A week ago we had a discussion in class about the niqab and I participated in the discussion. I actually get really affected and emotional when these issues come up, so much so that you can see redness on my face because of my anger. I don’t do this intentionally, but when these kind of issues come up in class I do lose my cool. I try to hide this because I don’t want to come off as angry even though I’m boiling up inside (again, this is unintentional).
Anyways, this guy – whom I generally get along with, he’s a nice guy – was in favour of a niqab ban because, as he put it, “no one would willfully choose to wear it”. I told him that I had relatives who wore the niqab in former Yugoslavia but the Communists banned the niqab and so some of the women decided never to leave the house because they refused to leave the home without it. So from a personal perspective I know that there are those that want to wear it without being forced to do so.
So, anyways, I later discussed the issue with my Eritrean friend (an Orthodox Christian) who is himself conservative. I learned that his people use the same word for niqab as we do: Feredža. He speaks the Tigrinya language which is Semitic (there are a lot of words in the language that I understand, since they are similiar to Arabic). Now, Bosnia is one of the Muslim countries where the niqab used to be rooted in the society (as I said, some of my relatives wore it) and I thought I might share some pictures I found of Muslim women in Bosnia before Communism. Remember, this is in the heart of Europe.
This is from Sarajevo 1926:
This is from a postcard showing the traditional Bosnian Muslim dress:
Also, here’s a picture of an old Muezzin:
Now, the Muslim women generally wore these clothes (not all of them obviously) but the women in a city called Mostar had their own version of the niqab. I don’t know if you can find this type of niqab anywhere else in the world. Take a look:
As for the situation today… Well, I haven’t seen any niqabis in my the Muslim villages of my home town. To tell you the truth, I have barely seen any hijabis. However, if you go to Sarajevo you can’t miss them, there are a lot of hijabis and niqabis there.
Also, I’ll link to an article that’s related to the subject:
8 Comments
December 22, 2007 at 1:00 am
Thank you for posting this – very interesting to see the niqaab styles of old times.
April 21, 2008 at 1:44 pm
Traditional bosnian muslim dress is not what is pictured on that postcard. It was very rare to see a bosnain women fully covered wearing a scarf in the old times and is the case today bosnains are not conservative at all. Are your sure those pictures are of bosnian women? I noe fore sure what a bosnian dress looks like and the above pictures are not it!
April 21, 2008 at 1:48 pm
I have been recently to sarajevo and rarely do you see a women wearing a scarf!!! DO YOUR RESEARCH PROPERLY PLZ
April 21, 2008 at 2:51 pm
Emina
First of all, this post isn’t about the way Bosnian Muslim women are dressed today. However, I have been to Sarajevo myself and it isn’t at all rare to see women in hijab. Niqab is a bit more rare, but they are there.
But the post was about how they used to dress before Communism when the niqab was banned. Yes, the pictures are of Bosnian women. My great grandmother used to dress this way, so I’m not guessing. Here is a video of how Sarajevo looked in the 40’s:
April 27, 2008 at 11:15 pm
Sister Emina,
I don’t think you lived in the 1920’s to be absolutely positive of your insights, and to be attacking the post in that manner. The niqab was prevelant during the rule of the ottoman empire, but unfortunately was banned during the years of Tito’s communism. I am proud that Bosnian Muslim women were at one point this devout to their faith in Islam, although today many have adapted to the opressive western way of life!
August 20, 2008 at 6:17 am
I have to agree with both comments, I’m a Bosnian Muslim and I know that the above pictures are not the traditional Bosnian outfit as Dimije and Fez’s with Samije are. However, I also have to state that the Niqab was very common before Tito’s unjust Communist laws, therefore, both have to be taken into consideration.
August 20, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Medina, that was my point basically.
By the way, we have the same last name.
August 26, 2008 at 1:18 pm
Haha, we must therefore be distant relatives
Where are you from in Bosnia? Are you a man or a woman?