Overhead Abaya!

Asalam waliykum sisters,

Just wanted to do a post about the abaya. In particular a new style that i have become fond of over the last few months, its not new but it is new to me! Its the Overhead Abaya, I first came across this style while out and about in London. I saw many Somali sisters wear the black over head abaya, which has a long v neck, and sits on the head or ties behind the head. All the sisters i have seen wearing this wore black, and the material was very heavy crepe/polyester/nylony... looked nice and cosy for winter. One thing I disliked was how it dragged on the floor behind them. This is a thing that we should avoid as muslimahs and one thing which will ruin your abaya. Not to mention the obvious  hadith regarding dragging ones garment, it being a sign of arrogance, plus getting it dirty, tripping over it etc etc.

It is a very modest outfit and it complies with the verse in the Quran when Allah commands women to wear an outer garment when going out.

In the Quran, Surah al-Ahzab ayah 59 (33:59) says:

"Ya ayyuha an-Nabiyy qul li azwajika wa banatika wa nisa al-mu'minin yudnina alayhinna min jalabib hinna; dhalika adna an yu'rafna fa laa yu'dhayn. Wa kana Allahu Ghafur Rahim"

"O Prophet! Say to your wives and your daughters and the women of the faithful to draw their JALABIB close around them; that is better that they will be recognised and not annoyed. And God is ever Forgiving, Gentle."

Inshallah I will do a separate post on this subject.

Onto the overhead abaya! I ended up looking online for one, and being put off by all that fabric. The sisters I had seen wearing this on the streets of London looked so elegant and so modest and even though they stood out you could not help but show more respect, and i think you appreciate their seriousness in modesty. I liked a lot. Just could not imagine me in that, and how practical it would be? I can imagine times i would wear it especially in Morocco where you need to cover PROPERLY otherwise you get proper harassed by men.

After a bit of research and asking my sister in Law (She is Iraqi) i found out that actually this style is very popular in Iran, Syria, Turkey and the middle east in general not just with Somali sisters. It is something muslimahs of the shia sect tend to wear, but also Sunnis wear it too.

Here are a few photos of the overhead abaya being worn by sisters from all walks of life:

There are several variations of this design, some have sleeves, some are bat wing, some are completely open. Some rest on the head and due to the weight stay put, some have elastic and tie backs. I was so intrigued, so shopped around for one. I found many with huge price tags and I can appreciate why, there is so much material so it would be expensive. I ended up coming across one sold by a sister on FB, her shop sold mainly normal gulf abayas and she only had one of these overhead abayas. It was £30 and I thought I will get one to try it. I got a size 58. 

When it arrived i was taken aback by the sheer weight of it. Quality material heavy but instantly imagined how hot I would get under there. I opened it and unfolded it. It was huge, and super long. I wore it and took me ages to figure out where to place it on my head. It was a lot heavier then i had originally thought it would be. It was super long waaaay to long. And needed to hem it a lot!

As with any new jilbab/abaya I get I gave it a trial, first thing try walk in it with shoes... epic fail I have to carry the dang thing to stop fallen over. second thing try pray in it, another fail, the part that rests on the head slipped off either backwards or forwards, I wore a 2 piece cotton amira hijab which has grip but still moved about.

I pinned it in place and tried again, this time the fabric tried to slip back, it moved a little and pulled on my amira which was very uncomfortable. I really have no idea how these women wear it, and are comfortable. I could not imagine walking outside and using the tube and shopping in it etc.

I looked at the reviews and a lot of the sisters loved theirs, so it was not the abaya it was me!

I tried to wear it outside, I live on the first floor on our building so did the stairs test, again super difficult and slipped all over. I tried slides and straight pins even safety pins. Just was not working.

Perhaps the shape of my head? I managed to get outside and did the weather test.... it was extremely windy and I thought due to the weight the fabric would not move much. It moved a lot especially around the head area, the fabric kept blowing around my face and I had to keep holding on to it.

Fortunately, I did not take photos it was hilarious for my husband... not for me.

I was quiet saddened as I really wanted it to work, I loved the look of it, but just didn't work for me something ill keep to pray in at home. I may add elastic or some fabric ties to secure it in place so it moves about less.

I gave up on this design, however found another very similar to this which i will blog about soon inshallah!

Are there any sisters who have had a similar experience? or a different one, and have gotten on very well with the over head abaya? Please do share in the comments or drop me an email.
Jazakallah khier

Wasalam -x-