Majlis meaning: the Gulf's sitting room and its place on UNESCO's heritage list

^{HOW THE GULF'S PLACE OF SITTING BECAME LISTED HERITAGE}

The majlis meaning in Arabic is a place of sitting: the UAE heritage inventory submitted to UNESCO derives the word from the verb jalas, to sit, and UNESCO's own record calls majlis "sitting places". Across the Arabian Gulf the word names both a room and the gathering held in it, typically a carpeted space with cushions along the walls where families, neighbours and visitors receive guests, exchange news and hold weddings and condolences. In 2015 the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar had the practice inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity as "Majlis, a cultural and social space". Its physical forms range from goat-hair tents and palm-frond floors to courtyard rooms, a coral-stone pavilion in Jumeirah and the formal reception rooms of present-day villas.

^{MAJLIS MEANING: WHAT THE WORD AND THE ROOM DESCRIBE}

The UAE inventory prepared for the UNESCO nomination describes the majlis as a place where people sit together, a reception space for guests and a forum for news and conversation. Abu Dhabi's Department of Culture and Tourism glosses the name as "council" or "assembly", while Gulf News gives the literal sense as "place of sitting". The plural is majalis. UNESCO's description of the element applies the word to the space as well as the gathering, and describes that space as usually a large room with carpets on the floor and cushions along the walls, together with a stove or fire for preparing hot drinks.

The same institution goes by other names around the Arabian Peninsula. Gulf News notes that in the UAE the majlis is also called the diwania. The Saudi inventory submitted to UNESCO lists al diwania, al mashab, al qahwa and al mulhaq as local terms, and letters from Omani communities supporting the 2015 nomination describe public gatherings "known as Majalis or Sablah". Qatar's inventory records majlis al oud as the name for the majlis of a family's senior figure, which men visit to offer congratulations on the first day of the Lesser Bairam festival.

^{FROM TENT TO COURTYARD: HOW THE MAJLIS WAS BUILT}

According to Gulf News, the majlis in the UAE was originally a tent set aside for social gatherings and later became a room with a floor covered in palm fronds. Abu Dhabi's Department of Culture and Tourism records majalis held in a bait al-she'r, or house of hair, or in the open air, often around fires. Along the coast they were built of plaster and mud, as arbours and bowers, or as simple canvas shades, while in the mountains they met in guesthouses. For pearl divers and sailors at sea, a boat could serve as the majlis.

The UAE inventory sorts these settings by environment. Coastal majalis were set up in clay, as an arbour or under a pergola where men could sit, and a fishermen's majlis could be held in any fisherman's house or on the beach. In the desert, Bedouins sat in a circle in the open air or in a tent made of hair. Mountain communities kept private majlis spaces shaped by their surroundings. The Saudi inventory adds that a majlis is usually built at one corner of a courtyard, with an entrance opening to the outside and an opening in the ceiling, and that its area ranges from 16 to 400 square metres.

A 2020 study of Qatari vernacular houses in the journal Sustainability, by Asmaa Al-Mohannadi, Raffaello Furlan and Mark David Major of Qatar University, found that majlis rooms in the past were small, secured and humble spaces placed close to the entrance. At the Noura Bint Saif House, the north-west wooden gate leads to the guest section where the majlis sits, with a secured entrance for guests that keeps the family's privacy. The Ismail Mandani House has two majlis spaces: the main guest room beside the entrance and a second on the first floor for occasional guests.

^{HOW IS A MAJLIS FURNISHED?}

The UAE inventory describes furniture in the majlis of the past as simple: a mat of palm fronds, some embroidered cushions, a water jar, a box for coffee pots and cups, and a ground fan. Gulf News traces the later sequence. Palm mats gave way to handmade carpets of camel, sheep or goat wool woven by Bedouin women, followed by cushions known as tekay and the doshak, a long rectangular mattress laid around the corners of the room so guests could sit for hours. The head of the family sits in the middle with guests in a large circle around him, and the doshak is sometimes placed in the centre for him and for important guests.

The Saudi inventory names the corners of the fireplace and the deka, or woodshed, as the most important places in the room, and records shelves called alkamar that hold coffee pots and teapots; the serving etiquette itself is covered in our article on Omani kahwa and the ritual of hospitality. Gulf News lists dates, balaleet and luqaimat among the usual snacks, with sweets on a silver tray, and an incense burner of oud, saffron and sandalwood carried around the room. The Qatar study adds that rooms were modestly decorated to present the generosity of the household.

^{MAJLIS MEANING IN PRACTICE: HOSPITALITY AND COMMUNITY}

UNESCO describes the majlis as open to all people. Family members, tribes and residents of the same or nearby neighbourhoods use it to discuss local events, exchange news, receive guests, socialise and be entertained, and communities also use it to resolve problems, pay condolences and hold wedding receptions. Gulf News notes that most Gulf homes have a majlis in which the head of the family hosts guests, and that friends, neighbours and families traditionally gathered there at sunset. Abu Dhabi's Department of Culture and Tourism records that the owner of a guesthouse or majlis was responsible for all hospitality expenses, sometimes with help from members of the tribe.

The calendar shapes how often a majlis is used. Qatar's inventory records that during Ramadan majalis are usually kept open, with hosts inviting passers-by to join meals; after the evening Taraweeh prayers, people visit Ramadan majalis divided into sections for men and women, talking until midnight, and on some nights a meal called ghabqa follows. Letters from Omani communities describe majlis held for weddings and gatherings held for three days after a resident of the province dies. The UAE inventory gives the same span for condolences, with visitors coming to the majlis for three days and nights.

^{TYPES OF MAJLIS IN THE GULF}

Abu Dhabi's Department of Culture and Tourism distinguishes several historical types. Majalis run by elders, chieftains and sheikhs were called barza, and a host presiding over his majlis was described as barez, meaning prominent. The merchants' majlis was open to all but especially to pearl divers, who used it to raise funds for their journeys and obtain basic foodstuffs such as rice and flour. It was busiest in the pearling season, when pearl prices were negotiated, and stories, poetry and entertainment were also shared there. Our article on pearl diving and Dubai's fishing villages covers the industry behind these gatherings.

The UAE inventory extends the list. Judges kept their own majlis, and hunters gathered in majalis devoted to falconry and the hunt, while folk troupes used a majlis to arrange their affairs. A family majlis is held at the house of the eldest member. By occasion, the inventory names condolence, Ramadan, religious and poetry majalis, and records that ladies' majlis spaces were placed in the middle of the house. UNESCO's description notes that women have their own majlis and that some prominent women attend academic or literary ones.

^{WHY UNESCO INSCRIBED THE MAJLIS IN 2015}

"Majlis, a cultural and social space" was inscribed on the Representative List in 2015 at the tenth session of the UNESCO Committee (10.COM), under decision 10.COM 10.b.33, as a joint nomination from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar. The nomination file is numbered 01076. Each state submitted community consent letters and an extract from its national inventory. UNESCO's description identifies community elders as the main bearers of the tradition, particularly those with knowledge of nature, genealogy and tribal history.

The listing treats the majlis as a means of transmission as much as a room. According to UNESCO, it carries oral heritage including folk stories, folk songs and Nabati poetry, and the knowledge passes on informally, as children accompany adults on their visits and learn manners, ethics, listening skills and respect for the opinions of others by watching their elders. Omani community letters call the majlis a "school of good manners", and the Saudi inventory records that young people serve guests and listen to folktales and personal stories there.

^{THE MAJLIS IN MODERN EMIRATI HOMES}

The UAE inventory records that larger majlis rooms now follow a Western style, furnished with high-quality carpets, Western-style sofas, curtains, paintings and chandeliers, while some keep an Arabic corner of carpet and light mattresses beside the modern reception area. The Saudi inventory likewise lists Western benches, chairs and sofas alongside Arabic floor seating with cushions. Gulf News reports that the design has remained much the same with a few modern twists, and the Qatar University study notes that majlis spaces appear in most contemporary houses. Qatar's inventory describes the majlis as an architectural element that cannot be ignored in planning modern places of assembly.

One historic example survives in Dubai's Jumeirah district. Majlis Ghorfat Umm Al Sheif was built in 1955 as the summer residence of Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, according to the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority. The two-storey building uses coral stone from the Arabian Gulf, plaster, sarooj, Kandal wood brought from East Africa and palm fronds, around a garden with palm trees, irrigation channels and a well. Restoration was completed in 1994, and the building, now in the middle of a modern residential area, displays the furniture and utensils of a 1950s Emirati majlis, including copper buckets, earthenware, brassware, rugs, carpets, clocks and radios.

New commissions continue the form. In June 2026 the regional design magazine Identity reported on two majlises designed by Khadija Almazimi of the Emirati studio Lodge for a single client. The men's majlis takes royal blue as its main colour and draws on the agal and the falcon, with curved seating, while the women's majlis uses deep red and draws on pearls and the traditional burqa. Both include references to the contemporary Emirati artists Aljoud Lootah, Khalid Shafar and Hajar Al Tenaiji.

^{THE CLUB LOUNGE AT MANDARIN ORIENTAL JUMEIRA, DUBAI}

Silverfox Studios completed The Club Lounge at Mandarin Oriental Jumeira, Dubai, in 2019. Its seating is spread across several areas. Along the windows, rattan window seating and hanging planters overlook the Dubai skyline and the Burj Khalifa, the tower covered in our article on how the world's tallest building was engineered. A separate lounge area combines a cushioned banquette, a dark timber armchair and a large abstract painting. Elsewhere in the space, sofas are set beside timber display shelving and a bar counter.

Dining is organised around a buffet of white marble and timber that stands under a black steel frame. Guests eat at marble-topped tables set beneath a cove-lit ceiling crossed by timber beams. Timber recurs across the lounge, in the buffet, the display shelving, the armchair and the ceiling beams, and marble appears on both the buffet and the tables. Steel is used for the black frame over the buffet, and rattan for the seating along the windows that look towards the Burj Khalifa.

SOURCES

1. UNESCO Majlis, a cultural and social space
2. UNESCO Majlis, a cultural and social space: inventory extract, United Arab Emirates
3. UNESCO Majlis, a cultural and social space: inventory extract, Saudi Arabia
4. UNESCO Majlis, a cultural and social space: inventory extract, Qatar
5. UNESCO Majlis, a cultural and social space: consent of communities, Oman
6. Department of Culture and Tourism, Abu Dhabi Majlis
7. Gulf News Majlis is a key feature of civilisation in UAE
8. Sustainability (MDPI) A Cultural Heritage Framework for Preserving Qatari Vernacular Domestic Architecture
9. Dubai Culture and Arts Authority, Google Arts and Culture Beautiful Architecture of Majlis Ghorfat Umm Al Sheif
10. Identity Emirati Modernism by Lodge