I found these pictures at the Bait Al Zubair Museum fascinating. Look at the colors! It made me wonder, “If this is how Arab women dressed in 1780, when exactly did the “dress completely in black concept” begin here in Oman and elsewhere?” I searched quite a bit on-line for the answer to this question and a couple of things I read made sense to me. One person said that in this part of the world, ”the woman is the shadow of the man” and therefore they wear black. Another thing that made sense to me is that with any other color, it might be possible to see through a lady’s clothing, but not so with black clothes. Hmm. Anyone know when and why this idea of women wearing black was introduced in Oman?!
Arab Female Dress in 1780 A.D.
August 26, 2009 · 7 Comments
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: 1780 arab female clothing, arab female dress, arab women, arab women clothing, Bait Al zubair, Zubair Museum
7 responses so far ↓
Johan Hoffman // August 28, 2009 at 1:44 pm |
Hello from Holland
andydbrown // August 30, 2009 at 6:04 am |
Hallo, Johan!
You have a beautiful family and a lovely website. Thanks for visiting mine!
Anwar // September 6, 2009 at 3:35 am |
Hey Andy,
So I thought I would share what I know of this phenomenon. When the ‘Ansari’, or people at the time of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH), responded to god’s command that believing women should cover their heads they looked as if they has adorned black crows.
I think that the black garment is an expression found here in the gulf, and perhaps an illustration of Gulfy Muslims working hard to mimic those people close to the time of the Prophet. Having said that you can see many variant interpretations that include almost every color in the rainbow in other muslim societies including malaysia, egypt, those of west africa, syria, iraq etc. Similarly Omani men tend to adorn white dish-dasher, white being a favorite color of the prophet Mohammed, and was advised to be of the best color for believing men to adorn, however even he was known to wear many different colors and kinds of clothes.
Anyhow, for a much more reliable source than I see this original quote at http://islamqa.com/en/ref/898
Wiki also has an interesting discussion on Hijab:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hijab
As for women being in the shadow of men, I think that it is just the propagation of a VERY bad misconception about Arabian women (not from you personally but in general). They are far from being shadows in our society, and I think especially in a country such as Oman that tries to recognize a woman’s ‘god given rights’. A short research into the empowerment of women by Islam would help dispel any misinformation.
Peace, and hope you enjoy the serenity in Ramadan.
Shahrazad // September 27, 2009 at 4:26 am |
Hello,
Glad to have stumbled upon your blog.
Quite a refreshing outlook on Oman from an expat, something different than the usual nagging
I’m Omani, I will try to answer your questions.
From a cultural perspective, Omani women were never known for their black robes or (abayas). In fact, the further you go towards the interior, the more colourful the clothes are! I come from AlSharqiya region, but have lived in Muscat all my life. When we go to Sharqiya we actually wear colourful (very colourful, to that extent that it’s a no-no to match the colours of the dress to the pants, they have to be different), we only wear Abaya in Muscat because it’s more culturally accepted here.
As for the history of the black robes, Islam has nothing to do with it. As far as I know, there were times when black wasn’t a popular colour in the Gulf region, a trader in clothes losing business wanted to promote his items of black clothings to the women, so he wrote a magnificent poetry visualising black as a majestic royal colour. He was very successfully, from then on, the concept changed to black being majestic and royal!
Andy // September 29, 2009 at 8:33 am |
Salam, Shahrazad!
Thanks for your comments! I, too, can be nagging at times but for the most part I try to follow Philippians 4:4 which commands, “Rejoice in the LORD always: and again I say, Rejoice.”
I found your explanation, from a cultural perspective, to be very well-described. It reminded me of often seeing village ladies in the BRIGHTEST of colours on my trips to and from Ibri. I would always see a flash of bright colours as they seemed to rush from the roadside (to avoid being seen?!) as they went to or returned from getting water from one of the wells on a nearby hill.
So thanks again for the comment and blessings to you and your family!
Taneen // September 30, 2009 at 1:14 pm |
Hi Andy,
Omani women never wore the black abaya until maybe mid to late 70s, and probably later than that in the interior of Oman. I think it could have started as a case of somebody started it and then as fashion has it.. everybody does it. It also could be that as Oman opened up more in the early 70s it was seen that others in the Gulf were covering up in abayas. Now, sadly we have lost the vibrant colours of Omani dress as they have been ”told” to cover up for their modesty sake. What was immodest about the lovely colours of the omani costumes I have no idea. Also more women in the capital areas have stopped wearing the traditional dishdasha/surwal (tunic and trousers) in place of long dresses with matching lahaf, or long skirs and tops. So much for progress. Enjoyed looking at your site and the pics, you have been out and about! Happy trails in Oman to you.
andydbrown // October 1, 2009 at 10:38 am |
Hi, Taneen!
) Loving it here in Oman!
Interesting thoughts you wrote there. Thanks! (for the comment and for visiting!