Somalia & The Jilbaab Phenomenon

[Lord Flacko]

SOMALIA & THE JILBAAB PHENOMENON: ON CIVIL WAR, QUR’ANIC INTERPRETATIONS, AND THE LOSS OF A CULTURE
July 23, 2014 · by yasmin abdulqadir · in Thoughts, Travels · 2 Comments
One of the most interesting social phenomenons that I’ve observed during my time in Mogadisho is that of the jilbaab. For those who don’t know, the jilbaab is an Islamic full-length garment that is quite loose and covers both the head and hands.


the jilbaab

In Mogadisho, practically EVERY woman and girl wears the jilbaab in public – no hijabs in sight.

When I asked my uncle how the hijab was perceived in relation to the jilbaab, he told me that if you’re driving somewhere, its cool if you’re wearing a hijab. However, he continued to say that if you’re walking somewhere, it’s a safer decision to wear the jilbaab. I don’t think he meant this in the sense that I’d get harassed, but more-so that I could avoid attracting unnecessary attention and blend in more easily with the jilbaab on.

Consequently, now that I’ve been here for a few weeks, I’ve rocked the jilbaab many times.


being silly in my jilbaab

I think what’s most interesting about this jilbaab phenomenon is how much it differs from the Somalia my mother’s generation grew up in – particularly, the pre-civil war/Siad Barre era (circa: 1969-1991).

The thing is, my mom grew up in an era (1970s/1980s) where Somali women expressed their modesty through traditional Somali clothing – not through Islamic dress. This was a time where women walked down the street in sifaleetiis, garbasaars, and baatis, and girls often showed their hair in public for a majority of their lives.


young Somali girl in early 1980s Mogadisho

Mind you, the traditional Somali clothes I’m describing are not immodest – its more so that they don’t fit into traditional Arab conceptions of Islamic dress.


Woman wearing a Somali dress called a guntiino


Woman wearing a sifaleeti and garbasaar on her head


A Somali dress called a baati

With the end of the Siad Barre era and the onset of the civil war, it seems that Somalia retreated into an era of religious conservatism – particularly affecting dress. And suddenly, with the on-set of al-Shabaab and a host of other Islamic fundamentalist groups into the country, our traditions went from being the norm, to being deemed “un-Islamic”, and consequently, not fit for public spaces.

I suppose this is why almost all Somali women still wear baatiis at home, but now, would never wear them outside.


What women in Mogadisho look like today

My question is this: did we lose our culture (as in what is traditionally Somali) to the Arabization of Islam?

Why do Arab countries get to set the standard for modesty?

And most importantly, where do we draw the line between what is Islamic and what is Somali?

Or does that line even exist at all?

 

[Arman]

Islam at it again

 

[ItsHanna]

Like I always say Islam and Arabs have ruined Somalia.

I am just happy my mom doesn't wear that shit

 

[Lord Flacko]

I look in my family album and I see no woman pre-1990s wearing a Jilbaab or Niqab.


The only reason Somalis wear it today is because of the fleeing and destruction of the central government, that allowed foreign entities to support preachers who in return supported the Salafi ideology and deemed any Somali female not wearing the Jilbaab or Niqab today be a gaal. During the days of Siad Barre such preachers would be shut down or executed for their ways, like they would be in other Muslim countries with central governments like Morroco (who only allow Government approved preachers to preach, to curb foreign influence.)

Then comes Al Shabaab who deems anybody not wearing the Jilbaab or Niqab to be sentenced to death via stoning, and after a while this practice became ingrained into our minds.


Somalis didn't become more religious by any measure after the Civil War, we only become less Somali. The Somali female has lost her freedom that she once enjoyed.

 

[ItsHanna]

I look in my family album and I see no woman pre-1990s wearing a Jilbaab or Niqab.


The only reason Somalis wear it today is because of the fleeing and destruction of the central government, that allowed foreign entities to support preachers who in return supported the Salafi ideology and deemed any Somali female not wearing the Jilbaab or Niqab today be a gaal. During the days of Siad Barre such preachers would be shut down or executed for their ways, like they would be in other Muslim countries with central governments like Morroco (who only allow Government approved preachers to preach, to curb foreign influence.)

Then comes Al Shabaab who deems anybody not wearing the Jilbaab or Niqab to be sentenced to death via stoning, and after a while this practice became ingrained into our minds.


Somalis didn't become more religious by any measure after the Civil War, we only become less Somali. The Somali female has lost her freedom that she once enjoyed.
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In the early 90s all my female family members never use to wear hijab or even a skirt in my family album they are all dressed in t shirts and jeans

 

[Lord Flacko]

Islam at it again

Like I always say Islam and Arabs have ruined Somalia.

I am just happy my mom doesn't wear that shit

This has nothing to do with Islam. Somalis have been Muslims for our entire history as Somalis. Mashaallah Islam is a blessing.



It is the ones who use Islam to further their own goals that are the problem.
It is the ones like Al Saud and al Wahhabi who teamed up decades ago to create and rule their own Kingdom, then decided to move their influence outside their Kingdom into other Muslim populations, destroying them and implementing their own culture and views in the process.

 

[ItsHanna]

This has nothing to do with Islam. Somalis have been Muslims for our entire history as Somalis. Mashaallah Islam is a blessing.



It is the ones who use Islam to further their own goals that are the problem.
It is the ones like Al Saud and al Wahhabi who teamed up decades ago to create and rule their own Kingdom, then decided to move their influence outside their Kingdom into other Muslim populations, destroying them and implementing their own culture and views in the process.

In the last 10 years Muslim have become more strict of course Islam is the issue at hand. Even in Iran in the 70s women were dressed in mini skirts.

 

[dhegdheer]

I hate the salafi branch of Islam the most, it completely throws away the concept of culture, traditions/art in favour of being a mindless drones that just exists to worship a god

Sunni Islam can be just as bad tbh

 

[Arman]

This has nothing to do with Islam. Somalis have been Muslims for our entire history as Somalis. Mashaallah Islam is a blessing.



It is the ones who use Islam to further their own goals that are the problem.
It is the ones like Al Saud and al Wahhabi who teamed up decades ago to create and rule their own Kingdom, then decided to move their influence outside their Kingdom into other Muslim populations, destroying them and implementing their own culture and views in the process.

You do realize our cultural clothing is not Islamic right?

 

[Jjero]

Like I always say Islam and Arabs have ruined Somalia.

I am just happy my mom doesn't wear that shit

No disrespect against your family, Just a question. Your family isn't muslim?

 

[Lord Flacko]

In the last 10 years Muslim have become more strict of course Islam is the issue at hand

No, the fact that this has only happened recently shows Islam is not the problem. Somalis have been Muslims since before the first Millennium.



Don't inject your own problems into this thread. You said your relatives used to wear pants and a t-shirt, and still they were Muslims.

 

[SOMALI GENERAL]

Those days are long gone. Arabisation is really entrenched in society to the point were people even consider the Jilbab part of Somali dhaqan. Practically anything arabic=islamic to these folks.

 

[ItsHanna]

No disrespect against your family, Just a question. Your family isn't muslim?

Everyone except me is Muslim

 

[ItsHanna]

This has nothing to do with Islam. Somalis have been Muslims for our entire history as Somalis. Mashaallah Islam is a blessing.



It is the ones who use Islam to further their own goals that are the problem.
It is the ones like Al Saud and al Wahhabi who teamed up decades ago to create and rule their own Kingdom, then decided to move their influence outside their Kingdom into other Muslim populations, destroying them and implementing their own culture and views in the process.

Listen it is Islam the way we use to dress wasn't modest.

 

[McLovin]

Most people in somalia are poor, they are living for eternal salvation in the akhirah. Lets not judge them from our armchair because its the fault of the government collapse that this abrasive version of islam has taken hold

 

[Lord Flacko]

You do realize our cultural clothing is not Islamic right?

The prophet pbuh says to only dress modest.

I don't see anything unmodest with how our women used to dress.

Forcing them to dress in black Jilbaabs in Somalia is just cruel. The Jilbaab and Niqab were designed for bedouins who traveled in the heavy desert and didn't want sand everywhere.

 

[dhegdheer]

No, the fact that this has only happened recently shows Islam is not the problem. Somalis have been Muslims since before the first Millennium.



Don't inject your own problems into this thread. You said your relatives used to wear pants and a t-shirt, and still they were Muslims.

That's because they didn't have much knowledge of Islam tbh, with the advent of the internet it's become much easier to spread information. Like it or not somalis are finally following the correct version of Islam

It was commonly known that nomads back in the day often didn't even know how to pray lol

 

[Jjero]

You do realize our cultural clothing is not Islamic right?

His point is this is not the spread of Islams fault, Since it wasn't a problem to wear a baati in somalia until somalia joined the AU and became
Arabized.

 

[Ubax45_]

"Mind you, the traditional Somali clothes I’m describing are not immodest – its more so that they don’t fit into traditional Arab conceptions of Islamic dress" - how does a woman uncovering her head fit into Islamic dress? She seems confused.

 

[GodKnowsBest]

SOMALIA & THE JILBAAB PHENOMENON: ON CIVIL WAR, QUR’ANIC INTERPRETATIONS, AND THE LOSS OF A CULTURE
July 23, 2014 · by yasmin abdulqadir · in Thoughts, Travels · 2 Comments
One of the most interesting social phenomenons that I’ve observed during my time in Mogadisho is that of the jilbaab. For those who don’t know, the jilbaab is an Islamic full-length garment that is quite loose and covers both the head and hands.


the jilbaab

In Mogadisho, practically EVERY woman and girl wears the jilbaab in public – no hijabs in sight.

When I asked my uncle how the hijab was perceived in relation to the jilbaab, he told me that if you’re driving somewhere, its cool if you’re wearing a hijab. However, he continued to say that if you’re walking somewhere, it’s a safer decision to wear the jilbaab. I don’t think he meant this in the sense that I’d get harassed, but more-so that I could avoid attracting unnecessary attention and blend in more easily with the jilbaab on.

Consequently, now that I’ve been here for a few weeks, I’ve rocked the jilbaab many times.


being silly in my jilbaab

I think what’s most interesting about this jilbaab phenomenon is how much it differs from the Somalia my mother’s generation grew up in – particularly, the pre-civil war/Siad Barre era (circa: 1969-1991).

The thing is, my mom grew up in an era (1970s/1980s) where Somali women expressed their modesty through traditional Somali clothing – not through Islamic dress. This was a time where women walked down the street in sifaleetiis, garbasaars, and baatis, and girls often showed their hair in public for a majority of their lives.


young Somali girl in early 1980s Mogadisho

Mind you, the traditional Somali clothes I’m describing are not immodest – its more so that they don’t fit into traditional Arab conceptions of Islamic dress.


Woman wearing a Somali dress called a guntiino


Woman wearing a sifaleeti and garbasaar on her head


A Somali dress called a baati

With the end of the Siad Barre era and the onset of the civil war, it seems that Somalia retreated into an era of religious conservatism – particularly affecting dress. And suddenly, with the on-set of al-Shabaab and a host of other Islamic fundamentalist groups into the country, our traditions went from being the norm, to being deemed “un-Islamic”, and consequently, not fit for public spaces.

I suppose this is why almost all Somali women still wear baatiis at home, but now, would never wear them outside.


What women in Mogadisho look like today

My question is this: did we lose our culture (as in what is traditionally Somali) to the Arabization of Islam?

Why do Arab countries get to set the standard for modesty?

And most importantly, where do we draw the line between what is Islamic and what is Somali?

Or does that line even exist at all?

Hell I wear baatis outside. My parents say bless so long as I'm not wearing pants. I still wear pants out though but I'm never caught wearing them home. Last time that happened I was lectured by both of my parents.