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Islam / Popular religion / Muslim dress codes /
Abaya
Arabic: ¢abāya
Conservative dress worn by many Muslim women, particularly on the Arabian peninsula. The abaya is one-piece garment, with the shape of a square. It covers the whole body, including the head, but except hands and feet. Some forms of abaya show the face, some hide all of the face except the eyes. Some women using the abaya hide also their hands with black gloves. The cloth is in its basic form black, and without decoration, but there are many variations, both in other colours and with embroidery. When embroidery is used this may well use thread in the same colour as the cloth, being subtle and discreet.
It is the common female dress for women of Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.
Dress practically similar to the abaya are found in other parts of the Muslim world, then known by other names. In Iran and neighbouring countries it is chador, further east in Asia, burka is the common form of dress.
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By: Tore Kjeilen
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