Oldest kitchen in Iraq

For the last 14 years, an Egyptian cook with the name of Mohammad Salaami lived his daily life routinely in one of the suburbs of west Baghdad. There was nothing unusual in his daily routine, from his pint of view or the point of view of the Jilani community. However, for everyone else who visited the shrine of Sayyiduna Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, or al-Jilani as he is known, there is certainly something unusual to the cook’s routine.

Salaami is the cook running the oldest "modern" Iraqi kitchen and throughout the years, which he spent in service at the shrine, he is able to slaughter, skin, and cook tens of thousands of sacrifices and offerings for the poor. They gather by the hundreds inside the sanctuary of the shrine hoping to find a rich meal of rice and meat, and they are never disappointed.

The famed Jilani kitchen in Baghdad is more than 550 years old and according to the general account, agreed upon by all followers of Sayyiduna Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, serving food to the poor from the shrine has never been interrupted, not even for one single day. This means that the poor who live in the area around the shrine have been eating the same food daily for at least the last 500 years.

Salaami the cook starts his day at 6 in the morning to prepare breakfast for more than 1000 indigents who visit the Jilani kitchen each morning. Breakfast consists of meat sauce with bread and chunks of lamb meat. After breakfast with 2 other co-workers he starts preparation for dinner, which comprises at least 5 sheep and a very generous serving of rice. The poor and needy receive all they can eat, after reciting Fatiha, opening chapter of the Holy Quran, for the sanctified soul of Sayyiduna Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani (may Allah be well pleased with him).

Despite the public poverty, need and destitution in Iraq, the followers of this great Imam are able to eat meat everyday, despite being among the poor and needy, while knowing that one-kilogram of meat costs the average Iraqi buyer his entire monthly salary.

The Egyptian cook prepares food in giant pots placed in huge ovens and the main contributors to the kitchen are the well-to-do members from among the Jilani community. However there are always some tourists who visit this, one of the oldest kitchens in Iraq. "Rather it is the oldest", asserts Salaami the Egyptian cook, who also said that he is used to being in the kitchen all the time, and does not go out, even for one hour, unless it is absolutely necessary, or for health related reasons.

Inside the vast kitchen, special storage facilities exist for water, rice and flower. There is also a special pen prepared for the in-kind contributions of the well-off, such as sacrificial sheep. There is also another special place for chicken. Salaami says that there has never been any interruption in the meat supplies to this great kitchen, even through the strictest periods of the embargo on Iraq.

The Iraqi government does utmost support to the kitchen and the Ministry of Religious Endowments [Awqaaf] contributes meat on a regular basis. The Iraqi people consider the continuous service of meat to the poor a sign of there steadfastness under the heavy sanctions. It is said that president Saddam Hussain personally issued orders to keep the fire in the kitchen of Sayyiduna Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani burning.

The caretaker [mushrif] of the masjid and tomb of Sayyiduna Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani (may Allah be well pleased with him) is Shaikh a-Syed Afeefuddin al-Qadiri and at this Zawiya thousands are fed daily by the baraka of this blessed maqam.

The death anniversary is observed on 11th of Rabi-ul-Akhir each year and is called Igyarween Shareef/Gyarhawin [literally '11th'].  The devotees of Hazrat Abdul Qadir Jilani (may Allah be pleased with him) and the followers of Qadiri Tariqat celebrate Igyarween Sharif by holding public gatherings (mehfils) where recitation of the Holy Quran takes place and the life and works of Hazrat Abdul Qadir Jilani (may Allah be pleased with him) is made known to the people. His son Sayyid Abdul Wahab (may Allah be pleased with him) observed it regularly as Urs. Many Mashaikhs, saints and scholars have regularly observed Igyarween Shareef. The tradition of feeding the poor by Hazrat Abdul Qadir Jilani (may Allah be pleased with him) is observed during this day.

[Courtesy: The Muslim Magazine, Vol.2 No.4 Fall 1999, by Bassam Bdarin, reprinted with permission Baghdad – al Quds al Arabi ]

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