Essam Al-Ghalib
Saudi Gazette
The Kingdom is experiencing passion in a whole new way with pleasure enhancing products once thought banned, now being sold openly at most pharmacies.
According to pharmacists in Jeddah, products sold in the past were strictly for birth control or for treating erectile dysfunction, but six months ago other bedroom products began appearing in the market and immediately gained popularity among the populace.
In one Al-Rehab District pharmacy belonging to a nationwide chain, Saudi Gazette found flavored, ribbed, extra-large and colored prophylactics, tropical fruit-flavored lubricants and massage oils, battery-operated products that vibrate, as well as climax delaying creams and sprays, and Far-Eastern herbal supplements that increase libido and heighten arousal.
Sherif, the Egyptian pharmacist selling these products explained that they have become among the most popular items being sold in pharmacies now. “People that normally don’t go to pharmacies on a regular basis, are now coming in all the time,” he said.
According to Sherif, these products, which are available to anyone without a prescription and without having to show proof of marriage, are gaining popularity with young men in their twenties.
“If I suspect someone is not married, then I don’t sell them these products,” Sherif said. “But when I tell them ‘No’, I know they will go to another pharmacy and buy them there.”
The Gazette asked 23 year-old unmarried university student S.M. to attempt to purchase ID Pleasure lubricant, Lifestyles ribbed prophylactics, two Snafi pills (an erectile dysfunction remedy) and a VibroRing from selected pharmacies around Jeddah while acting in an effeminate manner.
Donning a sleeveless T-shirt with his hair slicked back and gelled, he looked like any of the Shabab (youth) who cruise Tahlia Street on a Thursday night.
S.M., who stopped at five pharmacies, was never questioned once about his marital status, but his feigned, less than heterosexual demeanor, did raise a few eyebrows. None-the-less, at every pharmacy, his purchase was not questioned.
One pharmacist when asked by Saudi Gazette if it mattered to him whether those buying these products were married or not, said, “It’s not my job to judge people. I certainly don’t sit and think about what they will be doing or whom they will be doing it with. My job is to make the sale.”
Islamic scholars have long debated what specifically is permissible between a man and his wife, but the availability of flavored prophylactics and vibrating products in the majority of Saudi Arabia’s pharmacies suggests that ‘non-traditional’ methods may be in compliance with Shariah law which governs the Kingdom.
According to Dr. Sadiq Al-Malki, Professor of Comparative Social and Political Systems, and Political Science professor at King Abdulaziz University, the presence of these products in the market should not be blanketed with a label deeming them Haram (forbidden) or permissible.
“Why use the religion to ban things? These products in themselves are in my opinion Halal (permissible), but how they are used, and with whom, is what determines whether the act being committed is Haram or Halal, not the actual products themselves,” Al-Malki said.
1 comment:
People should read this.
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