WOMEN UNDER POLYGAMY
men rather than to the deity. This transition is explained by Havelock Ellis in his valuable examination of hetairism[1] from the earliest ages. Whenever Mohammedans and Hindus have come into relation with Western conquerors, traders, and travellers, prostitution has arisen and spread. In Burma the custom was unknown before the advent of the English. And so with whole of India.
Mohammed denounced prostitution, and it was scarcely known in Moslem countries during the first centuries of the faith. Nowadays, the evil is fostered by the constant influx of foreigners in the Eastern cities. For example, in Turkey, the keepers of brothels are usually Jews, and their chief patrons are Christians. The same may be said for Egypt. Sir Edwin Pears, in "Turkey and Its People," 1911, writes that the social evil is apparent in Constantinople. On the other hand, I have been informed by friends who have lived in Turkey that there is comparatively little prostitution.
Miss Annie Bowman Dodd and Mrs. Lucy M. J. Garnett, to whose writings I have referred, present the views of cultured observers upon the status of the women of Turkey. Neither of these ladies have dwelt only on the darker aspect of the lives of Mohammedan women and the "degradation" of the haremlik. Their testimony is impartial, and therefore valuable.
- ↑ Op. cit.
160
