As a person who loves travel, art, culture, and tattoos, I naturally search for tattoo shops in any part of the world I visit. Why would Amman, Jordan be any different? Well, that’s because it’s ILLEGAL. You read that right; tattooing in Muslim countries, is illegal!
The Belief.
Leaders of muslim countries believe that God, or Allah, created perfect beings (I’m flattered). Therefore, the act of tattooing is telling Allah that his creations are essentially not perfect, or subpar, and “ruins” his work. As these are very religious countries and leaders, the act of tattooing has been banned. Now, it is mostly underground and hard to find sterile shops (or shops at all) that aren’t in someone’s garage.
Huzz Ink.
Since I was very determined to get a tattoo, i found the one and only legitimate (and most importantly, sterile!) tattoo establishment in the country of Jordan: Huzz Ink. I’ll admit it was a little sketchy trying to find, but I made it inside and couldn’t be more pleased! They two guys there were super awesome to chat with and spoke perfect english. Learning about their backgrounds and middle east tattoo culture was eye opening to say the least.
Nas.
Booking last minute meant not being able to choose my artist, but I seriously lucked out. Not only was Nas a good tattooer, but his charcoal art is fantastic, and he is such a cool dude! Nas has been tattooing for about two years, and says because of being illegal in Jordan, he basically only gets to do Sanskrit in black ink all day everyday. I don’t know about you, but I would go insane! His goal is to get out of Jordan and start working more with color as well as larger pieces, and says he’s been drawing/planning out some big pieces he’d like to do. After my tattoo was finished, we chatted about the difference in tattoo culture and future travel plans. Then, he showed me his charcoal portraits! Followed by “I usually just throw them away” like WHAT?! I was shocked. Seriously some of the best charcoal work i’ve ever seen. I’m really hoping I convinced him to try selling his work. So worth it.
This is it.
No need to go anywhere else but Huzz Ink in Amman, Jordan. Clean, sterile ,and a group of amazing dudes. You’d give up that for a cheap garage tattooer? Nonsense. Hit up Huzz Ink on WhatsApp to book an appointment and tell them hey from Amanda!