How can you have a better sex life?
Contrary to what you might think, having a better sex life was and still is a major preoccupation of Arab people. Back in the fifteenth century, following his superior’s orders, Sheikh al-Nafzawi wrote an Arabic sex manual called “The Perfumed Garden of Sensual Delight”, which went on to become as famous as the “Arabian Nights”. The book is akin to a manual where everything regarding love and sex is exposed methodically. The topics covered include advice on sexual techniques, warnings about sexual health, good hygiene practices, recipes to remedy sexual ailments, as well as entertaining anecdotes. The first sentence of the book sets the tone: “Praise be given to God, who has placed man’s greatest pleasure in the natural parts of woman and has destined the natural parts of man to afford the greatest enjoyment to woman”.
Surprisingly, this book fails to cover lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender sexuality. However, the Arab world is no stranger to homosexuality. Indeed, it’s always been relatively common as the sex segregation between men and women made heterosexual encounters outside of marriage much more difficult. Georg Klauda even reminds us that “countless writers and artists made pilgrimages in the 19th and 20th centuries from homophobic Europe to Algeria, Morocco, Egypt and various Arab countries”, where homosexual sex was not only acceptable, but rather seemed to be widely available. Nowadays, although it’s legal in some Arab countries, many LGBT citizens in the Arab world still face fines, imprisonment and even the death penalty, which is a huge step backwards.
The one thing we should keep in mind is that sexuality – whether gay or straight – is a natural part of life and love and should be treated as such. The surest way to fight ignorance and fear is education. People often mistake sex for porn and those who wish to learn more about sex are considered pervert or deviant. Asharaf Alkiswani, founder of the Karaz website, said that “if sexual education was introduced to schools and universities in a manner befitting the age and the culture, Arab youth would go into marriages more knowledgeable about their body as well as their spouse’s”, allowing newlyweds to strengthen their relationships and even save their marriages. So, to answer our question, having a better sex life implies getting educated about sex in order to let go of all the stigmas associated with it.
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