliss, surrounded by beautiful things made by wonderful friends.

Thank you, Helene and Maqawa! May we all enjoy the ultimate coffee high!