attributed to Somalia’s recent independence from
the United Kingdom and Italy in the early 1960s
(Abdullahi 2001). Subsequently, with the collapse
of the Somali government, by the 1990s intra- and
inter-clan fighting dominated and fragmented the
country (Lewis 2002). As a result, many Somali
men and women continue to live in disrupted and
displaced families within Somalia as well as in dias-
pora resettlement communities throughout the
world (Daly 2002).
Somali women’s identity and appearance are
closely linked to several Islamic concepts: ™ayà±, the
Islamic concept of modesty and ™ijàb, Islamic head
coverings and their practices. These concepts are
prevalent in several distinctive Somali women’s
dress choices. Each choice emphasizes a slightly dif-
ferent idealized view of the world: cultural, Islamic,
and Western orientations (Daly 2000).
“Somalis were among the first people to become
converted to Islam, beginning in about the ninth
century of the common era... Islam is deeply
embedded in their culture and is an essential part
of their identity” (Luling 2002, 225). During the
period prior to independence, geography and trade
relationships delineated pastoral rural from urban
life experiences of women. Women’s dress reflected
the indigenous materials available to them or those
items acquired through trade (Akou 2001, Lough-
ran et al. 1986). However, stereotypically, tradi-
tional Somali women’s dress includes a diric(dress),
garbarsar (head covering), and masar (scarf).
Though one might presume that Somali women
dressed modestly according to Islamic prescrip-
tions for ™ayà±and ™ijàb, neither term was signifi-
cantly used by Somalis until the civil war period of
the 1990s. Consequently, Somalis did not distin-
guish between Somali cultural or Somali Muslim
dress or modesty. Although they are Muslim, most
Somali women have never worn the face veil
(Luling 2002, 225), but do wear head coverings
and scarves.
From independence in 1960 until the Djibouti
Peace Conference of 2000, civil conflict between
clans over scarce resources prevented a unified
Somali national identity. Duing the civil war,
Somalis witnessed the torture and killing of family
members, friends, and others (Aman 1994). In
response to these dire circumstances many Somali
men and women invoked Islam in both the private
and public arenas of life presumably to help solve
the economic, political, and social problems of the
country. Somali women may have intuitively cho-
sen to dress more modestly to ensure their physical
and psychological well-being (Daly 2001). Today,
Somali women choose a style of dress that commu-
sub-saharan africa: somali society 505nicates their commitment to Islam and its meaning
in everyday life to transcend the cultural politics of
nationality. For women, this choice replaces the
cultural garbarsar and masarwith the Islamic khimar
or jilhabib, both considered ™ijàb head coverings.
Though currently most Somali women would
acknowledge that all forms of head coverings are
potentially ™ayà±inspired and forms of ™ijàb, the
khimarand jilhabibhead covering styles in partic-
ular are more modest expressions of ™ayà±and
Islamic wear (Daly 2002). In both Somalia and the
diaspora, women report that they began wearing
the jilhabibwhen civil war escalated and they fled
Somalia to live in interim refugee camps. £ayà±,
wearing ™ijàb, though ostensibly for religious rea-
sons, also became a political statement. Some
Somalis “feel that Islam is the solution to years of
political chaos, and have consciously made adjust-
ments to their behavior and dress in hopes of creat-
ing a new Somalia” (McGowan 1999, 208).
Like other Muslim women, Somali women’s ap-
pearance and their modesty is not static but rather
a dynamic amalgam of cultural, Islamic, and West-
ern influences. A Somali woman dresses for the
occasion emphasizing the personal, social, and cul-
tural values that are appropriate. During weddings,
though modesty is a consideration, cultural aes-
thetics dominate and traditional hand-woven fabrics
are used. Throughout Ramadan special attention is
given to more modest ensembles, and the most
colorful outfits are brought out for the Eid celebra-
tions. Western cut and sewn garments, such as
skirts, blouses, dresses, and pants, though seem-
ingly incongruent, do coordinate with ™ayà±and
™ijàbstyles and are deemed modest.Bibliography
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H. Akou, Rethinking “fashion.” The case of Somali
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