The news item that the Ministry of Commerce is clamping down on indecent cloaks — abayas — raises many questions. The term "indecent" seems to be so inappropriate. To begin with we have to ask ourselves: What is "decent" or "indecent" in a cloak? Interpretations abound, and everyone gives his own version of what a decent dress is or should be. Why did our mothers and grandmothers not face the same fuss about how to wear their abayas? It’s funny that so much attention should be given to the color, shape or embellishes of an outer garment that covers by definition what is underneath. Is not that the purpose of wearing an abaya in the first place? How can a beaded or embellished abaya be indecent? Why are girls in a university ordered to wear their abayas in a certain way, above their heads? For some people, this is absolutely impractical, and for others it is interference in what is too personal a matter.
When Saudi women perform Umrah or Haj, while wearing the black abaya and veil, they are followed by men who tell them to cover their face and close their abayas. But when foreign women wear white garments for Umrah nobody comes near them. This of course resulted in a lot of Saudi women wearing white long garments and veils while performing their religious duties, so that they can enjoy the freedom of being left alone. If women can wear white during Haj or Umrah and not be considered indecent, taking into account that these are worn in sacred places which gives them the utmost legitimacy and social approval, why can’t they wear that outside Makkah?
There is something totally illogical about the arguments about rules on public dress. If we have the main rules observed, then why busy ourselves with tiny details? Didn’t that obsession cost a lot of girls their lives in the fire in a school in Makkah?
Why can’t we concentrate on other issues in society rather than making a big deal of something that can be dealt with quietly and easily. I don’t think that abayas that have phrases written on them, or revealing ones, are that popular, and if a few teenagers dress like this, then it’s a social issue that has to be dealt with through social establishments.
Meanwhile, women have genuine problems such as finding jobs or health services. Not to mention those women who don’t have male relatives and have a bad time dealing with everyday chores, starting from transportation to paying bills.
Whatever happened to women’s freedom to walk in the street without being harassed by young men driving along in their cars? Taking a walk along the beach in Jeddah is one way of exercising in open air, and maybe the only available one for women, and yet men keep harassing them.
While we are very proud to be Muslim women and wear hijab, we have to have our say on how to wear that outer garment.