Comments on: Abayya YES- Abayya No

By: Kaldoon

Kaldoon — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 19:06:45 +0000

مرحبا دكتوره امل اسف لكتابتي بالعربيه ولكن هي التي اجيدهاومااردت ان اضيف هوإن العباءة عند نساء العرب قديما وحديثاً شأنها شأن الثوب والشماغ والعقال عند الرجل فالشماغ كان من أجل التربة والغبار الذي كان من طبيعة أرض الجزيرة العربية والعقال كان من أجل تثبيت الشماغ .. وأيضاً كان للعقال أنواع وأشكال تختلف بحسب منزلة الرجل ومكانته بين القبيلة وبحسب المناسبات أو الاحتفالات… أما العباءة ، فكانت من أجل إخفاء المرأة وعدم ظهورها من أجل العار والخزي الذي كانوا يشعرون به حيال المرأة في ذلك الزمن الغابر…. ( عادات وتقاليد عربية قديمة من قبل نزول الإسلام ) حيث كانت العرب تتشاءم من الإناث وكانت المرأة مثل العار عليهم وكانوا يتوارثونها مثل الأنعام والأملاك… حتى أنه في بعض المقولات التاريخية قيل أنهم وصفوا نساء البادية بالخيام المتحركة وقيل مثل الغربان… وهذا دليل قوي على أن العباءة السوداء هي من أصول العرب ومن عاداتهم… وأنها كانت موجوده من قبل ظهور الاسلام صحيح أن الدين الإسلامي يأمر بالستر والحشمة ولكن لم يذكر لا في القرآن ولا في السنة وصف العباءة باللون ولا بالشكل… وإنما هي عادات توارثوها جيلا بعد جيل حتى أنهم قد ثبتوها كأصل من أصول الالتزام والاستقامة في الدين الإسلامي.

By: Mohammed

Mohammed — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 15:33:37 +0000

Dear Amal,

the time will come to qatar when Abaya will be only for old women, just like kuwait. but the point is what is the abaya is used for, and where it comes from…as i could remeber…the aya of Hijab make all the ansar women cover themselves in total black…and Mohammed (صلى الله عليه وسلم) was happy of thier action of being covered. modren women thinks of abaya as peice of cloths…turst me it is more…it breaks up the eye sight of the male to the female…and this is something build in all male by defult…

i hope our abaya will continue in total black without the new slogans written and colorfull design.

but if a decent women decided not to wear abaya and she wear respected clothing…this is her choice and from Islam point of view nothing wrong she did…so whatever you are going to decide feel free and go a head socity will execpt that sooner or later.

By: Emtethal

Emtethal — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 20:16:12 +0000

Dr. Amal /// Your topic revived my memories of the article has been written by Khaled Suleiman Al-Khater entitled’ لماذا تقلل المرأة من مكانتها؟ ‘Published in Al-Raya and raised at that time a loud noise on the author. Unfortunately, what astonishes me is that the attacks have been coming more from the women – who are usually accused by some men of lacking in mind and religion…………….. They are here only to make them happy……….. Abbaya, such as the niqab, a subject that required us to pause and answer an important question: Is abbaya from religion, as marketed by some men of religion in our societies, or they want to incarcerate all women in black prison, and enforce ignoble rules that are no longer acceptable in the 21st century………… I do not want to declare that all women must take off their abbaya, even though I hope that one day it could happen, nevertheless it is up to them…………. I think, the abbaya is a meaningless restriction, and unjustified incarceration, moreover the abbaya is only the seclusion of the woman according to the will of an jealous man, who does not trust the woman and he perceives her to be little or incomplete in mind, while the mentally deficient who thinks this is the formula. Therefore, I hope one day woman could do away with the abbaya to earn independence………….. For how long will women stay wearing the abbaya? ………….. For how long will the black color rife everywhere, “like a funeral?” …………… People are evolving all around us, and we insist on wearing our ancestors’ traditional clothing to this day “We are tired of this color; everywhere we go we see it, and we are bored with it.” ……………. I believe all women should become the Kuwaiti activist Fatima Hussein, the self-made lady, the author of Fatima Hussein Papers, and the first gulf woman to remove her veil and abbaya.

By: phoenix2009

phoenix2009 — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 08:51:39 +0000

Our Arabic neighbour’s daughters, who were born in Qatar and they’ve graduated and are currently working here, tried to convince my wife(who doesn’t wear hijab) to try Abaya and Shala for the followings:

1- you never have to worry about fixing your hair to work daily.

2- you don’t have to worry about colors coordination

3- and most important: if you cover your face you will be treated as Qatari lady and will have all the benefits that come with it.

After that, i started noticing that not only Qatari ladies wear abaya and cover their faces, and not only Qatari men wear thob, clothing here has it’s benefits.

I was with my friend, a Qatari, in his car heading to the Gym, wearing the gym outfit, when one other driver(non qatari) tried to overtake from right and then started shouting at my friend who wouldn’t let him, my friend’s sarcastically commented” it’s just because i’m not wearing my thob and ghutra, this ****** is giving me hard time???? ok just let me see you next time when i’m in my power costume”

Got it?

Best Regards

By: Hessa

Hessa — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 23:44:18 +0000

I stumbled on this blog when I was reading the FB group of the Qatar National Day, and I’m glad I did because it’s very interesting. I think I would be checking this blog on regular basis from now on

By: Amal Almalki

Amal Almalki — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 19:45:58 +0000

Amna, thank you for sharing your experience. I get annoyed when people try to neutralize everything in life, taking away from experiences the human element. It is really important that we share our narratives, it emphasizes our identities. Besides, this is a way to celebrate our differences and stand on our similarities. It is always nice to hear from other females about what the abayya means to them- it makes it real and makes us- women- real too.

By: amna

amna — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 19:20:43 +0000

Interesting debate!

My take on the Abaya-

I am a recent graduate and I relocated to Doha a few months back, I rarely wore the abaya where I was studying because I actually got more attention wearing it than when I was dressed modestly and walked down the street.

However the opposite is true here, the first two years I came back for spring break and I remember going out with my sister modestly dressed but I didn’t feel the need to wear the Abaya, whenever I had to run errands or whenever I felt like going out I never thought about wearing one, until my father said that I should consider wearing it.

It was never forced on me, but the second time my father brought it up, I felt a sense of urgency in his tone, I felt annoyed and decided I should talk about the matter with my mother.

My mother was very understanding and after weighing out the pros and cons ( I mean c’mon it gets really hot with the abaya on) I decided I would try wearing the abaya, my younger and older sister both wear theirs so I stood out like a sore thumb every single time we went out.

After wearing it, I too felt at ease and since there were less stares, and less awkwardness when we were out and about, and it gave me a very pleasurable feeling.

I wouldn’t worry about having ” a fat day”, I wouldn’t worry about my clothes clinging on me, I wouldn’t worry about color coordinating or trying on a dozen outfits before I stepped out of the door.

I am glad I wore the abaya and I have no regrets about it.

By: SHEREEN

SHEREEN — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 11:12:32 +0000

I JUST LIKE TO ADD ONE MORE COMMENT ..I STILL BELIEVE ABAYAS OR JELBAB OR THE IRANIAN &TURKISH MONTEUX ALL SHARE A DECENT COVER WHICH IS ALL UNDER THE KNEE LEVEL ,,, THAT EXPLAINS ALOT , THAT TRUE HIJAB IS TO UNREVEAL THE WOMANS BODY AND MAKES HER MORE SECURE .. IF A WOMAN IS WEARING ABAYA , AND STILL KEEPS HER HAIR , SHE STILL HAS A BIT IN HERSELF TO ATTRACT OTHERS AND BE ATTRACTIVE , SO IT IS IN THE HEART AFTER ALL , OTHERWOMEN ARE BORN WITH FAMILIES WEARING HIJAB WHILE THEY HATE THE IDEA AND WISH THEY UNCOVER !!!! SO AFTER ALL IT IS ALL IN THE HEART …BUT IF WE HAVE FAITH IN OUR HEARTS WHY DONT WE SECURE OURSELVES AND COVER OUR HEADS IN ORDER TO FEEL PEACE AND FEEL WE ARE GOOD SLAVES TO ALLAH , AT LEAST THE DRESS WE WEAR IN OUR COFFIN INDEED IS A HIJAB , SO WHY DONT WE WEAR IT BEFORE WE MEET ALLAH ??????
SOB7AN ALLAH IN HUMAN BEINGS , WAMA MATA3 ALDUNIA ELA QALEEL (HE PLEASURES OF LIFE IS SO LITTLE )

By: SHEREEN

SHEREEN — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 11:01:48 +0000

WELL WELL , A TRUE MUSLIMA HAS TO WEAR HIJAB , IN ALL WAYS , IF SHE REACHES THE MEANING OF HOW WHAT ANON WAS MENTIONING , THE GROCERY THING AND REVEALING , HE IS TRUE TOTALLY ..BELIIEVE ME , I NEVER WAS WEARING HIJAB AND NOW I AM ALHAMDOULILAH , AND WA SNEVER READY FOR IT , UNTILL SUDDENLY , I FELT LIKE I WANT TO COVER , AND JUST COVER AWAY FROM ANY STRANGER STARING AT ME WITH NO RIGHT … I WAS FOR A TIME WEARING JUST ABAYA AND WITH MAY HEAIR LOOSE I FELT IT WAS MORE SEXY , AND I DIDNT RESPECT MYSELF FOR THAT ,, WHAT DOES IT MEAN IF I WEAR DECENT AND WHY MY HAIR IS REVEALING THEN ? I NEED TO ANSWER MYSELF .. FINALLY I HAD TO COVER MY BEAUTIFUL HAIR AND JUST THEN , I FELT SECURE , AND MEN DONT HAVE INTEREST TO HAVE A SECOND GLANCE AT ALL … EVEN IN THE ELEVATOR , PEOPLE ,DO KEEP THEIR DISTANCE ..I CANT EXPLAIN .. I AM MORE HAPPY AND SECURE … ANY WOMAN WHO HAS REAL RESPECT TO HERSELF WOULD THINK OF LIFE IS NO MORE THAN A GLANCE , AND WE SHOULD THINK OF OUR AFTER LIFE AND IF WE ACCEPTED TO OVEY gODS COMMAND , AS SIMPLE AS THAT .. LIKE A COMMAND FROM OUR BOSSES , GOD IS THE GREATEST , SO WE SHOULD OBEY HIM
NOTHING MORE NOTHING LESS … WHOEVER SAYS ISLAM IS IN THE HEART , IT IS NOT ENOUGH TO STAND INFRONT OF GOD NOT KNOWING HOW TO ANSWER HIM BACK .. WHAT A PITY PEOPLE ARE IN … ALLAH YEHDI ALJAMEE3 AMEEN THANKS TO U ALL

By: Mohammed Al-Ibrahim

Mohammed Al-Ibrahim — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 15:10:41 +0000

It is Sad to see that most people are missing the point. That most people are reflecting on their inner psychology, rather than objectively contributing to the matter at hand.
This is not a matter of abaya’s hijab’s or whatever you would call it. It is a matter of INTENSION.

If a woman intends to walk as an advertisement for the sole purpose of grabbing attention and whatever comes after that, then her intensions are flawed.

If a woman intends not to, then she will wear accordingly. Obviously, ‘accordingly’ would not mean a 2-piece swim suit. Some might argue that it is relative. I would not disagree nor agree. BUT, every woman KNOWS what she needs to wear in order to grab attention or not.
It is just amazing how the answer to what is appropriate to wear is within us. We just need to sincerely confront our intensions and FIX them.

As a man: I think women should wear the Hijab and the Abaya (if whatever is below her neck is revealing the ‘curves’).

You women are the basis of society. If you get corrupted, we men might as well hang ourselves.

I think everyone should stop ‘talking’ because when we do as humans we start being defensive. We should objectively ‘talk’ to our ‘inner self’. And ask god for his guidance, and then we will find the answer.

Ramadan is coming near. Let us all stop posting, and end the arguments.

I think we should go and ask converts who have chosen to wear the Hijab and Abaya in communities that accept half-naked women on their streets. I think they are the only ones that can give us an objective answer. WHY WOULD THEY DO SUCH A THING?