Cultural Invasion – In The Wake Of The Abaya

By Mass L. Usuf –November 19, 2015

Man in Buddhism is analysed into five aggregates or existences known aspañcupadānakkhandhā. One of which is the aggregate of perception (saññā). Perception arises from form (rūpa). The path leading to the cessation of wrong perception is the noble eightfold path i.e., right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration.

In several fora on multi-culturalism and co-existence even recently, I have noticed people curious about the prevalence of the black abaya clad women in our streets. Applying the buddhistic principle of perception (saññā) and form (rūpa), I was imagining what the perception would be if the ‘abaya’ is worn in yellow or orange colour.

As a youngster, in the 1960s, I cannot recollect an instance of seeing a Muslim woman wearing the black Abaya or the Niqab in Sri Lanka. The words Abaya and Niqab are Arabic words. Abaya means, a cloak or a loose over garment covering the body except the face, wrists and feet. Niqab means, a veil. A piece of cloth that covers the full face or the face except the two eyes.

The attire of the Muslim woman of the yesteryears was generally, the Shalwar Kameez. A predominantly South Asian dress with pantaloons or long trousers and a shirt. This comes with an accessory, the dupatta, a multi purpose long shawl. The Kameez would extend beyond the elbows almost reaching the wrists. And the trouser worn loose and baggy would conceal the shape of the woman wearing it. The hair on the head would be covered by wearing the shawl over the head and the cloth flowing over the bosom. Or, one who wears the saree, would extend a portion of the saree to cover the head.

Petrodollar

During the early 1970s, the world witnessed a phenomenon of oil exports by Saudi Arabia, Iran and other middle east countries. The era of petrodollar had dawned. Ibrahim Oweiss a Professor of Economics at Georgetown University in Washington first coined the word, “petrodollar” in order to cater to the new phenomenon of excess dollar movement not forming part of the money supply of the exporting countries.

With the advent of petrodollars industrialization and luxury lifestyle dominated the socio-economic landscape of these countries. The Arab who once took pride over his ship of the desert abandoned it for motorised vehicles. Folks who used to preserve meat using bee’s honey opted to use the refrigerator. The economic transformation through massive industrialization ran parallel to the metamorphosing of the bedouin existence into a modern lifestyle. Of course, many countries of the world benefited by this change. Employment opportunities were in abundance be it for professionals, skilled, semi-skilled, unskilled and also for housemaids. At any given time citizens of more than 50 to 75 countries were benefitting from this black gold revenues. Sri Lanka was no exception.                                                           Read More