Coffee culture in the Middle East experienced wide expansion throughout the region in the 15th and 16th centuries. Its early uses and functions were criticized heavily within Islamicate societies, particularly by prominent Islamic legal authorities in Mecca, Istanbul, and elsewhere. The majority of scholarship on coffee history indicates that ijmāʿ [consensus] was reached in the 16th century, marking coffee as permissible. However, a deeper dive into coffee’s history indicates that the debate about coffee’s legality in Islam continued well through the end of the 18th century, revealing that ijmāʿ regarding coffee and its consumption under Islamic law was not so straightforward. In fact, there is evidence that consumption of coffee at certain points during the Ottoman Empire was punishable by death. Today, coffee is ubiquitous throughout Islamic societies. The question remains: when was ijmāʿ about coffee universally accepted by Islamic jurists? Using content, discourse, and semiotic analyses of Islamic law manuscripts, particularly those of the 18th century, this paper will argue that the date of ijmāʿ regarding coffee consumption is, in fact, centuries later than is generally accepted by coffee historians. It will show how jurists argued both for and against the beverage for centuries, and how the politics of the time played a role in whether or not coffeehouses were banned. A treatise written by Murtada az-Zabīdī in 1758 will be particularly highlighted, revealing just how much the debate surrounding coffee was continuing in Cairo well into the 18th century. By exploring how coffee was debated, larger conclusions can be drawn about how ijmāʿ was reached in the Ottoman empire and beyond, and how its edicts were followed (or ignored) throughout their territory. Furthermore, this paper has broader implications outside of Middle Eastern studies, as the majority of coffee historians do not speak Arabic, and therefore do not have access to untranslated manuscripts regarding this issue.