The word Majlis in Arabic means the sitting area or the living room of a house where the men of the house receive their guests.
Since the day, King Abdul Aziz founded modern Saudi Arabia; he used his Majlis to receive his official or non-official guests. Although this idea was not foreign to this part of the world, the king used it in a much organized manner and revived it on modern lines.
To this day, that tradition is followed on a weekly basis by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, Crown Prince and Deputy Premier Salman, Second Deputy Premier Prince Muqrin and all the governors of the 13 provinces of the Kingdom. Many families in the Kingdom also follow this tradition. Some of them have separate buildings constructed for the very purpose as the number of family members, in some cases, has grown into thousands. One of the cities in the Kingdom that still follow this tradition is Al-Ahsa. Many of the families in Al-Ahsa use their Majlis for various purposes. The number of family members of this writer is around 5,000. And we have our own Majlis that we use for social functions. Spread over an area of 12,000 square meters, it has a reception area that has a capacity to accommodate around 1,500 people and a dining area and other facilities. Last week, the family celebrated the 19th annual award ceremony honoring 500 students scoring high in their respective educational levels.
This annual ceremony is usually attended by many dignitaries as the guest of honor. One of these ceremonies was attended by Prince Bader Bin Mohammed Bin Jalawi Al-Saud. The Majlis is also used for wedding ceremonies for members of the family, social gatherings during Eid Al-Fitr and Eid Al-Adha.
During any social event, the head of the Majlis is usually one of the oldest in the family who possesses a special charisma and personality. Nowadays, the head of the family is Sheikh Abdulmohsen Al-Mulhim. The unique thing about the Majlis for any large family in any city in the Kingdom is that it helps members of the family to keep in touch with each other. In addition, the Majlis is used to hold open discussions on various subjects among members of the family and from people from outside the family. Topics of discussions range from history, poetry, literature to social matters. The tradition of the Majlis is also followed in other Gulf countries. In Kuwait, for instance, they call it Diwanniyah.
Email: almulhimnavy@hotmail.com