Harems were prevalent in Islamic tradition from the beginning of Islam and the various dynasties that were being created. The most famous harem of all was that of the Ottoman sultan who led harems to expand to various other locations and dynasties. Western thought has mistaken harems to be important only for sexual intercourse and has mistaken them for brothels. Scholars in the Western world saw the Ottoman Empire as something that was in decline during the 16th and 17th centuries, which is why they formulated the idea that harems were only about sexuality. Harems in the Islamic tradition were fundamentally about family politics. The sexuality that occurred in harems was primarily about controlled sexual reproduction for succession to the throne. The women taken as concubines in the harem were not Muslims, because it is against Islamic law to enslave another Muslim. Concubines often used harems as a way to advance in society. They used the harem as an opportunity to influence events outside the harem. The particular harem in "The Sheikh's Harem" by Elizabeth Fernea is about the harem of Sheikh Haji Hamid. Sheikh Haji Hamid was sheik of the El Eshadda tribe of the Iraqi village El Nehara, which was a Shiite sect. Elizabeth Fernea accompanied her husband to the village of El Nehara and stayed there for two years in the 1950s. Fernea's husband was an anthropologist and together they studied Middle Eastern and African cultures. In the specific chapter, Fernea enters the harem for the first time and is amazed by what she sees. Her husband was invited to lunch with the sheikh, so he was supposed to spend the day in the harem. At the beginning of the passage, Fer...... in the middle of the paper ......ly. Sheikh Haji Hamid had more than one wife, and each of his wives had her own separate block of rooms for her and her children. The harem was a huge representation of Islamic culture, especially when it came to dynasties and empires. Although they no longer exist, harems played a huge role in the succession and continuation of a family. The Western notion of harems was negative and often saw them as brothels, but they played a role in family and political life. Elizabeth Fernea and her husband spent two years living with an Iraqi family and during this time Fernea was able to understand the ways of the Iraqi women who lived in the harem. It was a tough and educational experience, but Fernea was able to adapt to the customs and traditions presented to her to better understand who these women were and what they represented..