Sufra

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Belgrade Ethnographic Museum

A sufra, sofra, or sofreh (

Islamicate

culture.

Forms of the sufra

The word comes from the

Arabic-English Lexicon, the basic meaning of the word was 'the food of the traveller', 'food that is prepared for the traveller ... or for a journey'.^[1]

However, the term also referred to a kind of bag in which a traveller would carry food: this traditionally comprised a circular piece of skin or cloth, with a drawstring running round the circumference. Food could be placed in the middle and the drawstring pulled to create a bag in which to carry the food. When it was time to eat, the bag could be placed on the ground and the drawstring released, creating a surface from which to eat the food.[1]

By extension, the word also came to mean a platter (of wood or metal) from which food could be served,^[1] or even simply a dining table.^[2]

Islamic tradition has it that

Ṣafawid Persia, around the seventeenth century CE, one of the official roles in the royal kitchen was the sufrači-bāshī, in charge of arranging the cloth sufra on the floor.^[9]

The sufra has given its name to a Muslim-run community food scheme in the London borough of Brent, founded in 2013.^[10]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Edward William Lane, An Arabic-English Lexicon, vols 6-8 ed. Stanley Lane-Poole, 8 vols (London, 1863-93), I 1371.
^ Hans Wehr, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, ed. by J. Milton Cowan (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1961), p. 413.
ISBN 9789004206465
.

^ Al-Ghazali on the Manners Relating to Eating: "Kitab Adah Al-Akl". Book XI of The Revival of the Religious Sciences: "Iḥyāʾ ʿUlum Al-Din", trans. by D. Johnson-Davies (Cambridge: Islamic Texts Society, 2000), ch. 1, cited in the review by Harfiyah Ball Haleem, Journal of Qur'anic Studies, 3 (2001), 113-15 (p. 115).

^ ^a ^b ^c Encyclopedia of Women & Islamic Cultures: Family, Body, Sexuality and Health, ed. by Afsaneh Najmabadi and Suad Joseph (Leiden: Brill, 2003), III 109-11.

^ Faegheh Shirazi, 'The Sofreh: Comfort and Community amongWomen in Iran', Iranian Studies, 38 (2005), 293–309.

^ Sabine Kalinock, 'Supernatural Intercession to Earthly Problems: Sofreh Rituals among Shiite Muslims and Zoroastrians in Iran', in Zoroastrian Rituals in Context, ed. by Michael Stausberg (Leiden: Brill, 2004), pp. 531–46.

^ Mark Soileau, 'Spreading the Sofra: Sharing and Partaking in the Bektashi Ritual Meal', History of Religions, 52 (2012), 1-30.

ISBN 9789004194410
.

ISBN 9781447331063
.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sufra&oldid=1163915700"

[:9-1] Edward William Lane, An Arabic-English Lexicon, vols 6-8 ed. Stanley Lane-Poole, 8 vols (London, 1863-93), I 1371.

[2] Hans Wehr, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, ed. by J. Milton Cowan (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1961), p. 413.

[3] ISBN 9789004206465
.

[4] Al-Ghazali on the Manners Relating to Eating: "Kitab Adah Al-Akl". Book XI of The Revival of the Religious Sciences: "Iḥyāʾ ʿUlum Al-Din", trans. by D. Johnson-Davies (Cambridge: Islamic Texts Society, 2000), ch. 1, cited in the review by Harfiyah Ball Haleem, Journal of Qur'anic Studies, 3 (2001), 113-15 (p. 115).

[:10-5] Encyclopedia of Women & Islamic Cultures: Family, Body, Sexuality and Health, ed. by Afsaneh Najmabadi and Suad Joseph (Leiden: Brill, 2003), III 109-11.

[6] Faegheh Shirazi, 'The Sofreh: Comfort and Community amongWomen in Iran', Iranian Studies, 38 (2005), 293–309.

[7] Sabine Kalinock, 'Supernatural Intercession to Earthly Problems: Sofreh Rituals among Shiite Muslims and Zoroastrians in Iran', in Zoroastrian Rituals in Context, ed. by Michael Stausberg (Leiden: Brill, 2004), pp. 531–46.

[8] Mark Soileau, 'Spreading the Sofra: Sharing and Partaking in the Bektashi Ritual Meal', History of Religions, 52 (2012), 1-30.

[9] ISBN 9789004194410
.

[10] ISBN 9781447331063
.

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