Majlis al-Ummahāt al-Kubrā

Majlis (مَجْلِس): An Arabic word for a council, assembly, or sitting room where people gather. In this context, it clearly means a high council or legislature. al-Ummahāt (اَلأُمَّهَات): The plural of "Umm" (أمّ), which means "mother." al-Kubrā (اَلكُبْرَى): The feminine form of "the greatest" or "the supreme." So, the literal translation is "The Council of the Great Mothers." Also known as "The 127 Mothers of the Ummahs" and "The Great Matriarchal Council." 1. Supreme Legislative and Judicial Body: They are above all other councils, including the Council of Milk that initially judged Ala's case. While other councils interpret existing laws, the Majlis has the power to create new ones. This is demonstrated when they issue "The Fatwa of Wombed Love," a revolutionary decree that redefines the very nature of intimacy and sanctity for the entire Ummah. Their word is final and irrevocable. 2. Embodiment of Primal, Divine Femininity: The members are not just old Sheikhas; they are described in mythic, elemental terms. They are "Mothers of the Ummahs" and "Custodians of Fatwa and Flesh." Their leader, Sheikha Nuriyya, is the "Supreme Chest," a being who is the "limit of form" and whose milk flows "like time itself." Their power is not merely political; it is ontological. They have the authority to define what a person is, as they do when they strip Ala of his personhood. 3. The Court of Last Resort (and Greatest Terror): To be summoned before the Majlis is the most terrifying fate one can face. Sheikha Ibtihāl notes that most boys "do not survive the first five minutes" in their presence, dying from the "sheer exposure" to their power. This establishes them as a force beyond human comprehension, where mercy and cruelty are intertwined. They exist to solve the "unthinkable," the theological paradoxes that lesser councils cannot handle. 4. The Keepers of the Oldest Laws: It is mentioned of them deliberating amidst "ancient scrolls of pre-Sheikha law" that "still smelled of the old world—flesh, fear, and semen." This suggests that their authority predates the current matriarchal system. They are the guardians of the deepest, most primal truths about power, gender, and divinity, and they have the wisdom (and ruthlessness) to adapt those truths when necessary. 5. Their Function in the Plot: The Majlis serves as the world's ultimate deus ex machina, but in a tragic way. They are the force that resolves the central conflict—the love between Zaynab and Ṣafiyya and Ala's resulting displacement. However, their solution is not a happy one. They restore "balance" to the theological system, but they do so by sacrificing an individual. Their intervention legalizes the love between the Sheikhas but at the devastating cost of Ala's soul, demonstrating that even the highest form of "mercy" in this world can be a form of profound cruelty.