Islam and Prostitution

One of the most interesting social phenomena that a world traveler observes is that prostitution is much more prominent in supposedly strict Islamic countries than in the Western world.

A recent Guardian article highlights the situation in Dubai:

It is impossible to estimate accurately the prostitute population of Dubai. The authorities would never give out such figures, and it would be hard to take into account the "casual" or "part-time" sex trade. One recent estimate put the figure at about 30,000 out of a population of about 1.5 million. A similar ratio in Britain would mean a city the size of Glasgow and Leeds combined entirely populated by prostitutes.

This is a blog about Morocco, not Dubai, but the situation is really not that different, particularly in the disjuncture between official religious and legal policy and actual enforcement.

Even though selling sex is haram (forbidden) under Islamic law, the authorities rarely do anything about it. Occasionally, an establishment will break some unwritten rule. Cyclone, a notorious whorehouse near the airport, was closed down a few years back, but then it really did go too far – a special area of the vast sex supermarket was dedicated to in-house oral sex. When the authorities ordered it to be closed, the girls simply moved elsewhere.

One difference is that Dubai has a large highly educated ex-pat population. Despite their usual hang-ups, they often conform to local mores.

The other big category of punters is Europeans and Americans, and it is remarkable how quickly it all seems normal. A few drinks with the lads on a Thursday night, maybe a curry, some semi-intoxicated ribaldry, and then off to a bar where you know "that" kind of girl will be waiting. In the west, peer group morality might frown on such leisure activities, but in Dubai it's as normal as watching the late-night movie.
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Wives and families escape the heat by going to Europe or the US, and the change that comes over the male expat population is astounding. Middle-aged men in responsible jobs – accountants, marketeers, bankers – who for 10 months of the year are devoted husbands, transform in July and August into priapic stallions roaming the bars of Sheikh Zayed Road.

So the big question is: why is prostitution so prevalent in the Islamic world, where it is technically haram (forbidden)?

Some of the Moroccans I know blame it entirely on Western influence. They point out that most bars, which are synonymous with prostitution here, exist in the newer parts of cities built during colonialization. The fact that Dubai, with its modernization and Westernization, seems to be the center of prostitution in the Arab world would only seem to establish that fact.

But it certainly can't be strictly Western influence, or else prostitution would be just as prevalent in Western cities. And it obviously is not.

Perhaps a better explanation is the money. Dubai has lots of it, and as the article explains, many foreign women can avoid lifelong destitution with a few years work as a lady of the night.

Thousands of women buy entitlement to full-time residence, and lucrative employment, in this way. Three years in Dubai – the normal duration of a residence visa – can be the difference between lifelong destitution and survival in Yerevan, Omsk or Bishkek.

Others might seek the reason in the societal-shaping religious beliefs of the different cultures. An Egyptian Copt I know says that one of the fundamental societal differences between Islamic and Christian societies is that of monogamy and polygamy. In Islam a man is allowed up to four wives if he can afford them (and, at least in Morocco, if the first wife approves). In Christian Scriptures, in contrast, the relationship between the church and God is represented as a monogamous, mutually faithful relationship, a model for human marriages. Jesus furthermore said that anyone who looks on a woman with lust in his heart has already committed the sin of adultery. Western society certainly doesn't follow these dictates perfectly (France comes to mind...), but the ideals have certainly shaped society.

My Copt friend believes that Muslim men cannot help but be on the look-out for the next wife...or just any woman, because the step between the next wife and the substitution of a prostitute is not that big of one.

Also, we might note that both religions have traditionally placed a high value on virginity before marriage, although contemporary Islamic culture places a much greater emphasis on female virginity than male virginity. And what do you get when have a large population of horny young bucks free to do as they please knowing they must wait until marriage for sex with a good girl? They're certainly not going to sleep with the virgin type of woman they're going to marry (although many do and then the vagina is sewed close before the wedding day)...they're going to slake their lust with a different type of woman.

On a final note, we might look at the location of prostitution, one of the other big differences between prostitution in the Western world and in the Islamic world. As the Guardian article points out, outside solicitation is rare in Dubai . It is rare in Morocco too. It is not rare in Europe or America though, where girls "work the streets". In some cases, the social atmosphere of a bar can protect prostitutes from the abuse and violence they face working alone.