Not to be confused with
Thawab
.
Long-sleeved Middle Eastern robe
Thawb
or
thobe
(
Arabic
:
?????
lit.
'
dress
'
or
'
garment
'
), is an
Arab
garment worn by inhabitants of the
Arabian Peninsula
. It is also referred to as
jubbah
(
Arabic
:
??????
)
, dishdashah
(
Arabic
:
??????????
), and
kandura
(
Arabic
:
??????????
) in
varieties of Arabic
. The thawb is long-sleeved ankle-length traditional
robe
; it is mainly worn by men in the
Arabian Peninsula
,
Jordan
,
Syria
,
Palestine
,
Lebanon
,
North Africa
, and some countries in
East
and
West Africa
, with regional variations in name and style. Depending on local traditions, a thawb can be worn in formal or informal settings; in the
Gulf states
thobes are the main formal attire for men.
[1]
It is also worn by Muslim men in the
Indian subcontinent
due to its modest appearance, and is believed to be a
sunnah
,
[2]
and it is commonly referred to as jubbah.
[3]
[4]
[5]
The term "thobe" is also used in some varieties of Arabic to refer to women's attire, such as in Palestine and Sudan.
[6]
Jellabiyas
, a traditional garment mainly worn in Egypt and Sudan differ from thawbs, as jellabiyas have a wider cut, no collar (in some cases, no buttons) and longer, wider sleeves.
Gulf Arabs wearing thawbs in
Oman
.
Etymology
[
edit
]
The word
thawb
(?????) is a
Standard Arabic
word for "dress" or "garment". It is also
romanized
as
thobe
or
thaub
or
thob.
[7]
Name variations
[
edit
]
Omani men wearing thawbs at the Muscat International Book Fair.
Iraqi
men wearing the dishdasha.
Region/country
|
Language
|
Main
|
Saudi Arabia
,
Yemen
,
Bahrain
,
Qatar
,
Palestine
|
Hejazi Arabic
,
Yemeni Arabic
,
Najdi Arabic
,
Bahraini Arabic
,
Palestinian Arabic
|
Thawb/Th?b (???)
|
Levant
,
Iraq
,
Kuwait
,
Oman
,
Khuzestan
|
Levantine Arabic
,
Mesopotamian Arabic
,
Omani Arabic
,
Kuwaiti Arabic
,
Ahvazi Arabic
|
Dishd?shah (??????????)
|
United Arab Emirates
,
Morocco
,
Algeria
,
Tunisia
,
Libya
|
Emirati Arabic
,
Moroccan Arabic
,
Algerian Arabic
,
Tunisian Arabic
,
Libyan Arabic
|
Kand?rah (??????????)/ Gand?rah (??????????)
|
Central
,
South
and
Southeast Asia
|
Bengali
,
Dari
,
Deccani
,
Malay
,
Pashto
,
Urdu
|
Jubbah/Jobbeh (??????), Jibbah (??????)? Jubah (?????)
|
Regional differences
[
edit
]
The
thawb
is commonly worn by men in the
Arabian Peninsula
. It is normally made with
polyester fabric
, but heavier materials such as
sheep's wool
can also be used, especially in colder climates in the Levant.
[8]
The style of the thawb varies between regions. In
Iraq
,
Kuwait
,
the Levant
, and
Oman
,
dishdashah
is the most common word for the garment; in the
United Arab Emirates
and the
Maghreb
, the word
kandura
is used.
Gulf countries
[
edit
]
In the Gulf states thobes are typically made with white or beige polymer fabric, with coloured wool thobes worn in the winter months. Thobes commonly worn by men and are considered as symbols of national and cultural identity, and are appropriate attire for formal occasions and religious ceremonies. In recent years, the thobes have become a popular fashion item, with many fashion designers adding their own modern twists to the traditional garment.
In some Gulf countries, thawb sleeves and collars can be stiffened to give a more formal appearance, front pockets and embroidery could be added and
placket
buttons can be covered, exposed, or replaced by zippers. In the UAE and Oman, men's thobes have no collar, use
frog closures
as placket fasteners, and include
tassels
; in Oman, tassels tend to be short, and in the UAE tassels extend to waist.
Sudan
[
edit
]
Sudanese woman wearing a traditional thawb
In Sudan, the term
tobe
is used to refer to women's outer garments.
[6]
In her book
Khartoum at night: Fashion and body politics in imperial Sudan
,
[9]
cultural historian
Marie Grace Brown explained: "Meaning “bolt of cloth,” a
tobe
is a rectangular length of fabric, generally two meters wide and four to seven meters long. It is worn as an outer
wrapper
whenever women are outside their homes or in the company of unrelated males. The tobe's origins date back to the late eighteenth century when prosperous merchants in
Darfur
clothed their wives and daughters in large swaths of fine imported
linen
,
muslin
, and
silk
as a sign of their wealth and prestige."
[10]
In the context of urban culture in Sudan since the 1930s, new and often colourful styles of
tobes
became fashionable, as Sudanese women "expressed their growing opportunities and desires through fashion."
[11]
Palestine
[
edit
]
The traditional Palestinian woman's long tunic is also called
thawb (or thob
, ???), and is generally considered women's
Palestinian
national dress
.
[12]
It is richly embroidered with
tatreez patterns
, with different colours and patterns signifying various aspects of the wearer's social position and most importantly its unique village, town or city.
[13]
Other occasions
[
edit
]
A thawb is sometimes worn with a
bisht
(
?????
), also known in other parts of the
Arabian Peninsula
as a
mishlah
(
???????
) or
?ab??
(
??????
), meaning 'cloak'. It is usually worn on ceremonial occasions or by officials. A bisht is usually worn by religious clergy, but can also be worn at weddings,
Eids
and funerals.
It may indicate wealth and royalty or sometimes a religious position.
It was originally manufactured in Syria, Iraq and Jordan, and it is usually worn in the Arabian peninsula, Jordan, Syria and parts of southern Iraq.
According to
H. R. P. Dickson
,
[14]
Bedouin women would mount a brightly coloured thawb on a pole in front of a tent in order to welcome home a traveller or an important person coming to visit.
[6]
Rashida Tlaib
, a
Democratic
member of the
United States House of Representatives
from
Michigan
and the first Palestinian-American woman elected to that body, wore a thawb to her swearing-in ceremony on January 3, 2019.
[15]
This inspired a number of Palestinian and Palestinian-American women to share pictures on social media with the
hashtag
#TweetYourThobe.
[16]
Like the
ghutra
, thawbs were also popular during the
2022 FIFA World Cup
in
Qatar
.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Saudi instructs overseas officials to wear national dress"
.
Arabian Business
. 14 July 2016
. Retrieved
13 September
2023
.
- ^
"Is the Jubbah a Sunnah? (Darul Uloom Beodand)"
.
Darul Ifta, Darul Uloom Deoband
.
- ^
"What was Prophet Muhammad's dress like?"
.
Islam QA
.
- ^
"Khirqah"
.
Britannica
.
- ^
"The journey of Sufism in India"
.
Times of India
.
- ^
a
b
c
Campbell, Kay Hardy; Corman, Leela (March?April 2016).
"The Gown That Steals Your Heart"
.
Aramco World
.
67
(2): 24?25.
- ^
admin (2023-02-02).
"Everything You Need To Know About Thobes | Thobe Encyclopaedia"
.
Al-Aniq
. Retrieved
2023-11-18
.
- ^
Jirousek, Charlotte (2004).
"Islamic Clothing"
.
Art, Design, and Visual Thinking
. Charlotte Jirousek
. Retrieved
May 25,
2019
.
- ^
Brown, Marie Grace (2017).
Khartoum at night fashion and body politics in imperial Sudan
. Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press.
ISBN
978-1-5036-0152-9
.
OCLC
1113341178
.
- ^
Stanford University Press.
"Start reading Khartoum at Night | Marie Grace Brown"
.
sup.org
. Retrieved
2021-06-29
.
- ^
"
'Khartoum at Night' looks at Sudanese history through fashion"
.
University of Kansas Department of History
. University of Kansas. August 9, 2017. Archived from
the original
on May 30, 2020
. Retrieved
May 25,
2019
.
expressed their growing opportunities and desires through fashion.
- ^
Kassis, Reem (2023).
We Are Palestinian: A Celebration of Culture and Tradition
. Studio Press.
ISBN
978-1800783287
.
- ^
Debre, Isabel (February 12, 2019).
"Iconic Palestinian robe fashions a new political symbol"
.
AP News
. Retrieved
May 25,
2019
.
- ^
Dickson, H.R.P. (2015).
The Arab of the desert : a glimpse into Badawin life in Kuwait and Sau'di Arabia
. New York, NY: Routledge.
OCLC
919302946
.
- ^
Jennings, Rebecca (January 4, 2018).
"Rashida Tlaib's thobe and Ilhan Omar's hijab are making congressional history"
.
Vox
.
- ^
Zrarick, Karen (January 3, 2018).
"As Rashida Tlaib Is Sworn In, Palestinian-Americans Respond With #TweetYourThobe"
.
The New York Times
.
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