Maqluba: A Meal of Defiance and Steadfastness

Umm Yazan, a Jerusalem resident from Wadi al-Joz, insists on gathering her family for an iftar meal at al-Aqsa Mosque at least once a week. She says she does it to deepen her children’s connection to the mosque, which she describes as the heart of every Jerusalemite.

Umm Yazan shared with Jerusalem Story the history of the Palestinian rice and meat dish maqluba, a popular meal in many Jerusalem households. Maqluba is part of the regular customs of the city’s residents. “While we cook maqluba throughout the year, most families choose to have it on Fridays, which is the day when families gather,” she said.1 Umm Yazan adds that when people walk through Jerusalem’s Palestinian neighborhoods, especially on Fridays, they smell the wafting aroma of maqluba.

For Umm Yazan, the decision to bring her favorite meal to al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan is part of her desire to continue a family affair around this meal. “During the holy month, whenever I decide to go with my family to al-Aqsa for iftar, maqluba is the meal of choice,” she said.

Jerusalemites agree that maqluba is not just a traditional Jerusalemite dish, but rather a “symbol of Jerusalem’s victory and liberation, and a sign of rejoicing over this,” said Sheikh Mazen Ahram, a Jerusalemite heritage specialist.2

The story of maqluba and al-Aqsa Mosque began with a group of Palestinian Jerusalemite Muslim women, referred to as murabitat, whom Israeli police prevented from entering al-Aqsa. They staged a sit-in at the mosque’s gates, starting at Bab al-Silsila, and then the daily protest became a regular sit-in at Bab al-Asbat. There, the women brought a pot of food containing maqluba; one of them flipped it over in front of photographers, and the image of maqluba and female worshippers circulated.

According to Hanadi al-Halwani, a Jerusalemite worshipper, she flipped the first maqluba pot in 2015 at Bab al-Silsila after the police had barred her from entering the mosque for the entire month of Ramadan. Other female worshippers who were also banned from entering al-Aqsa Mosque joined her in performing the same act. Al-Halwani believes that what distinguishes maqluba from other dishes is its ease of transportation, as it can be carried from one place to another comfortably without requiring any additional preparations to be eaten; a side salad or yogurt is sufficient.3

Mahmoud Abdel Rahman, a resident of one of the Old City’s neighborhoods, considers maqluba a symbolic act of resistance. “In Jerusalem, during Ramadan, preparing maqluba and pouring it into the courtyards of the al-Aqsa Mosque is an act of resistance. This dish, which is flipped onto a large tray, reflects a scene associated with steadfastness, perseverance, defiance, and the continued presence and practice of various life activities in the courtyards of al-Aqsa,” he said.4 “It is an act of exercising a sovereign role in al-Aqsa Mosque.”

Ahram describes maqluba as a traditional Jerusalemite dish. “When Salah al-Din liberated Jerusalem, the people of the city presented him with the maqluba dish,” Ahram said. “He enjoyed eating it and described it as ‘the upside-down dish,’ and it became known as maqluba in honor of the Ayyubid dynasty leader,” he added as he recalled days with his family.

Ahram insists that maqluba is a Palestinian dish and its historical origins trace back to the city of Jerusalem. The first people who cooked the dish were Palestinians in Jerusalem, and who had previously given it the name of bathinjaniyya (eggplant) during ancient times as they used to cook it with eggplant. Maqluba initially consisted of lamb with eggplant from either the city of Jericho or the village of Battir. In some cases, chicken was a substitute for lamb along with vegetables such as potatoes, carrots, and tomatoes. Cauliflower from the city of Hebron would later become a major alternative to eggplants.

Ahram adds that in in ancient times, maqluba was served with yogurt, and curdled milk was poured into a cylindrical earthenware pot. The Qazzaz family from Jerusalem in the Sa‘diyya neighborhood of the Old City curdled fresh milk in an earthenware yogurt pot. Hajj Saad Qazzaz would turn the yogurt pot over so that it wouldn’t spill, indicating its quality. They marketed it for five qurush (shillings). The Assali family from Jerusalem was also famous for its cheese, milk, and dairy products, and they marketed their milk in modern glass bottles.5

Moreover, the popular Palestinian poet Samer Issa wrote about maqluba, a dish that has become a symbol of steadfastness and defiance:

In addition to maqluba, Jerusalemite families as well as other families from across Palestine who break their fast during Ramadan at al-Aqsa Mosque also enjoy dishes such as stuffed grape leaves, stuffed zucchini, Hebron-style qidreh (bone-in lamb with spiced rice), and the traditional Palestinian dish of musakhan, which is comprised of chicken, onions, taboon bread, and sumac. Of course, the appetizers of most meals at al-Aqsa Mosque must be a plate of hummus and falafel that people purchase hot and fresh from the many local restaurants in the Old City.

The month of Ramadan with its specific rituals in al-Aqsa Mosque and in Jerusalem becomes a time of challenge and affirmation of the city’s identity and preservation of its heritage. Every Palestinian is engaged in a daily struggle over the city, its identity, and its space. It is a struggle that grows more bitter and intense every day.