In Iraq, Generous Middle East Tradition of 'Istiftah' Lives on

An Iraqi man sells nuts in the old bazaar in Erbil, the capital Iraqi Kurdistan. (AFP)
An Iraqi man sells nuts in the old bazaar in Erbil, the capital Iraqi Kurdistan. (AFP)
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In Iraq, Generous Middle East Tradition of 'Istiftah' Lives on

An Iraqi man sells nuts in the old bazaar in Erbil, the capital Iraqi Kurdistan. (AFP)
An Iraqi man sells nuts in the old bazaar in Erbil, the capital Iraqi Kurdistan. (AFP)

As the sun rises over Erbil's historic bazaar, shopkeepers sweep their stoops and eagerly await the "istiftah" -- the first customer of the day, believed to be a good omen.

For a country as famously hospitable as Iraq, where lunch tables are often overflowing with platters of meat as big as truck tires, the custom of "istiftah", which means "opener", is subtle but sweet.

The first customer of the day gets to name his or her price for the goods or service being purchased, without the usual process of haggling and compromise that is quintessential to street markets.

"The first customer is exceptional," said Hidayet Sheikhani, 39. "He's carrying wealth and well-being straight from God to the businessperson in the early morning."

Sheikhani sells traditional black-and-white embroidered scarves and hats in the bazaar in the bustling center of Erbil, the Kurdistan region's capital.

Shopkeepers arrive in the bazaar's brick alleyways around dawn, roll up the metal shutters of their shops and pour an obligatory glass of sweet tea to start their day.

It's a tradition as old as time -- not only in Iraq, but all across the Middle East.

Sheikhani inherited it from his grandfather, who had a shop in the same marketplace a century ago.

At the time, he said, the "istiftah" tradition set the tone for the rest of the day.

Shopkeepers who had not yet sold anything would put a chair outside their shop, as a signal to their colleagues.

Those who had made their first sale would direct any incoming shoppers to the other shops, until everyone had had their "istiftah".

Only then would they accept a second customer.

That went for both Muslim and Jewish shopkeepers, said Sheikhani, as Erbil was home to a thriving Jewish community until the mid-20th century.

'God will make it up to me'
The origin of the "istiftah" tradition remains disputed.

Some say it hails from the Hadith, a record of the words and actions attributed to the Prophet Mohammed, in which he pleads to God, "Oh Allah, bless my people in their early mornings".

But Abbas Ali, a lecturer at the College of Islamic Studies in Iraq's Salahaddin University, said the custom's prevalence among other faiths indicates it may not be related to Islam at all.

"It's possible it was merely an ancient custom that was practiced for a long time -- and good traditions often become religious rituals," Ali told AFP.

Either way, it lives on, even among young businessmen.

Jamaluddin Abdelhamid, a 24-year-old with a wispy goatee, sells roasted nuts, sweets and spices in the bazaar.

"Often, a customer requests honey because they're sick. It usually costs 14,000 Iraqi dinars (less than $10) per jar, but they ask for it at 10,000 and I agree because it's the 'istiftah'," he said.

"I know God will make it up to me somewhere else in my day," said Abdelhamid.

Rejecting a first customer's request -- no matter how steep the discount is -- leaves him guilt-ridden.

"I spend the whole day feeling sad, asking myself how I could have rejected God's blessing," Abdelhamid said.

Tradition under threat?
It goes beyond the old bazaar: even taxi drivers, plumbers and mechanics have adopted it.

"Whatever cash I earn first in a day, I kiss it and raise it to my forehead as a sign of gratitude to God," said Maher Salim, a 46-year-old car mechanic in Erbil.

But an "istiftah" never goes for free.

First customers often offer a very discounted price for their early-morning purchase, but it's frowned upon to request something at no cost at all.

"Even if it's my brother, I'll take something symbolic from him -- even just 1,000 Iraqi dinars," Salim told AFP.

There's one creeping threat to the beautiful balance of the "istiftah": shopping malls.

As Erbil has developed over the last decade, large malls have cropped up across the city, offering convenient and speedy shopping experiences to its residents.

Mohammad Khalil still buys his groceries -- bread, yogurt, cheese and vegetables -- every morning from small shops near his home, showering the shopkeepers with prayers for blessings and good health as he walks out.

Interactions at malls, he complained, are comparatively cold.

"There's no sense of istiftah there -- everything is about the computer system," Khalil told AFP.

"Most of the time, the people who work in the mall shops aren't the actual owners, so they don't even care about the tradition."



Greeks Mourn, Turks Celebrate Anniversary of Invasion that Split Cyprus

A woman walks next to the graves of soldiers killed in the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus at the Tymvos Makedonitissas military cemetery in Nicosia, Cyprus July 20, 2025. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou
A woman walks next to the graves of soldiers killed in the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus at the Tymvos Makedonitissas military cemetery in Nicosia, Cyprus July 20, 2025. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou
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Greeks Mourn, Turks Celebrate Anniversary of Invasion that Split Cyprus

A woman walks next to the graves of soldiers killed in the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus at the Tymvos Makedonitissas military cemetery in Nicosia, Cyprus July 20, 2025. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou
A woman walks next to the graves of soldiers killed in the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus at the Tymvos Makedonitissas military cemetery in Nicosia, Cyprus July 20, 2025. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou

Greek and Turkish Cypriots marked on Sunday the 51st anniversary of Türkiye’s 1974 invasion of Cyprus, an event that split the island and remains a source of tension between NATO partners Greece and Türkiye.

Air raid sirens sounded across the southern Greek Cypriot-populated parts of Cyprus at 5:30 a.m. (0230 GMT), the exact time when Turkish troops landed on the northern coast in a military intervention triggered by a brief Greece-inspired coup.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan was due to attend celebrations in north Cyprus, a breakaway state recognized only by Ankara.

Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides attended a memorial service in the south to commemorate the more than 3,000 people who died in the Turkish invasion, which also drove tens of thousands of Greek Cypriots from their homes.

"Despite those who want us to forget, we will never forget, or yield an inch of land," Christodoulides said, calling celebrations in the north "shameful".

Efforts to reunify Cyprus as a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation have repeatedly failed amid deep-rooted mistrust and competing visions for the island's future.

Before the invasion, clashes between Turkish and Greek Cypriots saw Turkish Cypriots withdraw from a power-sharing government and prompted the deployment of UN peacekeepers in 1964.

Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar said the invasion had brought "peace and tranquility" to the island following the "darkest years" for Turkish Cypriots.

"Their (Greek Cypriots) goal was to destroy the Turkish Cypriots," he said in a video address posted on X.

The simmering conflict complicates Türkiye's ambitions to foster closer ties with the European Union, of which both Cyprus and Greece are members.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said last week the two sides would continue discussions on trust-building measures, warning that "there is a long road ahead".