Life in the Harem, Cairo - 1858 by John F. Lewis - Lewis, John Frederick (1805-76) in the V&A In the Arab tradition, imitated by other Muslim cultures, the har螸 is the part of the household forbidden to male strangers. In Western languages such as English, this term refers collectively to the wives in a polygynous household as well as the "no-males allowed" area, or in more modern usage to a number of women followers or admirers of a man. ?006 TopFoto