A Bahraini majlis is the room of the house set apart for receiving visitors: typically a long room lined with carpets and cushions, where news is shared, condolences are offered and weddings are celebrated. Many families open it on fixed days and on Ramadan evenings. Sofhu makes majlis seating for such rooms to the customer's wall measurements and ships it free worldwide.
- Native name
- مجلس بحريني (majlis, pl. majalis)
- The room
- Typically long, lined with carpets and cushions
- Position in the house
- Placed to receive visitors without intruding on family life
- Busiest season
- Ramadan evenings, after iftar and prayers
- Sofhu layouts
- Single row, L shape or U shape, made to measure
- Filling
- 32 kg/m³ (32 DNS) high-density foam, no springs
- Covers
- Zippered, removable, washable at 30°C
On this page
On a Ramadan night in Bahrain, once iftar is finished and the evening prayers are said, the doors open. Guests go from one family’s majlis to the next, staying long enough for coffee and a few words before moving on. A Bahraini majlis is built for exactly that: a steady flow of people, greeted properly, seated without fuss.
This page describes the room and its customs as they are documented, and then turns to the practical question of furnishing one. Buyers looking for the product overview for the Kingdom will find it on Arabic sofas in Bahrain.
A room placed with care
The majlis is one of the most carefully considered spaces in a traditional Bahraini house. It is positioned so that visitors can be received without walking through the family’s private rooms. Inside, it is typically a long room lined with carpets and cushions.
What happens there is broad. News is shared and disputes are settled. Condolences are offered and weddings are celebrated. Children learn manners, family history and poetry by sitting quietly and listening to their elders. Women’s majalis are an established tradition alongside the men’s, and the larger historic houses of Muharraq were built with a separate majlis for each, around more than one courtyard.
Fixed days and Ramadan nights
A Bahraini majlis often keeps a timetable. Families are known for holding theirs on set days of the week. One historic house in Muharraq still opens its men’s majlis twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays. Regular visitors know when to come without being invited.
Ramadan is the peak of the year. After iftar and prayers the majalis fill, and people visit several in one night. For anyone furnishing a room, that has a consequence: the seating has to be ready for its hardest month. If you are ordering with Ramadan in mind, contact us early, because every set is made to order. Our iftar and Eid seating plan covers hosting larger numbers, and there is an older Sofhu note on Arabic sofas for Ramadan meetings.
Planning seats for guests who come and go
A room with constant arrivals needs a different plan from a room where the same eight people sit all evening.
- Keep the entrance clear. Leave the wall beside the door, or at least the first stretch of it, without seating so that people can stand, greet and remove shoes without blocking those already seated.
- Give the host a place with a view of the door. In a long room this is usually the middle of the far wall.
- Use fewer armrests on the long walls. Armrest bolsters between sitters are comfortable, but each one takes the room of half a person. On a busy night, a longer open run seats more.
- Hold floor cushions in reserve. A stack of loose cushions turns the carpet into extra places for younger guests.
A long, narrow room suits a U shape with long sides and a short head, or two facing rows if the end wall has a door or window. A squarer room takes an even U. Where the majlis is part of an open living area, an L in one corner keeps the rest of the room free. The guide to L-shape and U-shape layouts shows how the corners work, and majlis sofa sets lists what a complete set includes.
Seat level and fabric: what suits a formal guest room
Seat level is a matter of who visits, and it decides which of Sofhu’s two products you order. The Arabic majlis is raised to sofa height, with an upholstered base, tall fixed backs and arm bolsters. It is easier for older guests and for anyone in formal dress, which makes it the sound choice for the main guest room, and it is what the photos on this page show. The Arabic floor sofa is a low cushion set on the floor, relaxed and traditional in feel. The two can share a house: a majlis in the formal room, a floor sofa where the family sits.
We have not found a reliable source that defines Bahraini upholstery, colours or cushion sizes, so we do not describe any of our fabrics as Bahraini. Choose by the house. The teal set at the top of this page, striped in silver with medallion cushions, shows how a strong colour sits against pale walls and marble. The pale blue set above is quieter and suits a bright room with tall windows.
The beige set here shows two details that earn their place in a room where coffee and tea are served all night: a damask panel running down each seat, and armrests with a flat tray top for a cup.
What is inside the seat
Guests may only stay a short while, but the host sits for hours, night after night. The filling matters more than the fabric for that.
Sofhu uses 32 kg/m³ (32 DNS) high-density polyurethane foam, which means a cubic metre of it weighs about 32 kg. Density is a measure of how much material is in the cushion. It is not the same as hardness: a light foam can feel firm when new and then lose height. Denser foam generally keeps its shape and support longer. There are no springs in the cushions, and on a custom order you can ask for a softer or firmer feel. The article on foam density for floor seating explains the numbers.
Covers are zippered, come with their foam inserts and can be machine washed at 30°C. In a room used every night for a month, being able to wash the covers after Eid is worth more than any stain treatment.
Two rooms, one order
Where a house has both a men’s and a women’s majlis, plan them together. Ordering both at once lets us match or deliberately contrast the fabrics, and the measurements for both rooms can be checked in one conversation. Some families choose a formal majlis for one room and a floor sofa for the other, so that the house can host a large gathering in the first and a long family evening in the second.
Ordering a Bahraini majlis from Sofhu
Sofhu is the manufacturer and builds every set in Türkiye to the customer’s measurements. There is no local shop and nothing is kept ready-made nearby: the set is made for your walls and delivered to your door.
- Measure each wall that will carry seating and mark doors, windows, columns and sockets.
- Tell us whether the room is a family majlis, a formal guest room or both, and roughly how many people you host at the busiest time.
- Choose a layout, a majlis or a floor sofa, and a colour direction, and send photos of the room if you can.
- Request a quote by measurement or message us on WhatsApp.
Shipping is free worldwide. Import duties or taxes may apply depending on the destination; ask us before you order. Our overview of ordering a majlis from Türkiye to the Gulf describes the process for the GCC in general terms.
For the wider picture, the Arabic majlis page covers the whole range. Neighbouring traditions are described on the Kuwaiti diwaniya, Qatari majlis and Omani sablah pages.
