saying this, however, we allude to the Bedouins, or representatives
of the true Arab race, who preserve their original simplicity in
the rainless plains of their ancient country. In the cities of the
coast, and wherever the fertility of the soil has attracted a crowded
population, vice has introduced itself, and the graces of the shepherd
state have quickly disappeared. In surveying the civilization of Arabia
this distinction must always be held in view.
Many natural circumstances combine to influence the natural character
of the Arabs in their native region. A country whose sunny and sandy
plains alternate with tracts of hills and valleys of the richest bloom,
has been their home. In the mountains of Yemen wet and dry seasons
alternate, but over the desert hangs a sky of perpetual blue,--bright,
dry, and warm; while, during the summer solstice, a sun almost vertical
floods the waste of rock and sand with insufferable light, parching the
face of all nature.
In this extraordinary region the Arabs live; some, as we have said,
in cities or villages, some in separate families, under tents. An
independent patriarchal form of government has been preserved in
complete unity with their simple system of manners. Their religion
is that of Mohammed, though various interpretations of his law
have divided them into numerous sects. Differing, as they do, in
their scheme of education from Europeans, it is difficult for us to
understand their character. The boy grows up until five years old under
his mother’s care; then, without a graduation, he is taken to his
father’s side. From the companionship of women and children he passes
at once into the society of men.
The Arabs hold the female sex in high estimation. They exclude women,
indeed, from all public assemblies, preclude them from the use of
strong liquors, and hold them from infancy to womanhood under tutelage;
but they restrain themselves as well, and their general demeanour is
modest, sober, and grave. Those in the fertile province of Yemen are
more vivacious than those of the sterile plains. Nevertheless the men
love society. Every village has its coffee-house full of gossipers, and
every camp its place of rendezvous.
The women of the family occupy the interior of the house or tent;
they are secluded to some extent, but not in the extravagant degree
described by some writers. A man will not salute one in public, or
fix his eyes upon her. Strangers, in general, are not allowed to
converse with them, and they are expected to pay great deference to
the ruling sex, but they are neither disguised nor immured. Veils they
wear, but do not hide their faces with that religious care considered
indispensable in some countries. Among many of the tent-dwellers, women
drink coffee with strangers; and in some of the communities towards the
south they are allowed to entertain a guest in their husband’s absence.
Indeed it may be said, that they are in Arabia more free than anywhere
else in Islam, and proverbially abstemious in the gratification of all
their appetites. All the household duties are performed by them. They
fetch water, drive flocks, and wait on the men; but they are loved and
respected, notwithstanding, and no claim is held so sacred as that by
which a mother exacts duty from her son. There is, indeed, something
admirable in the simplicity of these desert tribes, where the wife sits
within her husband’s tent, weaving her own garments from the wool of
his flocks.
Where several families are congregated, the females visit each other,
assemble together, and exchange every pleasant service. They meet in
the evening to sing to the young men of the tribe, and many romantic
assignations are kept in the little secluded valleys in which Arabia
abounds. The well is the favourite spot of rendezvous.
The dances of the Arab girls, who perform before the men, are not only
decent but elegant and romantic--totally in contrast to those of the
Ghawazee. These amusements are as much for their own gratification as
that of the other sex, for sometimes no males are present. Nor are they
forced to exhibit when disinclined. Sometimes when the young men have
offended the maidens of a tribe, they assemble night after night, but
no damsels appear to dance or sing. All this indicates considerable
purity of manners. The Mohammedan marriage law prevails among all the
Arabs of the peninsula, though its details are modified by their system
of manners. A man is expected, though not compelled, to take the widow
of his deceased brother. A man has an exclusive right to the hand
of his cousin, but is not compelled to marry her. He, however, must
finally renounce his claim before she can be taken by any one else.
Each may have four wives and as many concubines as he pleases. Two
sisters may not be had at once; but one being divorced, the other may
be taken.
The disparity between the sexes in point of number, which has been
asserted by some travellers, does not appear to exist. Polygamy, a
privilege of the rich, is seldom practised even by them. Many wealthy
Bedouins, who could well maintain a harem, declare they could not be
happy with more than one companion. The law obliges a man to pass at
least one night in every week with each of his wives, and this has
assisted in checking the practice.
The Mohammedans of Arabia are accused of selling their daughters; but
they do not often bargain them away for profit. They naturally prefer
a wealthy before a poor son-in-law, and receive a bounty from him;
but they richly portion out the bride. She is further endowed by her
husband. The contract drawn up before the Kadi stipulates not only
what she is to receive upon her marriage, but what she may claim in
case of a divorce. In many cases a sheikh of substantial fortune takes
a poor son-in-law, gives him the sum necessary to be paid before the
judge, and exacts from him in return only a pledge of such an amount,
in the event of repudiation, that it can never take place. The wife,
not being compelled to vest all her property in him, is, in some
measure, free from his authority. She is, indeed, more supreme in the
household than in most countries, and is even more happy, because she
can insist upon a divorce if ill-used. Some men, indeed, take two
wives, and some even three, but these instances are so few that, though
the sexes are numerically equal, almost every man may have a wife. In
the towns, soldiers and domestics are more frequently married than in
Europe. No insult wounds an Arab woman more than to compare her to a
fruitless tree. In this way the evils of polygamy, in the cities, are
counteracted. A maiden past the marriageable age is ashamed of her
virginity, and a widow without children is miserable until she finds a
new partner. There are no retreats whither celibacy may fly for refuge
from the taunts of the world. Every woman, consequently, is desirous to
marry; but those who are taken by pluralists bear fewer children than
those who have no rival under the roof. In the house of a polygamist,
each woman, feeling she has to contend for favour, seeks by unnatural
means to increase her own attractions, to seem more voluptuous than she
is, and thus injures her natural powers. Concubinage is more common
than polygamy. The sheriff of Mecca has numerous female slaves, and
his high example is followed by many wealthy men in the luxurious and
corrupt populations of the cities. In the desert it is more rare, and,
indeed, scarcely ever practised, except where a father presents his son
with a beautiful bondmaid, that he may be satisfied with her, and not
enter the towns in search of prostitutes.
In Mecca, the sacred city of the Mohammedan faith, nearly all the
wealthy men maintain concubines, but, if they bear children, must,
unless their complement of four wives be already complete, marry them
or incur public reproach. Some of these voluptuaries, who look on
women only as a means to gratify their animal appetites, marry none
but Abyssinian wives, because they are more servile, obsequious, and
voluptuous than those of pure Arabian blood. Foreigners arriving at
that city with the caravan bargain for a female slave, intending to
sell her at their departure, unless she bear offspring, in which case
she is elevated to the position of a wife. Under any circumstances, to
sell a concubine slave, is by the respectable part of the community,
regarded as disreputable. Speculators, however, sometimes buy young
girls, indulge their sensuality upon them, train them up, educate them,
and sell them at a profit. No distinction is made among the children,
of whichever class of mothers they are born.
It is one sign of pure manners among the simple communities of Arabia,
that chastity is highly prized. When the young Arab marries a girl, he
sometimes stipulates in the contract that she must be a virgin. Of this
he desires to assure himself by examination. If the outward signs are
wanting, the bride’s father has to prove the circumstance accidental;
should he fail in this, the fame of her innocence may be destroyed,
and she may be driven from home overwhelmed with shame. In many of
the nomade communities it is the invariable rule to put away a bride
immediately after the discovery of any suspicious sign, and in the
hills of Yemen the laws are equally severe. The man who marries a woman
disgraced by incontinence shares her infamy unless he send her back to
her father.
The dwellers in towns, estimating less highly the worth of feminine
virtue, laugh at a man who dishonours his family on account of such
a circumstance. A man finding that his bride is not a virgin demands
compensation from her father, keeps her a short time, and then puts
her away privily, as Joseph was minded to do with the mother of
Jesus. Many also understand that nature has refused the sign to some
females, and that it is unjust to condemn a woman on the strength of
a circumstance which a hundred accidents may have caused. If adultery
be committed by the wife, the law condemns her to have her throat
cut by the hand of her brother or father; but in general humanity
prevails against the written code, and this horrible punishment is
seldom inflicted. The usual manner of visiting such an offence is by
summary divorce, which is indeed easily to be obtained for trivial
causes, or for no cause at all. In towns an agreement before the Kadi,
in the desert a lamb slaughtered before the door of the tent, is all
the ceremony needed. The simple pronunciation of the word “Go” is, in
many parts, sufficient. Men of violent passions abuse this privilege,
and it is said that some, not more than 40 years of age, have had as
many as 50 wives; but it is utterly untrue to say that such instances
are frequent. The existence of the pure and true sentiment of love,
which is so rare in Mohammedan countries, is admitted to prevail in
Arabia; the natural jealousy of the male sex, the superior wisdom of
their regulations respecting the intercourse of the sexes prior to
marriage, the independence of the women, and the lofty system of morals
distinguishing the Bedouins of the desert, are totally incompatible
with such a flagrant profligacy in the use of divorce. Were it the
case, the complete confusion of society would ensue; whereas no region
in the world presents spectacles of happier homes than the plains of
Arabia, with their tents and wandering tribes. Women are comparatively
free, being tolerated even in religious differences, which implies a
high estimate of their intellectual qualities. The republican spirit of
the desert assigns them, indeed, their natural position, and, though
much is required from them as modest women, little is exacted from them
as an inferior sex.
Some of the peculiar customs among the various communities of Arabia
are curious enough to require notice. Before the Wahaby Conquest it
was customary among the Deyr Arabs for a man to take his daughter,
when marriageable, to the market-place--where all such engagements
were formed--and proclaim her for disposal, crying aloud, “Who will
buy the virgin?” The Bedouins of Mount Sinai still adhere to their
singular practices. A man desiring matrimony makes a bargain with some
one who has an unmarried daughter, and if able to settle it, sticks in
his turban a sprig of green, which signifies that he is wedded to a
virgin. The bride’s inclinations are not beforehand consulted. She must
go home with her husband, and submit for one night to his embraces.
If she be not pleased, however, she may in the morning go home, when
the contract is dissolved. Among the wealthier tribes of the East, no
price is paid, and every girl is free to choose a partner. Modesty,
with them, is regarded as the finest grace of the sex. It is genuine
and unassailable. The bride even is sometimes so coy, that her husband
is obliged to tie her up and whip her before she will yield to him. A
widow’s marriage is disreputable, and assailed with every demonstration
of disrespect. This proves that divorce among them is unfrequent. Among
the Nazyene, a tribe on the peninsula of Sinai, a girl, when given in
marriage, flies and takes refuge among the hills, where she is supplied
with food by her relations. The bridegroom goes in search, and when
he finds his bride, must pass the night with her in the open air.
She may repeat the flight several times, and indeed is not expected
to live with her husband until a whole year has elapsed or she has
become pregnant. Various other customs characterise different tribes;
but in every feature of Arabian manners we discover a simplicity and
purity as admirable as it is rare. Conjugal infidelity is rare in the
desert. Fornication scarcely ever happens, and common prostitutes are
unknown. In the crowded towns on the coast, however, there are numbers
of professional prostitutes, licensed to carry on their calling, who
pay considerable sums to the magistrates for the enjoyment of their
privileges. In Mecca they are extremely numerous, and for the most
part inhabit the poorest quarter of the city. In Dhyrdda, also, they
are extremely numerous, but the population of that place is almost
exclusively foreign. These women bear scarcely any children. When,
during the early years of their vocation, they are capable of producing
offspring, they employ artificial means to ensure abortion. The seeds
of the tree whence is obtained the balm of Mecca, are used for that
purpose.
In the mosques of the sacred city, prostitutes collect in great
numbers, and are largely encouraged by the Moolah or priestly
class, who find them a source of profit. Those of the more indigent
description inhabit a particular quarter, but the others are dispersed
amid the general mass of the population. They are more decent in their
outward demeanour than the same class in the East and in Europe, and
it requires a practised eye to detect, amid the throng of veiled women
circulating in the streets and bazaars, those of the venal sisterhood.
Contrary, however, to the rule which prevails in England, they are
almost the only females who frequent places of worship, which is on
account not of their devotion, but of their effrontery, the prejudices
of Mohammedans being against it. The Bedouins near cities sometimes
frequent the brothels in their neighbourhood; but these belong to the
class the manners of which have been vitiated by intercourse with
strangers.
In what numbers the prostitutes of the Arabian cities are found we know
not, nor do we discover anything remarkable in their manners or modes
of life. It would, consequently, be unprofitable to dwell on them. We
have to notice, however, in connection with Arabia, two remarkable
customs, one of which exhibits to us a class of male prostitutes, if
such a term may be allowed, and the other a species of hospitality, now
very rare, except among the grossest communities.
In the Arabian province of Hedjaz no unmarried woman may pass within
the boundary or enter the mosque. As, however, many rich old widows and
persons whose husbands have died by the way arrive with every pilgrim
caravan, some device is necessary to procure them admission without
breaking the law. A number of men, therefore, live in the frontier
towns, who, upon the arrival of every concourse, hire themselves out
to the women, marry them, live with them while they pass through the
sacred territory, receive a munificent sum for their services, and
are then divorced. If one of these individuals chooses to insist on
keeping the wife he has procured, she cannot help it; but such an
act would be attended with great discredit and the loss of a very
profitable occupation. Eight hundred men are sometimes employed as
temporary husbands, and a number of boys are continually trained that
they may inherit the calling. On the various roads to the shrine of
Mecca congregate a number of women, with somewhat of a sacred character
attached to them. They are prostitutes, but not indiscriminate in
their connections, since they offer to bear to wealthy pilgrims
children, who are considered as born under a fortunate auspice.
Among the Merehedes, on the frontiers of Yemen, a custom far more
revolting has existed from ancient time, and still prevails. A stranger
arriving as a guest is compelled to pass the night with the wife of
his host, whatever her age or condition. Should he succeed in pleasing
her he is honourably treated. If not, she cuts off a piece of his
garment, turns him out into the village, and leaves him to be driven
away in disgrace. When the Wahabis conquered the Merehedes, they forced
them to abandon this odious practice; but some misfortunes ensuing to
the tribe, they were all imputed to this sacrilegious infringement of
an ancient law. The custom was therefore restored. Some other female
of the family, may, however, be substituted for the wife, but young
virgins are never sacrificed to this barbarous hospitality[80].
OF PROSTITUTION IN TURKEY.
There is one general system of manners pervading the Mohammedan world.
In examining, therefore, the moral aspects of the various countries
in which the religion of the Prophet is established, we find little
in each to distinguish it from the rest. In Turkey exists the same
civilization as in Egypt, though its population is more corrupt.
25,000,000 souls inhabit a region which would support twice as many,
and yearly the work of decay is going on.
The Osmanlis, a race of Scythian extraction, have held Turkey during
400 years, receiving, however, large infusions of Persian and
Mongolian blood. The wealthier people their harems with the beauties
of Georgia and Circassia; the humbler intermarry with Servians,
Bulgarians, Albanians, and Greeks, so that the original physical
characteristics of the race have been greatly modified. Their moral
nature has changed also, but in a less degree. Proud, sensual, and
depraved in their tastes, they are too indolent to acquire even the
means of gratifying their most powerful cravings. Their pride is
satisfied with the recollection of former glories; their lust looks
forward to the enjoyments of paradise, crowded, as they believe, with
celestial creatures devoted to the delight of their senses. Immersed
in an atmosphere of epicurean speculation, the Turk whom poverty does
not compel to labour for his bread passes the day in lounging on
cushions, smoking, sipping coffee, winking with half-closed eyes on
the landscape, dreamily indifferent to all external objects. Even the
poor indulge in this idleness. They measure out the amount of labour
sufficient to keep them from want, and spend the rest of their lives
drowsily awaiting the sensual bliss promised them by their prophet in
heaven. During this lethargy passions more violent than are known to
Europeans sleep in their breasts, and when these are excited, the Turk
cannot be surpassed for brutal fury. All his ideas are gross. He is
able to imagine no authority not armed with whip or sword. Moral power
is to him an incomprehensible idea. It is, perhaps, for this reason
that the Osmanlis have conquered so much, and possessed so little
talent for governing what they acquired.
This notice of the Turkish character is necessary, because it
corresponds exactly with their estimation of the female sex. The person
alone is loved. Intellect in a Turkish woman is a quality rarely
developed, because never prized. It is no part of her education to
learn to read or write. To adorn herself, to dress in charming attire,
to beautify her face, to perfume her hair, and soften her limbs in the
bath or with fine ointments, is the object to which she applies her
mind; and when, thus decorated, she lounges on a pile of cushions in
the full splendour of her costume, her delight is some spectacle which
will stimulate her passions and intoxicate her with excitement. Turkey
is thus the empire of the senses.
Polygamy, authorized by the Prophet’s code, is not now so frequently
resorted to as formerly. It is growing into disrepute, and the female
sex, upon which the laws relating to property have conferred much
independence, are generally averse to it. Men marrying wives equal in
rank to themselves frequently engage in their first marriage contract
not to form a second, and the breach of this agreement is viewed as
a profligate abuse of manners. The practice of polygamy was once,
however, very prevalent among the higher orders, and contributed much
to corrupt as well as to diminish the population. In the families of
those Mohammedans who indulge in a plurality of wives, the children
are fewer than in those of the Greeks, Armenians, and Jews, to whom
polygamy is not permitted.
The offspring of married women, also, in the middle ranks of life is
more numerous than in the wealthier harems. Indeed, the sex in Turkey
is naturally prolific; but the growth of the nation has been checked
by this among other causes. To account for the origin of the practice
in Turkey many ingenious theories have been framed. It appears easy,
however, to find its origin. The men are naturally sensual, and have
never been accustomed to respect the female sex. When, therefore,
an individual’s wealth allowed him, he naturally made use of it to
multiply the sources of that animal enjoyment, dearer to him than
any other earthly pleasure. Some have supposed that polygamy was
necessitated by the numerical disparity of the sexes; but this does not
seem the case. In those cities and towns where the women are in greater
numbers than the men, we find that they are purchased in large numbers
from the neighbouring villages or in the markets, to furnish the harems
of the opulent.
The social code of Turkey requires a woman to preserve herself in
strict seclusion. The privacy of her apartments is so great that,
unless on very rare occasions, no male is allowed to enter them except
the master of the house. There are only certain days of the year in
which a brother, an uncle, or a father-in-law can be admitted, or on
festive occasions, such as a birthday or ceremony of circumcision.
The usages of the country do not even permit a man to see his wife
before marriage. In this respect the Turks are more jealous than their
written law, for the Prophet advised his friend to obtain a glimpse of
the woman whom he designed to receive into his bed. She may gratify
her curiosity by seeing him, but such an occurrence is not frequent.
This severe separation of the sexes has given employment to a class of
professional matchmakers, who, as in China, make considerable profits
by their calling, and often gain money under fraudulent pretences. The
beauty and temper of the woman are exaggerated to the man, who, on
the other hand, is described to the lady as possessed of every heroic
qualification. They are mutually deceived; they rush into a marriage,
and perhaps in a few days a divorce is required. Children of three or
four years are sometimes betrothed, and married when they are fourteen.
This interference of the parents leads often to evil results, for the
youth, who is forced to accept his father’s choice, sometimes hates his
bride before he sees her, and resolves to take a concubine as soon as
circumstances permit.