Sakina Motiwala
Pune
The tradition of women covering themselves up entirely when stepping out of the house exists for ages in many communities across the world.
In some communities when stepping out in public places, women need to wear outfits that wouldn’t highlight their physique and cover everything except their hands from the wrist down. Black is a colour that doesn’t reflect and hence, can’t highlight the body shape, even in the desert sun. And hence, it was set to tradition, that women would wear black when going out of their house.
The textile industry developed other coloured clothes and materials which work similarly to the black outfit. But the burkha tradition remained intact.
For decades women from the Bohra community followed this tradition too. This community is a minority in the Islamic religion and has estimated less than 2 lakh members in India. Today, however, this community is widely recognized for their colourful attires and the different style of burkha that they call a Rida.
The difference between a traditional burkha and a Rida is that the Rida is a two-piece set that consists of a skirt called the Ghaghra and the top half is called the Pardi. This Rida doesn’t cover their faces and comes in a variety of colours and designs, from daily wear to festive wear.
The senior women in the community say that this isn’t the only reform the community has witnessed. There are very small but significant steps when it comes to the rights of women.
The step forward
Women are not allowed into the mosques, whether it be for praying namaz, listening to sermons, or for any other reasons. The Bohra community, however, doesn’t follow this and the women of this community are free to come into the masjid, even if they are on their periods.
The architecture of these masjids is done in a way that they are built in several storeys. The bottommost storey is reserved only for men. Above that, all the storeys are built for women. Except for the bottommost floor, all floors above have a hole in the centre through which they can look at what is happening below. The reason for this is so that the women sitting above can see what is happening below and the person who is giving sermons can look above and address everyone.
Today, if a couple were to have a daughter who wished to sit with her father on the bottom-most floor with her father, the father could actually take the daughter with him.
Good keep it up
Written well sakina
Excellent discrimination of Rida and a woman wearing Rida. I would appreciate if I get to know more abt the religions not only bohra community but also others. I wish to get ur next article at the earliest.
All the very best.
Lovely article…..well written….
Keep it up Sakina….well explained
Very well said
Keep it up
Very well written. Keep it up.
Very well written Sakina. Simple and informative.
Keep writing!!
Good sakina…… Very well written…. Keep it up
Very well written..Good luck