 The hijab is compulsory for Saudi women  |
I couldn't take my eyes off the woman sitting across from me in a café and drinking cappuccino. Clad as she was in the traditional black hijab, I couldn't see her eyes, her face or her body, just her hands and the cappucino. I sat there open-mouthed for a while admiring the skill with which she carried out this task, until I realised that she felt uncomfortable under my gaze. It was only my first day in Saudi Arabia, but as I got up to leave, it hit me that this scene summed up the contradiction that is Saudi today - a country that is at once totally westernised but with strict Muslim traditions.
The abbaya is an overgarment worn by some women in Muslim-majority countries. It is the traditional form of hijab, or Islamic modest dress, for many countries of the Arabian peninsula. It is sometimes adopted in other parts of Islamic world. In Iran for example, the abbaya is often referred to as a chador.
Traditional abbayas are black, and may be either a large square of fabric draped from the shoulders or head, or a long black caftan. The abbaya should cover the whole body except the face, feet, and hands. It can be worn with the niqab, a face veil covering all but the eyes. Saudi Arabia requires women to wear the Abbaya in public; the niqab is optional. Beneath it however, a woman may be wearing a traditional dress, expensive designer jeans or a business suit.
This practice is rooted in Islamic teachings about hijab, or modesty. While some say that veiling denigrates women, some women say that it liberates them. Covering is not universally observed by Muslim women and varies by region and class.
Some Arab governments have, at times, banned or required veiling. In Saudi however, even today, abbaya-wearing is enforced by the religious police, the mutaween (also known as the 'mutawa') who have been known to beat, or worse, those who don't adhere.
Copyright ©Karen Halabi 2007
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