Farms in the Mountains

Assalam alaikum. Hello.

UAE mountains hide many traditional green farms. Date palms, mango trees, guava, tomatoes, corn, watermelons, zucchini, eggplants etc are grown there. Some farmers have goats.

Inside the mountains you can meet wild birds, goats from the farms, donkeys and lizards. There used to be much more wildlife but due to urbanization and environment changes population of animals became considerably smaller.

In some places there are authentic ruins of old houses and forts.

These farms are similar in the mountains of Fujairah, Ras Al Khaima and Oman.














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Dubai

Fujairah Mountains

Fujairah

Khaleeji Style Don'ts - Part 2

Assalam alaikum. Hello.

What's up with this weird style which becomes more and more popular- wearing tight revealing clothes under an abaya with a front opening (big slit) which reveals all the clothes underneath?

More and more foreign and young Emirati women start to dress this way. I don't mind if a woman wears MODEST clothes underneath- a long loose skirt or dress, jalabia. But I do mind when girls parade in skinny jeans, capri pants, leggings, tight small tops that show belly button or cleavage under their open abayas.

if you wear hijab and yet it is tight and reveals the contours of your body and is seductive, then it is not hijab.
* from here

If you wear an abaya but everybody can see your tight jeans and shirt underneath - it's not hijab and you could as well not wear an abaya and a headscarf at all because they don't make much difference.

Bellow are some pics of abaya fashion and the women on the photos are models. These pics are pretty close to how some Muslim women choose to wear their abayas.

Apparently those Emirati girls dressing this way think it's cool. Seems like they want to show the world that they are modern and adopted Western values and lifestyle, to show boys that they are approachable and flirtatious. But at the same time they keep an abaya on to show that yet they are "local, arabi, muslim" and to gain respect from society for that. There's a dilemma- dress according to traditions and Islam or dress according to media propagated western pop culture style. Hence they combine both. But trying to combine the incompatible (vulgar and chaste form of dress) they fail and are mocked in both cultures.

That style is not cool- it looks cheap and women dressed this way look fake.

When I see young women dressed that way I automatically think that they wear abaya for cultural reasons only or as a fashion statement. Although I cannot know for sure it's difficult to imagine girls dressed that way to be practicing Muslimas. I don't want to judge but the clothes someone chooses to put on conveys certain information about the person.

It's a most natural thing for a Muslim woman to wear hijab in the UAE, it's easy and does not require an effort (There are no prosecutions for hijabi women like in some places in Europe) There's nothing to prevent a women from covering herself here except for her own choice to uncover and display her beauty to attract men. So when a Muslim woman chooses not to observe one of the easiest things for her in Islam (correct hijab in a Muslim country) then it's hard to imagine her observe other more difficult rules in Islam (praying, fasting).

What Typical Abaya Shops Look Like in the UAE

Assalam alaikum. Hello.

I'd like to share with you pics of some abaya shops.

*Photos are not mine.

Khaleeji Style Don'ts- Part 1

Assalam alaikum. Hello.

More and more women start to love Khaleeji abayas. At the same time I see many foreign women (and sadly khaleeji girls too) making mistakes when wearing an abaya i.e. wearing an abaya in improper way. Let me explain what I mean.

Abaya is a traditional overgarment of Muslim women in many countries. The purpose of Islamic overgarment is concealing female beauty out of modesty.

Hijab is primarily intended to protect women from furtive looks and lustful eyes. It is also meant to help women to preserve their God-given honor, dignity and modesty by preventing them from being reduced to mere objects of male gratification.

That's why one of the conditions of Islamic hijab (hijab as the whole dress of a woman and not just a headscarf) is: The clothing must hang loose so that the shape / form of the body is not apparent.

But some women wear such tight "abayas" that their breast, waist, hips are very destinct. This is wrong. Although a woman is clothed everybdody can see the shape of her body as if she was naked (and sometimes even the outlines of her underwear are distinct through the fabric of abaya).

So if you wear hijab and yet it is tight and reveals the contours of your body and is seductive, then it is not hijab.

Tight clothes for women in public places is against Islamic rules. It's a problem not only in Gulf countries but of Muslim women in the whole world (examples one and two- three - click to read). Many people consider wearing tight clothes worse than not wearing a headscarf.

Some foreign girls living in the Gulf love khaleeji abaya and want to imitate khaleeji girls in their dress but often do it in a wrong way. They put on a tight abaya and make a big big hump under their headscarves. Tight abayas are a nonsense and a contradiction in itself. Local men and women and even expats here know that abaya is supposed to be a bit loose. So when there's a girl in a tight abaya walking proudly in a mall (or any other place) people laugh at her behind her back. While the girl thinks she's the coolest and more fashionable and stylish than women in baggy abayas. Tight abayas make women look cheap (I'm sorry for the harsh words and don't mean to offend anyone but the world is cruel). Men although may want to date such girls generally look down on them and despise them even if they are Emirati girls in tight abayas. Amongst themselves they say really bad things about these girls.

So if you are a non Muslim woman (or a Convert who knows little about Islam) and you come to the Gulf and want to wear an abaya please avoid very tight abayas if you have enough self-respect and are not desperate for men attention.

And for those Emirati or other khaleeji girls who wear tight abayas and think they are modern and cool I have few words to say: Shame on you and your families. Tight clothes in public is not cool- it's cheap.

* Quotes in the text from here