Dr. Amal Al-Malki on The Abaya
Dr. Amal Al Malki, for those still unfamliar with this name, is an Assistant Professor at Carnegie Mellon Unviservity- Qatar, Education city's first Qatari teaching faculty. She has previously written some great articles published online, and recently set up her own blog. I'd like to share one of my favorite blog posts of hers, titled 'Abbaya YES- Abbaya No'..
The abayya took different styles and meanings during my early life- prior London- in Doha. As a teenager I chose to wear it, although my father, and I do remember clearly, warned me that I’m still a kid and that it is a responsibility and once you wear it, you are stuck with it. Still, I loved going to school in my new fashion statement, declaring to the world that I’m a grown-up. During my short high school years (I skipped a year and graduated high school in 2 years rather than 3), the abayya changed in material and the way it was worn. Thus, following the trend that came from Saudi Arabia, I abandoned the silk over-head abayya to the Saudi crepe, on the shoulder embroidered abayya.
Abayya post-london (I have spent 7 years in London) has changed drastically and it gained different meanings to me, unfortunately not all were peachy. It felt like a burden. It felt like a disguise that I had on and didn’t reflect me; in fact I felt that the moment I put it on, I became someone else, someone who is assuming someone else’s character in manners, gestures, and body movements!!! Yet, my father’s warning always rang in my head: “you are stuck with it.”
I struggled for three years, yet now I know it wasn’t the abayya that caused my identity crisis, instead it was my identity crisis that manifested itself in my total resentment to a symbol of my traditional culture. So my “modern self” wanted to exercise its muscles and naively thought that the abayya was the axis of all evil! How naïve!!
While I was struggling to consolidate between my “modern self” and my “traditional self”, I had a young lady interview me. She came into my office and said “Oh you are such a role model to all of us. And on a personal note, if I could remove my abayya on campus like you do, I would!!!” This hit me so badly, and suddenly felt that I was “the axis of all evil” not the abayya. Do I want to be known as the Qatari professor who abandoned her abayya? Do I want to be a pioneer in doing so and have followers who would in future refer to me as “the abayya burner”? Nooooooooooooo.
I knew then that I do have a huge responsibility, but had to question and convince myself of what the abayya means to me. Is it a religious or a cultural symbol? Is it used as a cover-up or a statement? I had to dig deeper into my psyche to reach the point I have reached two years ago. The abayya is a major part of my identity as a Qatari. The Qatari identity is an amalgam of factors we share with others (Islam, Arabic language, shared history, etc.) and factors that are so specific to us (national dress, dialect, local history, etc.)
So instead of thinking that in wearing it, my “modern self” is subjected and oppressed, I’m wearing it now to show off my modern self that is so at peace with its traditional roots. However, I’m still aware that it is only “one” factor, and shouldn’t carry more that it should bear- it is a piece of cloth after all no matter how much it costs. Still when I wear it, I do wear it with pride.
Dr. Al-Malki's Blog http://amalalmalki.com/blog
For more on Dr. Al-Malki http://www.explore-qatar.com/archives/all_qatar_today_articles/archive-1...
If we don't have some cultural sentimentalists in our society our cultures have no soul. At the same time, we have to be balanced by the restless ones pushing for change ;-) I am probably more of the 2nd type than the first -- but as I get older I find myself shifting a bit. Maybe I am getting stodgy -- lol
I refuse to drink the kool-aid! -- PM
I'll have to brush up on my English, French and Turkish language skills , from now on because of you!!
I'll take the "cultural sentimentalist" as a compliment, I truly like the sound of it..:)
Salam
I am too, to some extent. But my interest and love for history has taught me that nothing stays the same. Just don't get me started on the quality of education today and the deplorable decline in English language standards -- lol
I refuse to drink the kool-aid! -- PM
I understand your point now, yes, I was referring to contemporary dress, thanks.
In fact I was inspired to start a thread on traditional dress, to solicit more opinions in this regard, here it is:
http://www.qatarliving.com/node/567079
Salam
and that is a pretty drastic revamp -- al hamdulillah! The galabiya is a much later form of dress considering the age of Egyptian civilization. Look at the hieroglyphs and papyri and you will see that indeed traditional dress has changed over time.
I realize you may mean contemporary dress but the fact that a continuous civilization has altered its traditions is the point here. It may not take place over a short time period, but the point is that culture -- including traditional dress -- is never static.
I refuse to drink the kool-aid! -- PM
Waist wrap worn in ancient Egypt? Each dynasty and colonization era affected Egypt's dress code. In my post above, I was referring to the contemporary age of a country. Yes cuts and colors of national dress may witness minor alteration but not a drastic revamp?
In Egypt it has always revolved around the long dress for both genders, galabyia.
Salam
http://yadiin.blogspot.com/
Thank you for confirming my words !
I love diversity !
True, Alma. In Oman it is the "modern" city girls who wear the black abaya and narrow scarf. The women in the traditional villages wear very colorful tunics and leggings with long headcoverings.
Mandi
in most places. Egyptian men don't go around bare chested in a waist wrap anymore :-) (Thank God for that!)
And the abaya is not mandated in Islam. Modesty is but I think XRAY is confusing the language here.
I refuse to drink the kool-aid! -- PM
Not really, many would dress traditionally regardless if it's from the heart or not. Traditional dress in any country will never change, and it's not supposed to, it'll only maybe see some little additions.
Countries where men wear a type of skirt, long dress or a turban for instance won't ever change. Commonly, traditional dress is part of the dominant affiliation/religion of a country.
Salam
Amal Al-Malki is doign agr8 job by guiding all the ones who r still confused on this issue....
n also if u wear abay it shud be from ur heart....u shudn't wear abay or cover urself up just coz its traditon or ur family rules are like that..its a part of religion so shud do it for that sake....
keep it up...good inspiration for all....thanx alot
***~~~~DR.XRAY~~~~***
You're a godsend! I read most of your writings. LOVED "Language dilemma in Qatar", wallah waied tianen..:)
I'll keep on reading the rest.
Salam
بطوله
Gyps - you actually care wht people say about you ???
thts a news... tht was the least I was expecting... hmm..
___________________________________________
Reality is a Illusion Caused Due to Deficiency of Alcohol
Also I don't see how she could ever be embarrassed wearing it. I'd love to see the abaya catch on as a fashion statement world wide so I could wear one and not be "that weird white chick who wears the abaya"
Very nice post. I personally love the Qatari abayas (and the thobes), I think their beautiful and unique. I sometimes wish that I had a cultural dress that I could wear, but alas I am a mixture of so many cultures I wouldn't know where to begin. :)
Thanks a million, you made my day!! I'll read it all again in my free time. Is it بتوله؟ in Arabic? I keep forgetting, sorry.
http://mimizwords.wordpress.com/2009/06/01/the-last-generation-of-battoolah/
Salam
i saw that you want more information about battoulah, i have written something about that on my blog, you can have a look
mimizwords.wordpress.com
http://yadiin.blogspot.com/
One of my friend had written a study on gulf Arabs fashion and folk wear and found that the black abaya is not an old and traditional wear . The colorful handmade old clothes were replaced by cheap black abayas produced on mass scale .. so when someone is identifying herself with that - she is not soo traditional ... just conformist .. she does like the others do ...
abayas. Way to go
Just don't over do it and be ugly in your heart.
Nothing is wrong in being a proud citizen, provided that patriotism is translated to favorable actions to serve one's country, as opposed to a bumper-sticker flag, sense of superiority or blind fanaticism.
I'm an advocate of unique individuality with collective consciousness, this is how we manage to unilaterally achieve and excel in conformity with the group we belong to.
Salam
Those who've been through cultural extremes and divides would most probably go through these turbulences, which don't necessarily indicate lack of principles. More likely much questioning will surface and will need answered.
Salam
I agree. She is at peace with herself and the world around her.
The abaya is a symbol no doubt. However, it conveys different messages / perceptions to different people.
thank you g6ree, again.
I never thought I'd see this term on this thread! Racist?? I think Dr. Amal would laugh at this weird response.
Very heavy analysis in judging a respectable woman who, voluntarily, put down here journal, demonstrating her courageous endeavor to articulate and find a meaning to her actions, and indeed she succeeded in finding her inner self. She would've just settled with the heritage passed down to her generation, or just given up on Abaya once and for all.
Abaya is just a symbol, in my opinion.
Salam
Well expressed. I think she gets her point accross , although I would question the need for the last sentence - "Still when I wear it, I do wear it with pride.
Perhaps it could be reworded as "Still when I wear it, I feel at ease with my self"
could ever be. And in her case, I don't think she has carried this to an extreme. I was talking in more general terms.
I just have my issue about national pride -- but feel free to ignore me :-)
I refuse to drink the kool-aid! -- PM
IVE BEEN BLESSED 4 HAVIN U IN MY LYF, IF I HAD THE CHANCE I WUDN'T HESITATE 2 MAKE U MY WIFE.
you either take it all or drop it all.
there are few things in life which has no disadvantages..
many things have advantages and disadvantages. choice of deciding whether the cup is half empty of half full is your approach which reflects optimism or pessimism.
Yes, we tend to love blindly, and even adopt a certain religion sometimes blindly just as a function of where we are born. Granted.
However, I believe the Dr has given logic and personal experience from doubt to pride in her belief as do many.
So to blame the blind love is not an argument on this issue.
As PM said. If you're going to be proud. Be proud of something that you have accomplished. Not a group you belong to out of circumstance.
I didn't mean to say that the Dr is racist. I mean that the pride she feels for a group she belongs to, can set the seeds of racism without her even knowing it. In-group/Out-group behaviour is a long standing problem we have as a human race. People identify too strongly with the groups they are in, which tends to disassociate themselves to other groups. Ever wondered how people manage to go to war and kill people? They have disassociated themselves from the people they are fighting, and have an 'us and them' mentality that emotionally distances them. When humans stop dividing themselves emotionally simply because of geographical barriers, than it will be harder for us to fight among ourselves.
something to feel pride in. For instance, I voted for Obama and am proud to have been a part of electing him. But simply being born someplace is nothing to be proud of. It is all up to chance and nothing that anyone has personally achieved.
Love for your country I understand and accept; but not blind love.
I refuse to drink the kool-aid! -- PM
Hmm..
I used to think now a days CBD's line of thought is running very much in parallel to mine.. Life would be boring on QL...
Thanks to PM and Miss X.. there is some spice still left... :)
I don't know why either PM and Miss X are looking at the Pride followed at the extreme level... or the -ves of it only...
Not feeling pride for the country is your personal choice.. NO arguments on tht.. whether you like your Anthem and etc etc etc... But..
without love their is no pride for sure.. and if I am not proud of a thing I ll never work to make it better...
Lets take.. India.. My mother land... there are n number of issues the nation is facing today...
But if I say the country I m born in is not the Best... I m getting Passport of the best country. hell with India and its misery...
No I decide.. come what may.. this is my house.. and its my responsibility to clean the cob webs...
Even though I get dirty in the process...
You shall judge the country as what it has achieved in past..
I shall see what it can do in future.... :)
Miss X - yes I agree to few examples you gave...
But definately not sports... and I personally don feel proud for a stranger..
Obama became President of USA.. I care a Damn.. not proud at all... in spite of the fact it was a great achievement...
Bush Was President once still amuses though.... :)
m sorry if it hurts someone but... Bush wantedly I could never take him seriously.. :)
___________________________________________
Reality is a Illusion Caused Due to Deficiency of Alcohol
feel squeamish when I hear people bang on about how proud they are of their country. We don't really need to hear that, as for me all countries have something to be proud off and we all have LOTS not to be proud about. To me it feels so defensive when there is no need.
From my very limited knowledge I understood the Abaya and the hair covering to have religious conitations but but now is seen as cultural. I don't care if they do cover or they don't. I find it nothing to do with me.
For a Dr to blog about it shows to things; she is divided in what she thinks about how her religion dictates how she should dress as a woman but as an academic she struggles with how it fits in the rest of the world. I may be (as I usually am) wrong in this assumption xxx
_________________________________________________
Man makes plans...............God smiles ;-)
PM..
Thanks for the clarification but I do not accuse you of being ani-abaya lol..
I know what your argument is and I do have a common opinion with you on Pride.
I don't condemn absolute pride.
I believe this word, wherever it gets mentioned, should be analysed within context.
same word could mean a bad habit, same word could mean a good habit dependent upon the context in which it is being used.
Regarding this article, I believe it is a good thing.
Peace :)
nor with Dr. Amal's views on it. In fact, when we met we realized how much we have in common :-)
I was writing in response to MissX's post about the sin of pride and I do see that quite frequently in every nationality. Perhaps because Qataris are so outnumbered in their own country they feel the need to reiterate it so frequently. But regardless of the reason, I find the "I'm proud to be Qatari" statement a bit off-putting; just as I find the "Proud to be American" statement off-putting. We have nothing to do with where we are born and what nationality is ascribed to us. Save pride for those things you actually accomplish and even then one should not overdo.
And btw, I don't sing my national anthem, even though I am in a position to hear it regularly at events I have to attend. I don't put my hand over my heart but I do stand (in fact, in my more radical days did not even do that! lol). I realize I am unusual in this regard but this is how I feel about national pride. :-)
I refuse to drink the kool-aid! -- PM
PM..
I believe thd Dr refers to pride here as self respect, conviction and love of here culture and is in not the bad side of pride which religion condemns!
bad pride is that which makes you think, I am the one and only. Good pride is to believe in yourself and endorse your own culture, practise it while not have hate towards other believes and culture.
This is what the article states in my opinion.
you may refer to credited definitions of pride. You reference to nationalism may not apply to pride as they are smiliar but not the same thing!
There are africans, who still wear animal skin and who live in Qatar (ambassadors, teachers, others). does this not tie to being proud of who they are?
How is this viewed as a form of bad racism? unless you are not willing to accept people's culture.
How do you see people, in some ocassions, sing thier national antheme! can you not see pride in thir eyes! does that mean they will go and kill everyone and that they are racist.
Hell no. They love thier country and are proud of it while not hating others!
I detest nationalism and really am turned off by people expressing pride in their nationality. I am American and HATED it when we had these bumper stickers stating "Proud to be an American". Our nationality is no accomplishment; we are what we are because of circumstances out of anybody's control.
And while I really enjoy Qatar, have many Qatari friends & acquaintances (including the author of the article) and love living here, I do get a bit turned off by reading/hearing the "I'm proud to be Qatari" proclamations. I feel the same way about Indians, Pakistanis, and Pinoys who frequently make the same statement here on QL.
No one should be ashamed of their heritage or nationality; but stating pride is another matter.
I refuse to drink the kool-aid! -- PM
Dr. Al Malki does an excellent job here of showing the internal struggle that all of us have with reconciling where we've come from with where we're going, while at the same time tackling a very personal topic for Arabic women. I applaud her and commend both her writing style and her bravery.
Thank-you for the link, q6ree ~ this is a blog that I will enjoy watching.
Well for example you can be proud of an accomplishment and what you have achieved. But you don't actually have feelings of love for the accomplishment.
And on the other side, you can have love for someone, but not be proud of them. Sometimes people love family members, but are not proud of them.
You can also feel pride about people you don't even know. Sometimes when you spend time watching a sporting event for example, you can develop feelings of pride for the person who has won, even though you don't even know them, let alone love them.
Miss X - Are you sure ???
Its very difficult for me to see the two not being interdependent.....
Would you help me get convinced to your point of view by backing it up with real life examples and situation...
I give for mine...
Nation and religion already given...
Others
1. Car - If I don like it.... I cannot be proud of it.
2. Wife - How can I feel proud of being with her if I don love her ?
3. Girl fren - If I don feel proud... ok the above thing is applicable here.... :)
4. Job/Business - How can I feel proud of the job I do or Business I run if I do not like it...
I ll keep bragging about these things and jus wait to change them as early as possible or feel I am trapped with wrong thing....
___________________________________________
Reality is a Illusion Caused Due to Deficiency of Alcohol
Love and Pride are different things. They can be completely mutually exclusive.
Miss X - For Pride.. I used the word LOVE.. nothing else...
Love for country and pride about the country.... doesn seem to differ a lot...
You are Proud of a possession if you
1.Love it
2.Like it
3, Think its really good
etc etc etc..
___________________________________________
Reality is a Illusion Caused Due to Deficiency of Alcohol
If you read what I said, then you will note I said nothing about loving your country being a bad thing. In fact, that would be one of the feelings between shame and pride that is acceptable. It is pride that I was talking about, that often leads to racism, albeit unintentionally and usually unknowingly.
I agree ashwin...loving your heritage is not a racism when you accept existence of other cultures and beliefs...
it is only when someone tries to impose his own standard of life and make it applied to all when you see problems rolling like a snowball ending in wars and mass destruction...
we need to develop the ability to smile and live in peace and harmony even if we differ in opinion and ways of life...
We need to focus on what we have in common instead of tabbing on differences which may be justified even had people bother to check.
having said this, it does not mean we need to comromise on our values nor does it mean we cannot live together.
Miss X - Pls no....
This has nothing to do with racism.. or beginning of it...
Its human brain tendency to read wht we want to read. tht is the issue...
Pride about selfs culture, country, religion, language is very important to love it...
That does not make you Racists...
Saying my Country is Good... Is a healthy thing..
Saying only my country is Good.. shows ignorance and leads to racists stuff....
Tht is Excess of a emotion..
Excess of anything is bad... rt ?
Too much of Sweet too results in Diabetics.... :)
CBD - m sorry. was so much into the article.. didn see the forum maker.. :)
___________________________________________
Reality is a Illusion Caused Due to Deficiency of Alcohol
"The abayya is a major part of my identity as a Qatari. The Qatari identity is an amalgam of factors we share with others (Islam, Arabic language, shared history, etc.) and factors that are so specific to us (national dress, dialect, local history, etc."
" Still when I wear it, I do wear it with pride. "
I understand now why some religions claim pride as a sin. Although I would not for an instance wish for her to feel ashamed about her heritage, there is a middle ground between pride and shame, which is a much healthier stance. By adopting a perspective of 'pride' on her dress sense, she is unknowingly forming excessive feelings of well-being and patriotism about a group of people that she may have nothing in common with, apart from the location of birth. And on the other hand, potentially denying the formulation of other 'outside' groups. This patriotism about country of origin, culture, and the many other groups that humans become a part of throughout their lives, is what can cause escalating hatred.
As enlightened as this woman is, she is reinforcing the separation of human race, and unintentionally contributing to racism. I will continue to wait for the day, when no person can claim any country as their sole heritage, and are indistinguishable from anyone else on the street. Only then will we be one step closer to obtaining peace as an entire human race.
This blog on Abaya is just meaninful. We want more on batoula (battoula)? I'm not sure if I'm getting the name right.It's the small accessory masking the eyes and nose of senior gulf women. I love it, and love those who wear them and LOVE to talk to them too.
Those lovely grandma's would only talk about old Qatar, neighboring, the good old days, Garangouh (Ramadan 15th), criticize younger loose generation for being less traditional and sitting at cafes!!
Why not send invitations to Qatari bloggers to join QL?
Salam
Hi Ashwin..
g6ree is the name of the poster..which I believe means Qatari..
Hmm.. Nice...
It shows the tussles of thoughts within us . . .
How difficult our mind makes it for us to stand for wht we want to.. and for what we know .. what we think is right...
Modern self and Traditional Self.. These two words ... I was never able to find a exact meaning of these..
Does modern mean rebel to the old school of philosophy which parents followed.. or does it mean following blindly what majority is doin....
For me.. it means living traditionally but with my understanding about religion.... not imposed by the previous generation...
CBD - whts g6ree... ??
I thought its spell err.. but its used twice ?
___________________________________________
Reality is a Illusion Caused Due to Deficiency of Alcohol
g6ree...
you are doing a good job by exposing us to unique experiences..
I have read this article and read its comments too!
I really like this article in particular and am impressed by how Dr. Amal recorded the pattern of her thoughts on the the issue of abaya..
This is enriching to my knowledge..
However, I have a minor comment regarding some of Dr. Amal's definitions. specifically what she referred to as "modern self" & "traditional self".
I am afraid that these two definitions are composed by and carefully crafted by set of activities which we see in multimedia (TVs, newspapers, cinema..) and in real academic terms are not well defined.
problem with such a thing, is that people tend to deal with these definitions by adopting certain behaviour. They end up with the wrong decision as they based thier approach on an unstable ground.
I just wanted to point this out though I am supportive of what she had to say in this article.
Thanks again g6ree.