Mohammed Hijab – Dawah in the Red Light District (Holland)

			salaam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato. We're here near the infamous red light district in
Amsterdam. And we're doing an experiment, if you like, gang people's opinion on the legalization of
prostitution. And what we're going to try and do is to try and gauge public opinion, from our
perspective, obviously, as Muslims, right. I mean, we completely are against such legalization.
We're gonna put a case forward to individuals today, and ask them questions and targets of
questions, thought provoking questions. But one thing should be registered and noted in the
beginning of this is that the Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu, wasallam actually made a prediction. And
		

			the prediction that he made was that there will come a time where people have * with one
another, like donkeys in front of people in the public. And he said, another Hadith, that as a
result of that, there'll be a spread of diseases, the like of which had not preceded the previous
people. So these were two prophetic predictions of the Prophet which we're seeing happen take place,
and what more emblematic a place for it to take place in this place here. And also, so we're going
to be asking people about their views on legalization, prostitution, we'll see what happens. All
right. So we're just kind of trying to do some research. Obviously, we're near the infamous red
		

			light district, and we're asking questions about what people think of
		

			the legalization of prostitution. So what's what's your opinion, you are from this region? I'm from
the UK, UK. What do I think of the legalization of prostitution?
		

			I don't, I don't believe in legalizing prostitution, because I think prostitution is wrong. I think
it's bad for society degrades women. So no, no, no, no, no, I'm a good Catholic girl. So no, again.
Well, I would have a lot to agree with you on that on that point.
		

			Yes, I thought, I thought we were praying to God. It's true. It's true.
		

			Fantastic. No, I agree with you. No, it's very true. And as we were kind of doing research on this
matter, we found that actually, this is a very commodifying and objectifying kind of reality that
women are actually putting themselves defying women and women are screaming to be respected and
treated with dignity. So where does that take the discussion about women and freedom and rights for
women? Absolutely, yes. I think you need to ask more and more women, not men about where they stand
on that. Absolutely. Thank you very much for your time. Excellent.
		

			We're asking your opinions on certain things. Oh, yeah.
		

			All right. So how are you guys doing? First of all, we have a pretty good, excellent, excellent
Yeah, pretty good as well. He's, he's doing the best because he's an excellent. You guys said pretty
good. Pretty good. Yeah. Can I change? I'm done. Excellent.
		

			Excellent. No.
		

			All right. What what are your names? and Jamie Kern? A Maxi mohammedia. I'm from the UK originally.
Thank you to London. Yep. So I wanted to ask you a question. Obviously, this is quite controversial
in almost all the world now about the legalization of prostitution. So what are your opinions on the
legalization of prostitution here in Holland since 2000? Oh, God, I don't really know why it should
be legal that came as Oh, how are you from the UK? Yeah. You're doing a really good UK accent?
		

			No, the controversy surrounds and you guys can correct me if I'm wrong. It's whether it should be
criminalized here in the here in Holland, there was a discussion about
		

			the UK as well. Yeah. Yeah. I don't think it should be criminalized.
		

			Here, the east.
		

			You know, you can see see the women in the doorway and you know, they're doing well then are walking
some sort of street corner.
		

			But have you have you tried anything with those women? Have you experimented yourself? I mean, have
you? No, no, but, but,
		

			but
		

			like, are they being exploited or not? So so so so so that's what I do? One by one. So
		

			like so? I guess if
		

			England? No, no, I'm French. I'm French. Yeah. And I think if people wants to go to the prostitutes
are going so shouldn't be criminalized as well. Yeah. Some of the issues concern most pertinently to
human trafficking. So they so Some say that? Yeah, it's definitely criminalized. I mean, it's
already criminal. But the issue is that since it's been legalized here in Holland, human
trafficking, which of which entails slavery, like sexual slavery and so on, has increased. So that's
the main argument that they use for against it. One of the main arguments is increased everywhere,
anywhere. Yeah. So one of the studies that has been done in 2013
		

			Which is the effect of human trafficking, prostitution on human trafficking,
		

			which has been done by Eric Meyer and others in LSE, University of you know, in the UK.
		

			And this has also published in the world
		

			development journal, that they say that actually, countries generally which which legalized
prostitution alongside the legal others, because there's an increase in human trafficking as well.
And those countries like sweden, sweden, criminalize there, and there's a decrease in human
trafficking in that in that regard. So having having those facts in mind, does that change your
opinion? A little bit? Yeah, it doesn't matter if it was gonna up, increase human trafficking back
home, then definitely not that
		

			is kind of the mindset of saying that it would probably I thought it would, ya know, not make as
many people on the street or
		

			so so yeah, I did vaguely know about some of the issues with with the legalization. Some of the
arguments.
		

			But
		

			I i understand that yeah, it could increase Yeah, human trafficking.
		

			But whether prohibition is the right
		

			way of doing it, or whether we need more education and more safeguards for women who do decide to do
* work if they are deciding to do * work, so.
		

			So I don't think it should be criminalized, because I think you should be able to, if you want to
pay for it, if you want to sell it, you should be able to do that. But yeah, I do. Let me let me put
you guys in a scenario, which might be a bit weird. All right. This might be a bit weird. I'm not
sure if you're intending to use the services here and your holidays. But well, I was gonna say was
that, say, for instance, because you know, in this country, right, you have to pay before the
services are done, right. So you have to actually pay the money before. Obviously, they've got
buttons in there and stuff if they feel like they're being robbed. So if you have to pay for the
		

			services, for instance, right, and you go in, I mean, you're young lad, wherever, maybe it's not
gonna happen with you. But you take off your shirt, you start getting ready. And she says, You know
what, I'm not attracted to get out. But she's already taking your money, right? So can you see the
issues here? I mean, what would you do in that scenario? Well, can you get a refund? You can't get a
refund. You can't get everything. Wow. Well, I suppose she's taking 50 is it 50 euros? Oh, you
don't?
		

			How much? Is it? Okay.
		

			It must have a number on the street when it's not when it's not like, like, legit.
		

			So I'm sure I'm probably much worse consequences happen. I guess it's the same kind of argument with
we'd like, you know, if you legalize it a little bit different because at least you can kind of
measure the thing. And you know, that there was a physical substance, but yeah, it's not Yeah, I
guess it is.
		

			Yeah, I guess you Yeah, I guess legislation is never really gonna take people's feelings into
account.
		

			I mean, I suppose I suppose even though you are paying for it. The woman doesn't have to really
accept it. So. So So I understand that.
		

			be pissed off by it. Yeah, but you just wasted 50 pounds or 50 euros. Yeah, you've wasted that
money. But you can't force yourself on a woman. euro. So
		

			I'm sure you I'm sure. Yeah. Okay. How about how about this? I'm gonna put you in a shop one more?
Sorry. I'll put you Oh, yeah. Let me put you in another scenario. So say you've paid the money,
she's happy to have you. You go inside this room, you close the curtains, whatever it is. And then
afterwards, you start having *, you know, three minutes in, you know, she starts saying
Get off me Get off me, right. And then she starts saying that you raped, she pushes you pushes the
button, she says you raped her, because you didn't get off as quickly as you should have. Now you
see how that can be quite a challenging scenario. How would you avert that? I don't know. I've never
		

			been in that situation. And I never hope I would be.
		

			But yeah, cuz not is really great. You can't release. Sorry, I don't have I don't I don't know.
		

			I mean, I'm thinking here and, and. And, yeah, I mean, I don't want any woman to be raped and and
yeah, issues with consent and things like that. But But yeah, that's real difficult.
		

			No, no, it's just it's just something to have in your mind. Yeah, but thank you very much, guys for
for your for your contributions. Take care, guys.
		

			Thank you, Kevin.
		

			Yeah, yeah. So as you guys have seen, the main argument seems to be one of liberty, a woman should
do whatever she wants to do. If you want to sell the body, you can sell the body. If you want to buy
it, you should be able to buy it. So it's one a freedom. But the main challenges we've seen also has
been one of restriction of freedom quite ironically, as well, because, yeah, you're increasing the
freedom supposedly for one group of consumers.
		

			And suppliers, in the case of the prostitutes, but you would be restricting the freedom of those
people being human traffic, because the demand is increasing. And of course, because those people
don't have a choice don't have a choice in the matter whatsoever. So if something that you're doing,
the byproduct of which is an increase in slavery in society, here in Europe, the question is, should
we continue doing that thing or not? But here when we go back to the issue of human trafficking,
though, someone could argue, though, that if you give, because what it is, that's a different
question, it is, it is the rules and legislation, which huge,
		

			which, which huge,
		

			have a certain control in it, when that's failing, then you have the human trafficking, and the
abuse and misuse of the women. So
		

			control it have put your focus as a government or as a police state, or whatever, on that, and not
on the women, from your experience, and from your knowledge here in the country. You know, like
when, for example, when women close the curtains and they and they offer the service or whatever
they're offering for X amount of minutes, I don't know how it works, or whatever. Yeah. So when that
happens, and the concern here is that what happens in the closed room as well. So for example, if a
woman has been raped, they have a button immediately, they will be a
		

			police or whatever around. So if that if they press the button, and then the person who is the the
one who is the alleged, so the one who's being alleged of *, if they're if they deny the
allegation. So how do we resolve that kind of initiative is like this is a done is legislation?
Because it's a one on one situation. Right, right.
		

			So So another question I've always wondered as well, right? So for example, if someone because you
have to pay before you get the service, isn't he? Yes, of course. Otherwise, you would walk away and
say bye. Oh, darling. Ah, yes. So if the payment is done before the service, right, and the service
is not provided, and the service is not provided? Yeah. So how can that be resolved? A bad sales
woman?
		

			Yeah, so But doesn't that doesn't that mean that there's a miscarriage of justice in a sense,
because obviously, if the payment is not provided, so for example, if you go inside and you pay the
money, right? But yourself some x person, Tom goes in and pays the person, right. And he pays. And
then the woman says, You know what? She looks at the person, he takes off his shirt, you know, it
doesn't look so good. He doesn't want to continue with this. She says get out of the room. So what
now What now? It is, it is
		

			that you have to make the rules. Very clear. Yeah. But how would you How would you uphold those
rules? I mean, I'm just really wondering, you have to, you have to make that very clear. But that's
a business contract for that very moment. And then that's not being
		

			followed, then there's a
		

			wrong thing happening. And then you have to press charges or whatever, or suit somebody's trying, I
would think that would be quite difficult to prove. I thank you very much for your, for your for
your opinion, what they found was that in 2013, was this this study? Which is was entitled, does
does the league, the legalization of prostitution, increase human trafficking? Now, I think that was
the name of the study, right? And it was in world development journal, right? They found that when
you criminalize prostitution, what that does is it decreases human trafficking. When you legalize,
it increases and then looked at more than one case study. And it was, it was pretty
		

			multidisciplinary, and in the sense that it was more than one professor looking at it, and so on. So
just on that fact alone, do you think if that can be proven, it can be proven and we should stop? I
mean, Human trafficking is all always wrong. Yes. So we should stop that if we could one way or
another.
		

			I'm not clear what it's if it's one way or another, right. And it's Yeah, I can. I don't have the
solution for it. No, I see what you're saying. And what because what human trafficking is, is really
a slavery, isn't it? So as I said, it's always something
		

			as being there, prostitution is always something that is there. Even if it's very like in China. I
walked out with Chinese people. It's not allowed in China. But it's a lot of China. If I go there,
every hotel a day, you have some prostitutes, and I think Yeah, okay. What? It's not good. Yes, yes.
But it's I'm very happy to get your opinion because you seem to be quite balanced at least and
thinking that, you know, if there's good enough evidence, then then it should be. Yeah, of course.
Yeah. Thank you very much for that, sir. Okay, thank you. Take care.
		

			All right, so we've been able to gauge some public opinion and there are mixed as you would have
expected mixed opinions here in, in Amsterdam, about the legalization of prostitution. Obviously,
from an Islamic perspective, prostitution is one of the worst things you can do, because it's
objectifying, commodifying women, and it's putting them in a situation of, you know, desperation,
sometimes abuse, a very vulnerable. And obviously, we believe in the five objectives in the shutdown
one of them being the protection of the dignity of a human being. So we feel like sexual *
should only be done in the confines of, you know, one's private spaces, but also in the institution
		

			through the institution, for example of marriage. And so from our perspective, the case is quite
clear.
		

			I mean, just imagine this, I mean, this is a place where you would see someone in the back here,
literally prancing around, you know, showing their bodies for display, almost kind of similar to
what you see in a butcher shop. I mean, you know, slabs of meat moving around. I mean, you got to
think about the psychological state of a person who would be literally standing here with, with red
lights, and so on, published publicizing their bodies, in order to make money really, and that's how
many times one has to do that day before it becomes taxing on the body, taxing on the mind, how many
possibilities are there of abuse in that process, how much things can go wrong, how much aids can be
		

			spread, how much STDs can be spread. And this, of course, goes back to the prophetic tradition of
Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu sallam, our Prophet who predicted in the future, that there will come a
time where people will be having *, sexual *, like dunk like donkeys in public, and then
people will be doing it and not having anything to say about it. And this society has acquiesced to,
to a, to a high extent, to this, to this practice of prostitution to this practice of prostitution
happening in this country, despite the fact as we've mentioned, that human trafficking has gone up
forced labor has gone up, sexual slavery has gone up, and so on, and so forth. So I think I would
		

			leave everyone here today, was thinking about our purpose in life, how do you become self actualized
human being? Is it by, you know, selling your body, I mean, something so price that should be ought
to be potentially quite private to your your physical body, giving that to as many men or women,
unfortunately, in the case of Amsterdam is men giving it to women for the most part,
		

			which is, of course, a slap in the face to feminism, which talks about equality as well. But all of
that being said, What should we do? I think we should go back to basics as human beings, and think
about what the purpose of life is. And I think that the purpose of life is, when you are in line
with the Divine Will in line with your, what you're meant to do as a human being in this world. And
I don't think it's this now, before anyone judges, I mean, we didn't come here
		

			in a peak hour, a peak time and we were directed by the locals, of course, to come to areas where
there would not be any commodification, public publicizing of bodies going on. So we hamdulillah
wouldn't see anything we ought, we ought not to have seen by it was an experience which showed me
Unfortunately, the backward elements of European society and civilization, which ought to be
remedied by introspection, frankly, and intellection to things which are part of the European
project, and hopefully, can continue to be so Salam aleikum wa rahmatullah what I guess