Book Review: Prostitution in the Eastern Mediterranean World

While current Islamic orthodoxy treats prostitution as immoral, stories in Rumi and the 1001 Arabian Nights indicate that pre-modern Muslim societies had a different attitude towards it.

by Usman Butt

Shams Tabriz, a 13^th century Persian mystic and thinker, wrote the biography of his contemporary and fellow mystic, Jalal al-Din Rumi. In it, Rumi is quoted as saying something quite shocking by orthodox Islamic standards: “Bravo, oh champions (Prostitutes)! If it was not for you bearing the burden, who would have subdued so many censorious…