It came on February 9, a Friday. And via public broadcast. A senior Saudi cleric appeared on television to pronounce that “we should not force people to wear abayas”. Saudi-watchers circled the date on their calendar. Another mainstay of the strict Wahabi system of social control is on its way out, they thought to themselves. This breed of specialists has been watching, in rapt attention, the spirit of reformist zeal engulfing the kingdom since Prince Mohammed bin Salman was appointed Crown Prince by his father, the King. This is not yet official policy—it’s simply the way in which the Saudi government tests public reaction before confirming reform in a particular sector. In the broadcast, Sheikh Abdullah al-Mutlaq used words and logic which could well have been deployed, profitably, by a free-spirited soul trying to convince some of our home-grown mossbacks in their seminaries. “More than 90 per cent of pious Muslim women in the Muslim world do not wear abayas,” intoned Sheikh Abdullah, a member of the council of senior ulema, the kingdom’s highest religious body. His words carry great weight and any statement by him would most likely have government approval, if not be an outright instruction.
The abaya, a black all-encompassing cloak, is designed to cover the female form from the neck to the ankles—regardless of what one wears underneath. It could even be pajamas, as my daughter reminded me! It’s usually made from a light polyester material—although fashionable ladies of Riyadh and Jeddah experiment with chiffon or other material made by local Bedouin women. The fashion designers of the Arab world and, indeed, of the Paris, London and Milan catwalks, often introduce exotic features—like patchwork, frills or pom-poms—which the brave can showcase. But until now, however much fashion intruded, adherence to the traditional abaya remained. Older women would caution the young to wear modest (read: boring) abayas. The only exception: women diplomats or the wives of diplomats would be excused when women leaders from their countries visited—e.g. Theresa May, Michelle Obama or Melania Trump—and they were personally part of the delegation.
I wore the abaya for five years during my husband’s two ambassadorial postings to Riyadh. I recall being excused from wearing one when Dr Manmohan Singh arrived on a state visit in 2010. Gursharan Kaur was visiting too, so the King decreed that we were not required to wear the abaya.
