Friday, May 21, 2010

Ideal Clothes for Muslim Girls

As days go by, I am more convinced that these types of clothing are definitely ideal for a female Muslim.

This is how a female Muslim should typically appear.



Loose clothing and a scarf that covers your head and chest. Saudi has a rule where everyone must wear this kind of garments in its country, and the real reason behind it, or so I was told, is that Muslim females should wear clothes like those admirable women in the prophet's time, because that is the most ideal.

Niqab/burka isn’t a necessity in our religion, but from my observation, people wear it for these reasons:

1. Different beliefs – there are those who interpret God’s messages differently than us.
2. Sun and sand – sunscreen isn’t readily available, and sands could always get into your eyes and nose, and thus this black veil is a protection for their skins and nose.
3. Family tradition – family’s honor is a huge concern here, and one mistake could ruin the entire clan. So to make sure that the family members wouldn’t be talked about around town, female members must cover their identity. It’s fine for men because they can still marry even if their reputations are ruined, but most women cannot. So better to hide than take the risk.
4. Safety – there is a higher risk of a sexy girl to be raped than a veiled girl who’s probably ugly and has no asset underneath those black garments.

So as you can see, niqab is not restricting a woman’s right, but rather, it is protecting them from potential dangers and so on. There is a research here that says Arab women seldom get nasal cancer, simply because they wear niqab.

And truthfully, they need the niqab. Or else the sun will burn their skin and they will be exposed to the risk of nose cancer.

You might not see the men cover their faces in pictures and so on, but actually they do. They wear this scarf calls shmugh on their heads like typical Arabs do—this is to protect their heads from the heat of the sun, and they would wrap the ends of their scarf around their mouth during sandstorm.

So all in all, it is not a necessity in religion, but highly recommended if you wanted to visit the Middle East someday.

That, and you wouldn’t attract the attention of you being a foreigner.

Anyhow, the point of this post is about the ideal clothing for a Muslim female.

I found that many Muslim girls were turned off by Saudi’s clothing rule.

It’s actually convenient, really.

One: Hijab.


(this is a long hijab where you wrap it around your head)


(this is a khimar)

Although many adult women like to wear khimar for the simplicity of it, young women tend to love wearing long scarf and wrap it around their heads.

It is convenient because you don’t have to unlatch your pins and so on if you need to perform your ablution.

It is not as convenient because sometimes it tends to slip off.

But the reason why many people love this is because…

It covers the chin. So you don’t have to wear a separate hijab for praying.

Two: Abaya



Sure, abaya isn’t as fashionable or pretty as jeans or skirts or blouse or so on…

But it is beautiful, and the looseness of it could double up as your praying clothes.

So again, no need to wear separate praying clothes. It’ll save some spaces in your handbag from carrying your praying clothes, right?

Three: Gloves

(I suppose you know how gloves look like and I'm lazy to upload pictures...if you can't tell XD)

Our ablution will be invalid if we touch a guy who has no relation to us.

Such a waste of water to perform ablution again, especially in the Middle East where water doesn’t come by as easily as say…oil.

So saving your ablution is important, and it’s better to take precaution.

Four: Socks

It’s self-explanatory.

But in case you didn’t get it, then feet is also part of the body that needs to be covered, and it’s convenient to wear it instead of wearing long skirts. That way, if the skirt was blown by the wind or something, your feet still weren’t visible.

As for the black? Well, the guys have to wear white, which reflects heat, while the girls have to wear black, which absorbs heat.

If anything, it tells you that girls should always stay at home and don’t go outside too much. Or be prepared to live in your personal sauna.

Restriction or safety?

Depends on your view I suppose.

But anyway, the real reason for the blackness and whiteness is because they want everyone to be treated equally. Surely if you wear sloppy clothes, those shop assistants won’t spare you a glance, but if your clothes are all high-ends from head to toe, they will treat you like you rule the world.

So it’s nice to wear like everyone else, at least people wouldn’t question the amount of money in your pocket.

The only thing they would question is your bag.

But who cares. Maybe she likes the pattern of that cheap bag…right right?

Uhh…yes.

So yes. This is why, my fellow Muslim sisters, abayas are better than jeans and whatnot. It’s convenient.

Okay maybe not so when running.

But you can always wear pants inside and run when situations demand it.

Treat it as a cloak! Or a robe. Then you’ll be like someone from Harry Potter.

Interesting, isn’t it? >:D

2 comments:

sansinto said...

Assalamualaikum,
Just wanna say hi coz i like your blog :) very nice stuff here ^_^

Keep posting...!

Wassalam.

Huda said...

Thank you for your nice words. Glad you enjoy your time here! :D