Tânia Rego / Apr
Hayir Bey and Murad IV were the first leaders to be afraid of coffee. They were afraid that it was a stimulant to the political debate, giving way to potential conspiracy outbreaks. Also, this was seen as an impure drink.
O café Encourage us, free us, make us more “rebellious”.
It was precisely to contain this rebellion that, in the Ottoman empire, during the reign of the sultan MURAD IV (1623-1640) which, in Istanbul, the capital of the Empire, the coffee consumption was prohibited.
The sultan is remembered by his authoritarianism and his efforts to end what he considered to be immoral and socially disturbing behaviors. Among these activities was drinking coffee.
As it counts, Murad IV’s decision to ban coffee was influenced by several factors. Firstly, the cafes of Constantinople (present-day Istanbul) had become places where people gathered to discuss politics and criticize the government.
The sultan feared that these meetings could lead to agitation and conspiracy against his government.
Secondly, some Islamic academics believed that coffee, such as alcohol, had intoxicating effects, so it should be banned. In addition, the coffee was, a “Suspected substance”, capable of altering the state of mind.
Murad IV imposed a strict prohibition of coffee, along with tobacco and alcohol. Applied the prohibition with extreme measures, even ordering the Execution of those who were caught in consuming coffee.
As the same magazine tells, Murad IV soldiers patrolled the streets of Constantinople, looking for violators. Despite severe measures, the trade of Coffee remained clandestine And the cafeteria worked secret.
After the death of Murad IV in 1640, the ban was gradually raised and the cafes reappeared as popular social institutions.
Coffee (Turkish) is, nowadays, a symbol of Türkiye and curiously, contrary to what was in the past, a “compulsory” activity for those visiting the country.
But… Murad IV was not the first to be afraid of coffee.
According to Specialty Kava, the first attempt to ban coffee was in Mecca, in 1511. The city was a busy center of religious trade and pilgrimage, and coffee had become immensely popular among its inhabitants.
However, this popularity also attracted the attention of the religious authorities, who Cafes saw as places of sedition and immoral behavior.
At the time, the Governor of Mecca, No, Mr.he was particularly concerned about the cafes. He believed that they encouraged political discussions that could lead to dissent against the authorities in power. Moreover, at that time it was thought that the stimulating effects of coffee made people more prone to rebel behaviors.
Hayir Bey gathered an Islamic jurist council to examine the legality of coffee, in a 13 -year decree. THE Council declared coffee as haram (forbidden) and issued an edict by prohibiting its consumption. Mecca’s cafetries were closed and the Coffee consumers were chased.
Although pioneers that coffee was a danger to society, Hayir Bey and Murad IV were not the only ones to want to impose this theory.
For example, in the early seventeenth century, with the spread of the product throughout Europe, the Catholic Church began to distrust coffee. Some members of the clergy saw him as a “Muslim drink” and disapproved of their popularity among Christians.
There was even theories that coffee was a devil’s creationwith the intention of driving people away from true faith.
In the following century, in Sweden, the Rei Gustavo IIIwho ruled from 1771 to 1792, I was concerned about the popularity of coffee in your kingdom. Believed that coffee consumption was harmful health And he sought to discourage his subjects from drinking him.
Gustavo 3 climbed the taxes on coffeein an attempt to reduce consumption.
To (try) to prove his point of view, Gustavo III has experienced two twins who had been sentenced to death. One of the twins had to drink coffee every day; and the other tea.
Experience should demonstrate the harmful effects of coffee on the human organism, but the twine that drank tea was what died first.
