Traditional Dress

The UAE is one of the most liberal of the Gulf countries. The people follow the teaching of the Koran (or Quran). One of the practices required of women by the Koran is to cover their heads. The accepted practice, and an interpretation of the meaning in the Koran, is that many women not only cover their heads but choose to cover themselves completely when in public, leaving barely a slit in their face wear to be able to see through. This is not required by the religion but has become common practice for many Muslim women. Their societies have built this practice in the name of modesty and also to protect women from the sexual proclivities of men! There are some practicalities as well including protection from the fierce sun.

Muslims practice the religion of Islam and countries that are predominantly Muslim are known as Islamic countries. Making the decision to move to an Islamic country is one that is complicated mostly by perceptions of what that means and how it is interpreted in the west. Many people we know were very concerned that we would have difficulty settling in and being here on a day to day basis...... I will tell you some stories related to that further in another blog entry.

For now I thought I would talk about the different types of Middle Eastern Islamic costume. I have done a bit of research and I hope I have this right! If not please place a comment on the blog to educate me more…..

In the Emirates the local people are called Emirati. Whilst some Emirati may choose to wear western attire most men will choose to wear the dishdash (dishdasha). Women adopt various forms of dress including western style, with many choosing a varying degree of covering up that ranges from having some headwear to full burqa, which covers from head to toe including the face.

The abbaya is a long dress that covers from the neck to the ground with the arms covered below the wrist to the back of the hand. It is worn with a hijab or a sheila (shay-la). A hijab is a sort of fitted scarf that is pulled over the head and the sheila is a shawl like scarf that is arranged to cover the head and the neck. Wearing either is ‘wearing hijab’. When women’s faces are completely covered the way of dress is the burqa – ie. a woman wears burqa or is dressed in burqa (she is fully covered).

The dishdasha, which is also known in some countries as a ‘jalabah’, is generally a long white or cream garment, though other colours seem to also be fashionable. They also wear a ‘ghutra’ on their head – these are red and white in colour or they can also be plain white or the colour of the dishdash. The ghutra is secured by an igal which is a double black cord and is worn over a tagiyah, a small skull cap that stops the ghutra from falling off.

Here are some photos we have taken that show the normal everyday wear of the people here……………….