When Conflict Arises, these Iraqis go to the Madeef

During Ashoura on Oct. 24, Sheikh Ali al-Yasiri held a memorial service at his madeef, a large hall that contains traditional Arab furniture and a fireplace in the middle for the preparation of coffee for guests, located in Babil province.

While Yasiri built his modern madeef using bricks, madeefs in the countryside — which receive dozens of visitors a day — are built from reed or palm fronds and have high ceilings. Some are located in large tents.

The shape and materials adopted in building madeefs in the central and southern regions of Iraq date back to the Sumerian era. The buildings dating back to this time period are large and are made out of reeds and papyrus.

In al-Shamiya city in Diwaniyah province, 193 kilometers (120 miles) south of Baghdad, Al-Monitor visited Sheikh Mohammed al-Fatlah’s madeef, which is made out of reeds, papyrus and palm trunks and furnished with handmade carpets. Dozens of tribal members were present while a worker offered coffee to the guests.

Saad al-Fatlah, a tribal member who works as a rice farmer, told Al-Monitor, “Madeefs have gained importance since the [end of] the Baath regime, which fought the tribes from the beginning of its rule in 1968 in a bid to strengthen the state’s control.”

He said, “But after 2003, following the fall of Saddam Hussein, the weakness of the state and the absence of security, tribal influence grew stronger as madeefs popped up in Iraqi cities as well as the capital Baghdad.”

However, Fatlah said, “Modern technical means have deprived madeefs of a great deal of their historical character as the managers of [madeefs] abandoned traditional means used there, such as the traditional way of preparing coffee and [furnishing the space with] handmade carpets. These were replaced by modern products, which deprived them [madeefs] of their simplicity and hospitable nature that characterized them.”