JennRev

Hi everyone!

My husband has just been offered a job in Sharjah, we were expecting Abu Dhabi so it's come as a bit of a surprise and after reading a lot of things online, I'm pretty unsure if we should accept it or not.

His company will pay for accommodation but it has to be in Sharjah so there's no option of commuting from Dubai.

I know there's lots of threads here about Sharjah but I can't find anything recent so i'm just looking for some general info about life there. We are both 30 years old and would like to have the odd night out in Dubai, but then would we be able to travel back (by taxi) after drinking alcohol or would that be too risky? Regarding clothing, I know it's conservative but how strict is it in reality? There's a lot of negativity online so if anyone enjoys life there please tell me about it!

Thanks so much!

thistlehollyberry

From Wikipedia
Sale, consumption or transportation of liquor is strictly prohibited in the emirate of Sharjah and punishable under Sharia Law.

norsk

I don't think having already consumed it counts as transportation to be honest.

OleJanx

And there is always the oddity that is Sharjah Wanderers.

thistlehollyberry

Sharia law - consumption - do you really want to take this risk. I am not sure what the punishment is ......

OleJanx

Lots of people take the risk of transporting booze from Barracuda to Dubai. Yes, it's playing with fire a bit, but it still goes on frequently.
You pays yer money and yer takes yer chance...

scrubbedexpat141

Guilty m'Lud. Regularly.

Sharjah is fine, it's a shit pit and boring and you'll spend your life in traffic and smelling curry but it's not Basra.

thistlehollyberry

40 lashes and it won't be with a wet noodle!

norsk

Come on. You're exaggerating the risk. In reality it is no more dangerous than living and drinking in Dubai without a license which most people do. The difference is that I wouldn't keep booze at home if I lived in Sharjah, but coming home in a taxi from a night out in Dubai is not an issue. Let's put it like this - if you act like a prick in Dubai and the taxi driver wants to do you he'll just drop you off at the police station. If you don't have a license you are not legally allowed to drink and guess what Dubai law is Sharia....

scrubbedexpat141

Happened to a pal of mine, pissed and asleep in a cab, woke up outside police station with driver shouting at him. He just paid and legged it.

Even better though, another guy I know was woken up, smashed and giggling in the back of a cab by two police officers outside a station. They were wetting themselves and just told the driver to take him home.

norsk

Yep. Most of the time the coppers don't want anything to do with it. Too much paperwork I suppose.

A friend of mine watched two chaps fighting outside McGettigans. They were both falling over style hammered. Someone called the cops and when they showed up they just watched them get on with it. One of the bystanders asked if they weren't going to arrest them and the copper said that he wasn't going to risk one of the idiots puking in his nice car..

Brains1983

Sharjah Police will issue an alcohol license to non-muslim residents. There is a bit of a grey area about where you would legally buy your alcohol to take home though as technically your license is only valid in the emirate is issued and there are no legal retailers in Sharjah as far as I am aware. I've heard plenty people mention you can openly have a beer at the rugby club though. I'd suggest keeping a receipt indicating you've paid federal taxes on anything you intend to buy and take home.

archie159

If the job pays well enough, and you are not obsessed about going out clubbing/drinking every night of the week, then you'll be fine in Sharjah. OK, it's not Dubai, but that's an attraction for some people. It is certainly a lot more "ethnic" than most areas that westerners tend to live in, in Dubai or Abu Dhabi. But your housing allowance will go a lot further, and you'll hopefully (depending upon how much they pay) be able to afford somewhere larger/nicer. Quite a few arts and cultural events take place there (there is a rapidly growing artistic community), and it is really not far in a taxi to Dubai. It'll be a lot better for you than for those Brit expats getting jobs out in the Western Region or other desert towns - yet even they seem to cope by working hard in the week, and then commuting to civilisation at the weekend. But it would take more money to make me live in Sharjah than it would for Abu Dhabi.

Clothing... not noticeably stricter than much of Abu Dhabi (other than the purely tourist areas), but probably stricter than most of Dubai. They won't like you walking the streets in your mini-skirt, but you certainly don't have to cover up.

Drinking in Dubai then taxiing home - no problem unless you can't control yourself after a couple of drinks. Anyone who gets in the habit of passing out drunk in taxis in any Emirate is an idiot who shouldn't be here. I would no more do that in Abu Dhabi than I would in Sharjah.

To me the final consideration would be - what job will your husband be doing? The working environment is likely to be quite different in Sharjah, and I'd want to be sure that I could cope with that before taking a job there. But that'll totally depend upon what he'll be doing for his living, which you have not stated...

JennRev

Thanks everyone for your replies.

Archie159 - thank you so much for that info. We used to live in the Maldives which is also really conservative so we are used to being careful, but we didn't want to go somewhere that was even more strict. Husband will be working for a college in Sharjah and I will be looking for something in marketing/events once I'm out there, happy to commute to dubai for my job though. The company does have a centre in Abu Dhabi so we emailed this morning to see if there's any possibility of working there instead...if not then you've put my mind at rest if we do end up accepting the post in Sharjah. Thanks

archie159

Glad to help - but do note my caveat about needing a bit more money to work there than Abu Dhabi just to be sure you can live somewhere away from the chaos elsewhere. I don't know how much money colleges there pay, and if it is at the bottom of the scale then you might still want to think carefully. That being said, Sharjah is definitely cheaper than Abu Dhabi to live in. If you feel like quoting the package on offer, there'll be plenty of people here willing to advise!