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Serving
Students at
Santa Ana
College and
Santiago
Canyon College
United Arab Emirates
Dress
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Fashion
Social
Conventions: Muslim religious laws should be observed.
Men and
women do work together in offices in the U.A.E. Women are expected
to dress conservatively and modestly and men should dress formally for
most occasions. Only women working as teachers in the public (Islamic)
schools are required to wear long skirts or traditional black abayas.
Muslim
women do not wear pants, jewlery, make-up or perfume.
Women
Muslim
women are required in Islam to cover themselves whenever they are
outside of their homes or in the presence of non-mahrem men. It is
stipulated in the Quran, rather ambiguously, that women should cover from
"head to toe." But while the Hadith or Sunna, a collection of sayings
of the Holy Prophet Mohammed, peace be upon him, and a description of his
life, says women should be covered except for their hands and faces, nowhere
does it say women should wear black; this is a custom of the region rather
than an Islamic requirement.
Three
types of Muslim dress includes the Western styles, traditional dress and
Islamic dress.
Hijab
The hijab
is the modern version of Islamic dress. The name hijab comes from
the distinctive scarf that is tied tightly around the head and tucked in
at the back to conceal the hair while also covering part of the forehead,
but leaving the face unveiled. The headscarf must cover all of the
hair and be long enough to cover the woman's ears, neck and chest.
Women should take care to ensure that the scarf is securely fastened, usually
with pins, and that her hair is arranged so that it will not slip out of
her scarf.
A woman
who wears the hijab is known as a muhajaba and assumes specific obligations.
The hijab must always be worn when in public. A woman's hair may
only be uncovered in the presence of close male family members such as
her father, brothers, cousins, uncles, husband, other women and children.
The word
hijab is derived from the Arabic root hajaba, which means to hide from
view or to conceal. The hijab is much more than a headscarf; it is
an entire way of dressing, behaving and believing.
Proper
hijab (concealment for the Muslim woman) dictates that the entire body
must be covered, although the face and hands may be exposed. Some
women choose to cover themselves further by means of a face veil and gloves.
The clothing must be long and loose fitting so that the shape of the woman
is not outlined in her garments. The preferred coverings include
the jelbab and the abaya which are floor-length cloaks which come in various
types of fabric and may be worn over a woman's regular house clothing.
Garments
are not transparent as to reveal the color of a woman's skin or to expose
the hair or body in any way. Colors and styles should be as plain
as possible so that unnecessary attention is not drawn to the woman.
In addition, the clothing should not be excessively rich and fancy in order
to gain admiration nor excessively poor and ragged in order to gain sympathy.
Modesty is the main goal.
Jewelry
must not be displayed, and it is especially important that it does not
make noise as a woman walks (an ankle-bracelet with bells, for example).
Women in pre-Islamic Arabia used to wear such bracelets and stamp their
feet in the markets in order to entice and attract men.
Pants
are unacceptable unless they are worn underneath the outer garments.
The dress should not resemble the garments of men, nor should it imitate
the dress of non-Muslims.
Make-up
(unless it is completely covered by a face-veil) and perfume are strictly
prohibited for Muslim women when outdoors or in the presence of men
other than close relatives.
The actions
of a Muslim woman wearing a hijab are expected to be consistent with Islamic
guidelines relating to speech, manners and behavior .
Darrah
The traditional
dress, darrah is a simple modestly shaped, loose-fitting garment that falls
gracefully in a straight line from the shoulder to the ankle. The
neckline is round, close fitting and sometimes adorned with a collar while
the long sleeves are tapered to the wrist or bell-shaped. A versatile,
practical and attractive dress, the darrah is receptive to bright fabrics
of various types and can be decorated with colorful embroideries, gold
threads, beads and sequins, creating a simple house dress or an elegant
party gown. Embroidered decorations are worked around the neck both
in the front and back and also as borders along the cuffs and hems. Often
independent motifs will be scattered over the entire garment.
Traditional
Work Dress
The traditional
dress worn by many women in the work force and university students is a
long ankle-length, flared skirt, a long-sleeved blouse and a tailored blazer
or loose coat.
Abaya
Outside
the home women who choose Islamic dress wear a silky black cloak (abaya)
that envelops them from head to toe over the traditional dress and the
hijab. In olden times before the abaya, women wore a thickly
knitted or woven shawl. Originating from the Al-Ihssa, a region in
eastern Saudi Arabia, the abaya is still the symbol of the Gulf women.
It is defined as one of the most important costumes without which a woman
could not leave home. This wide, loose garment with large wing-like
sleeves is rectangular in shape, opening in the front without fastenings.
Individual tastes can be expressed at the shoulder seams, wrist openings
and front borders which may be left unadorned or embellished with gold
threads. Some abayas are made from fabric that has a pre-embroidered
scalloped border that forms the front edges.
Thob
The thob,
a light, graceful, sheer transparent black garment worn as an overdress,
is a rectangular length of fabric folded in half at the shoulders with
a large opening for the head and two others for the hands. The formal
thob is used for dancing and is heavily embroidered with gold thread or
sequins around the neck and down the front.
Bushiya
The veil
is an integral part of the older Kuwaiti women's tradition. Again this
is a personal preference. One who wears the face veil is called a
munakaba.
Burga
The burga
is a short rectangular black face veil with long narrow eye slits worn
over the hijab. The bushiya is another type of face veil that completely
covers the entire face and is made of a semi-transparent black cotton.
Western
Fashions
Currently
in Kuwait women wearing Western fashions intermingle with those who still
observe the traditional long dresses, hijabs and black abayas along with
some wearing the face veils. Often some of the women choose to wear
Western style clothing to work and then change into the long dress and
abaya for informal afternoon visits or shopping. Kuwaiti women's
fashion is dependent on personal taste.
Men
Jilbab,
Izar, Thawb, `Imama, Jubba, Sirwal
The male
'Aura for prayer is that he must cover himself with clothes from umbilicus
of his abdomen to his knees, and it is better that his both shoulders should
be covered. Wearing the jilbab, izar (loin-wrap), thawb (long cloth),
`imama (turban),(2) jubba (coat or mantle), sirwal (baggy pants) and so
forth is of the Prophet's Sunna of dress.
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