A UK expatriate, William Butler, who worked in Dubai has written a widely shared Observer article titled ‘Why Dubai’s Islamic austerity is a sham – sex is for sale in every bar’. The article talks about how ‘couples who publicly kiss are jailed, yet the state turns a blind eye to 30,000 imported prostitutes’. It paints a picture of life in the many bars in Dubai’s hotels where young women from all parts of the world work as prostitutes, the life of some expatriates, the local visa system which facilitates that and the effect on local Emiratis who are sometimes affected by such activity.
Comment:
A Muslim friend recently went to Dubai on a business trip and told me how he was booked into a hotel, then realised that the young women in the hotel were not just ‘other guests’ so he had to quickly change hotels. There are also reports of how many local Emirati families are uncomfortable with the level of prostitution and lewd behaviour that they witness amongst some visitors and expatriates and how this is eroding the Islamic values they were brought up with.
The issue that William Butler’s article paints is that while officially, prostitution is not allowed because this is a Muslim society and couples kissing publicly is frowned upon, the government facilitates and largely turns a blind eye to this huge level of prostitution. The rulers and some might argue that this is the price to pay for having so many western expatriates working and visiting Dubai and maintaining the infrastructure of Dubai. Or that it is the price for making Dubai the business and tourism hub in the Middle East. However, these rulers know that this is a Muslim society so they also have to pander to a local Muslim population that holds onto many Islamic values – especially in the social sphere.
What is clear is that even non-Muslims like William Butler are able to pick up on the contradictions when rulers in Muslim countries pay lip service to implementing Islamic values but then allow practices and values that contradict Islam – despite the harm these cause in society.
What has happened in Dubai in a short space of time shows the rapid technological development that is possible when money and political will are abundant. However, the actions of the rulers of Dubai – by allowing such widespread prostitution and other practices – also show the harm that can be done to the fabric of an Islamic society when all this technological, business, tourism and other goals are pursued in the absence of the comprehensive implementation of the Islamic way of life and the guidance sent by Allah سبحانه وتعالى by implementing the Islamic Khilafah Rashidah system. Muslim societies in the past, and the Khilafah Rashidah when re-established in the Muslim world insha’Allah, can be places where we have technological advancement in all areas with modern airports, housing and other infrastructure. They will be places where non-Muslims want to come and work and visit, but they must also be places which unashamedly implement Islam in every aspect of life – as opposed to emulating non-Muslim societies in the name of some so called ‘progress’.
قُلْ هَٰذِهِ سَبِيلِي أَدْعُو إِلَى اللَّهِ ۚ عَلَىٰ بَصِيرَةٍ أَنَا وَمَنِ اتَّبَعَنِي ۖ وَسُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ وَمَا أَنَا مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ
“Say, ‘This is my way; I invite to Allah with insight, I and those who follow me. And exalted is Allah; and I am not of those who associate others with Him.’”
(Yusuf 12:108)
Taji Mustafa
Media Representative of Hizb ut Tahrir in Britain