Shisha to Go???

Throughout much of the Islamic world there are parlours for smoking with a device whose name varies with the country.

The word hookah was the first word to pass into English (from the Raj), and this was the only English word for a water pipe when I was growing up. Reading the reminiscences of British travellers to other parts of the Empire, some wrote of smoking the narghile or the hubbly-bubbly, words which have not yet passed into common English, at least not according to my spell-checker. A dictionary of foreign words gives the definition of both as 'hookah.'

Recently, US newspapers have begun using the word shisha, which seems to be the most common Arabic word for the pipes. These newspapers report that shisha parlours are becoming common (and very popular) in the US.

Shisha parlours are found throughout most of the UAE, except for Sharjah, which will not issue any licenses to operate such a parlour.

Now some anti-smokers have proposed banning shisha parlours throughout the entire UAE. Some want Dubai to ban shisha, even if the Federal government does not.

My flat is surrounded by shisha parlours, with three large ones sharing one building just outside one exit, and many more in the buildings just outside the other exit.

And last week, I saw an employee from one of the shisha parlours delivering a shisha to one of the flats in my building.

Which leaves us all in a state of uncertainly regarding shisha in the UAE: is the government of the UAE or of the municipality of Dubai really going to prohibit patrons from smoking in shisha parlours, and, if so, will they allow the parlours to continue operating as take-away providers?

Or is this just another of the innumerable rumours that incessantly swirl across the sands?