A room where business leaders speak honestly.
The oldest Arab institution for honest conversation — reimagined for the people building what comes next.
What is a Majlis?
مجلس — majlis — is the oldest institution in Arab culture for gathering, discussion, and the exchange of honest perspective between people who have earned their place in the room. A space where serious people could speak seriously, without performance, without hierarchy, and without agenda.
Once a month, we gather 15 to 25 vetted leaders around a single question. Not a panel. Not a keynote. A structured discussion in the Majlis tradition with one theme, equal voices, no recording, and the understanding that what is said in the room stays in the room.
This is not networking. This is the conversation that networking was supposed to produce — but never did.
What happens in a Majlis
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01
The invitation
Majlis is not open to registration. Attendance is by invitation — extended to people already in the network and to a small number of new guests introduced by members. If you are invited, it means someone in the room vouched for you.
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02
The gathering
Guests arrive at a venue chosen for atmosphere rather than convenience. The first 20 minutes are unstructured — introductions, drinks, the natural beginning of any honest gathering. No name badges. No lanyards.
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03
The Majlis opens
The Majlis host frames the evening's question in two or three minutes. Not a speech. A frame. The discussion begins, and everyone in the room is equal in the conversation. No moderator-and-panelists dynamic. No one performs for an audience.
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04
The conversation
Two discussion rounds, each 30 to 40 minutes. The host draws out the quiet voices, redirecting when the conversation goes surface-level. The question is always chosen to produce honesty rather than clever opinions.
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05
Dinner
The structured discussion closes and the evening continues around the table — open, unrecorded, unhurried. The conversations that happen here are usually the ones people remember longest.
The question at the centre of every Majlis
Every Majlis is built around one question. It is chosen 10 days before the event, shared with guests when they receive their invitation, and held as the anchor for the entire evening. Past questions have included:
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What is the most important decision in your business that you made wrong — and what did it cost you?
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What does the next generation of Arab business actually need that we are not giving it?
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What did you build in the last five years that you would not build the same way again?
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What is the thing your business needs most that money cannot buy?
The question is never about success. It is always about what is honest, difficult, and worth the room's attention.
Format at a glance
- Duration
- 2.5 to 3 hours · including dinner
- Guests
- 15–25 vetted participants · invitation-based
- Frequency
- Monthly, in big cities where members are.
- Venue
- Chosen for atmosphere — a private dining room, a gallery, a terrace, or a traditional space.
- Language
- Arabic-primary. English when the room requires it. The Majlis is a native Arab institution and we treat it as one.
- Recording
- None. What is said in the Majlis stays in the Majlis.
Who the Majlis is for
The Majlis is for the leader who has built something real and wants to be around others who have done the same — in an honest room, not a professional one. You have the network. You have the career. What you may not have is the conversation.
What the Majlis is not for: people who want to pitch, people who need a speaker credential, and people who cannot be honest about what is actually happening in their business. The vetting is the kindest thing we do.
The quality of the room is the product. Everything else is just dinner.
Requests are reviewed by Yahya personally. You will receive a response within 5 days.