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| *Travel Tips>>>Saudi Arabia Travel Tips |
What clothing other than an abaya is acceptable dress in Saudi? |
Travel Info OK..This what I know..Correct me if I'm wrong... There is no law in Saudi Arabia (unlike Iran) requiring a woman to cover..but there is strict social pressure to do so, and religious police some times tell women if they are in corectly dressed. Saudi (and Muslim) woman must cover their hair and wear abaya when outside. Western woman only to wear abaya but may be told to cover their hair..And really famous western women like Magaret Thatcher..just wear modest business suit when there. But in a compound westers can wear anything.. 1) But is it OK..to wear other forms of traditional Muslim clothing such as a chador..or a jilbab , or a manto (all with head scarf) , or a African dress and head wrap.. I'm a Muslim woman and just wear a long skirt and a shirt or jumper with a head scarf..Would that be OK 2)And what about colours?? Are they allowed? Because nothing in Islam says you must wear black Travel Tips the religious police in the past might have been a tad bit strict, but lately pressure from our new King, has lightened up that grip... I myself as I said before in other answers to your questions, have never been bothered by them.. Also I have many American/Western lady friends I visit and go out with, no one bothers them either... Now having said this.. Jeddah in the west and Khobar in the east are two forward cities that seem very easy going.. Its much more religiously strict in the capitol of Riyadh... I personally dont like going there.. And yes, you are correct about Islam not saying anything about the color Black.. There was an old hadeeth (I cant remember the total wording to due justice to it here) where some man saw a group of newly pious muslimjladies in the past and the only cloth they had to make a body covering with was some black material. He compared them to a line of black birds sitting there.. (someone can correct me of wording).. I think the idea of being all regal like stuck and tradition came about of the color black... but in reality.. Islam just deems you as a women to dress modestly, not wearing flashy colors to attract attention, dont let your gold jewelry flash about, or jingle with noice to attract, dont wear tight body hugging clothes ie: painted on jeans, etc.. and dont wear anything sheer or showing body skin, like halter tops or mini skirts.. But in reality, if you have a nice elbow length blouse in a nice fabric, non see through, buttoned up and a nice floor lenth skirt of full pants and a nice stylish scarf, or a nice tailored (not tight) business suit.. You are within the bounds of Islam and fine.. (some will highly disagree with me, but I believe I am true) Allah tells us Islam is a compassionate religion and to be moderate in everything we do.. He tells us that if we try to make things hard on outselves, he will make it hard on us.. I believe that we can live inside Islam and still be easy going, but keep to good moral values.. (like in USA in the past) I always think of shows like Little House on the Praire with Laura Ingals.. She would have been a good muslim girl.. haha!.. you get my point though.. right?.. Others The Saudi "morality/virtues police" patrol all of Saudi Arabia at the exclusive pleasure of the local Councils of Morality(or similar groups), NOT the Prime Minister necessarily...the "constables of morality and virtues" have ALL the powers of arrest and harassment they need to keep the female population on the kingdom in absolute compliance(whether locals OR tourists)...in their view, ANY visible female body part is a NO-NO! Check w/ the Saudi Embassy in Washington, DC, or your nearest consulate... HTH... In the Gulf countries it's common to wear black so you might want to wear black so your not harassed by the Muttawa. I think women are required to wear Abaya and hijab only but I could be wrong. That's just what I've been told by my husband and from what I've gotten off the Net from looking at KSA info. Depends which location in KSA. In Riyadh it's the black abaya all the way. In Jeddah /Mecca/Medina you can wear any other conservative dress as long as you cover your hair. There is nothing in Islam specifying black or a abaya as the correct ismalic outfit, it only gives general guidelines e.g. loose fitting, modest, covers your whole body, cannot see though it, etc. The Saudi Islamic outfit is a social outfit rather that a religous one. any cloth that is respectable if u r not a muslim any Islamic cloth if u r a Muslim in capital cities..we have westerners that do not wear abaya and that is acceptable by us but there r some cities that r very strict and they want u to wear abaya even if u r not a muslim |
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