The Evolution of the Overgarment Part 1

The first jilbab smh



Jilbab, Abaya, and Overgarment are usually used interchangeably to describe the prescribed garment that a Muslim women must wear (over her normal clothes) when she is out in public.  In the Qur'an I believe that the actual word that is used for this particular outer garment is the Arabic word, “jilbab” and according to the scholars that I follow, any clothing that covers as a jilbab would, would be deemed as a jilbab or correct Islamic attire for a women (rather it be an abaya, skirt & tunic, trench coat, wide legged pants and tunic-  all are jilbabs and are correct and of course Allah knows best)  However, I must say that when I think of the word jilbab (see pic. at left), I think of the long straight coat-like garment (usually buttons, zips or snaps up front), and when I think of the word abaya (see pic at right) I think of a one piece pull over garment (usually black) with wide sleeves but when I think of the overgarment  (see pic. top right) I think of the aligned (dress-like) garment that was made popular by Muslim women in urban areas such as Philadelphia and New York.  I was talking to a friend of mine the other day about how Islamic women's attire has evolved in western urban areas over the years and which factors influenced the evolution of the garment that I refer to now as an overgarment -that we see many American Muslim women wearing today.   I remember the jilbab coming onto the scene in the mid 90's in urban areas.  The first jilbab that I saw Muslim women wearing were those Jordanian jilbabs with the hidden buttons down the front and the split that started about mid-shin -that you HAD to wear pants under (as they were usually TOO short and always had that annoying split.) Side Note: I remember that I once had the great idea to close up that split with either a trail of safety pins-pinned from the inside or better yet get someone to sew it down the front for me-only to have it ripped to shreds or walking like a Japanese Geisha (short, tiny steps) because I could barely walk in them. And then there were those shoulder pads-OH MY GOSH THOSE SHOULDER PADS!!!! All I can do is smh- and the only word that comes to mind is HORRIBLE!!!  And then we mustn’t forget that awful polyester-Gabardine material that they were made out of.  I use to BAKE in those things-and then there was the embroidery-I don’t even know how to describe it-it was usually just a succession of squiggly lines made from some type of contrasting colored thread.  If there was one word to describe how I felt in those things it was like an OLD WOMEN (oops that's two words lol) And to think I was only 16 smh.   But it was in 1997 I remember my girl Fah stepped out one summer day (while I was boiling in my polyester sky blue jilbab) in a gray garment (later coined as an overgarment) that looked like it was made for her (because it was lol) it was made from the loveliest gray material with a hint of sheen to it and a matching floral, gray khimar that complimented the simplicity of the overgarment perfectly –gone were the shoulder pads, gone was the embroidery, the only detail was the tie around the wrists that gave the sleeves of the garment a little flounce. My mouth literally dropped opened.  “Where did you get that?” -I asked her and she said she got some material at Gaffney’s and got it made.  She told me that she didn’t buy her garments anymore but that she got em made. So I knew right then and there that I had to get over to Gaffney’s and get myself some material too.   I tried it once (having an overgarment made for me), but taking septa to Gaffney’s and then trying to find the perfect fabric, and then getting on a waiting list to have somebody make something for me (that was gonna fall apart after one wash, because NOTHING was surged back then) was all too much for me to handle. So I decided to stick with my store bought, linebacker little numbers.  By this time I was in college and there were two statements that led me to the decision (no scratch that, I had an identity crisis and let me just be honest-me just wanting to be plain ole rebellious - astagfirAllah to toss my overgarment aside.)  But let's just stick to the two comments that were made lol.....comment # 1-made by a college professor…..”Everyone in this class looks distinctly American.....well, except Ms. Diggs here…..” uhhhhhh, but I AM AMERICAN and then a friend of mine once said to me….”you always look sooooooooo dressed up do you even own a plain overgarment?”(I think it was all that darn embroidery lol)…..I felt like I was an impostor doing a not so good impression of what a Muslim was supposed to look like.  I think back during those days when Islam became more mainstreamed in America it was thought that the more foreign that you looked the more religious you were.  But when I was at University I felt like the only thing I was doing was isolating myself.  So I did what I thought was the American Version of Islamic attire-i.e. scarf tied in a bun , jeans and a long sleeve shirt (which I often switched up with my Erykah Badu imitation -smh.)  And then eventually I tossed that even aside and begin thinking that the whole concept of covering was a bit antiquated anyway.  It wasn’t until after I got out of college and some long talks with a very dear friend of mine that got me to thinking a little differently.  This person convinced me that covering properly wasn’t something that should be taken lightly and that it is indeed a commandment given to us by our Lord that we should try to follow to the best of our abilities.  So now that I was convinced I was in search of a garment that I could identify with and that also fit the commandment in the Quran in Surah al-Ahzab ayah 59 (33:59) which 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 recognized and not annoyed. And God is ever Forgiving, Gentle.)