Whenever I meet someone and they learn that I’m Saudi, the first thing that surprises them is the fact that I’m not wearing a head scarf or Abayah. I explained the reason behind that in the first post from this series of culture-centered articles. Today’s topic is somehow related to the national dress subject as well.
Most people usually wonder if I had to wear the Abayah when I was living in Saudi. And if I had to cover my face.
Today, let me explain to you how things work when it comes to covering your face in Saudi.
Firstly, it depends on which city you live in. Some cities are more open than others. For example, living in Jeddah would not require you to cover your face or worry too much about it. While in the capital – Riyadh – the rules are more strict and the religious police are more prominent. So you need to make sure to abide by the rules while living there. In the small towns, those rules are even more strict obviously.
However, as mentioned previously, I can only speak about the city where I grew up – Al Khobar. In my city, the rules are somewhere in the middle between Riyadh and Jeddah. We’re not very strict and so I didn’t have to cover my face when I lived there. I did wear the Abayah and head scarf though. At the same time, we’re not as open and liberal as the folks in coastal Jeddah. So, you still need to follow the rules of wearing the scarf properly at all times. And the religious police have power and a somewhat strong presence.
Having to cover your face is also dependent on the place. If you’re visiting the local (traditional) market or shops, then it makes sense to pay more attention to your appearance and behavior. While a visit to one of the big shopping malls involves a more flexible approach to the rule. If you were a woman working in Saudi Aramco, you wouldn’t even have to worry about wearing an Abayah in the first place. You can wear normal Western clothes – even if you were a local lady. I will get back to this topic at a future post.
Saudi Arabia is a huge country. This means that you have different types of social classes and categories.
If you’re a conservative Saudi woman – which includes the majority of the population – then you would be wearing a Niqab or covering your face no matter where you live. Let me explain this point further.
If you come from a conservative family, and you’re still in your twenties, and you live in Al Khobar (my city) then you would still be wearing the Niqab or covering your face. In this case, the location or city of residence is completely irrelevant. Since you are following the rules of your own family, social class, background and not those of the city you currently live in. That’s why, even in my city – which is considered to be relatively liberal – there are many young (and old) Saudi women who wear the Niqab or cover their face. This is either out of choice (their own beliefs), out of respect to their family traditions, or simply because they were asked to do so by their fathers or mothers.
The same concept applies if you come from a liberal family (which I don’t). Then no matter where you are in the country, you will play by your own rules. Basically, liberal women would go to the more open and flexible spots. And will avoid visiting the strict and conservative public places. That way, they can follow the rules according to their own principles.
At what age do Saudi girls have to start wearing the Abayah?
Again, this depends on what school you attend, which religious sect you belong to, and which social background you come from.
I attended a private school in Saudi. As such, I had to wear an Abayah to school at fifth or sixth grade. So I was 10 years old when I first wore the Abayah. But it was very flexible, as I didn’t have to wear a head scarf with it 🙂 It was a very cool version of the national dress if you think about it! Just a button-down Abayah which was more like a long coat, and no scarf or head cover. I think this lasted for one year only, before I had to start wearing the head scarf and eventually cover my face.
The face cover was introduced by the ministry of education and not the private schools themselves. But it was a strict regulation and there were absolutely no exceptions to the rule. All of us had to cover our faces as we went into the school gate and again as we left in the afternoon. Did I wear a Niqab? No. We would simply use the veil on top of our heads to cover our faces. It was a thick black veil though. This means that it was challenging to find your driver or car at the end of the school day!
How does the driver find you if you have your face covered like everyone else? – you might ask. Basically, we had backpacks – just like everyone else in the rest of the world. So I guess our personal drivers recognized us from our distinctive school bags. I had the maid waiting for me inside the school building. This made the task of finding my driver way easier. She would know where we parked our car. So I would follow her to the car 🙂
As a teenager, my friends and I wore super trendy trainers. As I mentioned in earlier posts, we were an Americanized bunch of Saudis. Our Western ways were strongly reflected in our personal styles, our accents, and obviously our mindsets and lifestyles.
As a Saudi teenager living in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia, I would be spotted in a solid black Abayah, uber cool backpack, a pair of super stylish trainers and of course, I had my face covered in pitch black fabric. This was the original look outside the school campus only. When going out to other places in the city, I only wore the Abayah and covered my hair. I could leave my face open to the public to see 🙂
In a future post, I will be talking about how I was working with men at an IT help desk in Saudi Aramco. And we will examine what I used to wear to work and whether I had to wear my Abayah or not.
Until then, here are some thoughts for you:
Do you believe that Muslim women should have the option to wear discreet and loose clothing or not?
Does wearing the Hijab reflects how committed you are to your religion?
Do you think women of a certain religion should be obliged to follow a specific dress code when out in public?
2 Comments
Hi Nada , I would like to add to your thoughts here about this issue whether the wearing the Hijab reflects how committed you are to your religion . I do not agree at all with this . I was wearing the hijab for about 7 years from the age of 23 till 29 . But i was the same person with the same beliefs and i practiced my religion in the same way i used to practice before the hijab .
ANd now after i took it off , i still do pray 5 times a day Alhamdulilah . I know women with hijab and never do practice any religious rituals . So it is never a reflection of how religious you are .
For example in my country Egypt , recently during the last 10 to 15 years Hijab became more of a tradition specially to the middle class or the (below) middle class . In their point of view it is a way to protect a girl from the men’s ( evil eyes ) lol 🙂 As if this way men will stop looking . Infact again i would find the 70s , 80s and 90s were much more safer times for females to walk around freely . The more stricted your community is the more problems this community will develop .
Absolutely! I agree with your views. Many societies consider the Hijab a representation of a woman’s pious beliefs. When in fact, it doesn’t necessarily reflect those morals or virtues. I like your last statement about how the restrictive societies attract more issues than more flexible ones. I find this to be very true. Again, thank you for sharing your valuable insights and views on the subject 🙂