Green Energy
Gentlemen, feast your eyes on the "Sharia Swimsuit"
What do you do if you are an observant Muslim woman but you also like swimming?
This year, shops in Egypt have the answer: You buy what has become known as the "Sharia swimsuit".
It is part of a growing industry catering for religiously-observant women.
It is no longer mainly the westernised elite that can afford such leisure activities as swimming.
More and more Egyptians, including the more religious, can now do so as well.
In such a conservative society, many women have until now either had to sit on one side or go into the water in their clothes.
All covering
The "Sharia swimsuit" offers one solution. It is a high-necked, swimming costume with sleeves and a small skirt, to be worn over long trousers.
It first appeared a few years ago, but was expensive and hard to find.
This year, it is widely available - and comes in new cuts and colours.
A salesman at the Sports Mall in Nasr City shows me rails of the new Egyptian-produced swimsuits.
10 models are available but are they selling well?
"Of course they're selling well, very well," says the salesman.
"You know we're living here in an Islamic country, it must be popular."
However, the highest religious authority for Sunni Muslims, Al-Azhar, does not recognise the new swimming costume.
One of its clerics, Sheikh Mahmoud al-Hanafi, says there is no such thing as an Islamically-acceptable swimsuit - the only thing Sharia law recognises is Islamic dress that is meant to protect women from what he calls "gossiping eyes."
Conditions
"Islamic dress must have conditions," he says.
"It mustn't be (so) tight that exposes part of the body, mustn't be translucent that the person can see through,"
Size and colour, please?"Also it mustn't be attractive for strange men to look at a lady, how she is dressed. No."
The sheikh, though, had not seen one of the costumes.
But 15-year Nasr has - and she's a convert.
"The Islamic swimming suits they are better for us because of our religion and everything which says that we must be properly covered," she says.
"It is easier for us than to wear normal swimming suits because some of the parents do not like their girls going around in the normal cuts of swimming suits.
"It allows women or girls to do what they were not able to do before in an Islamic way."
The new swimsuit is, by shopkeepers' accounts, a big hit this summer among women who wear the veil.
Important market
As Egypt becomes more of a consumer society, they are an increasingly important market.
The Geneina shopping mall in the adjacent neighbourhood of Nasr City, boasts a smart fashion boutique for veiled women alongside shops selling skimpy t-shirts.
It is not that more women are now covering their heads.
That happened in the late 1970s and 1980s as a religious revival swept the region.
What is new is that more and more products are now being targeted specifically at religiously-observant women.
The new swimsuit is just the latest splash.
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- The Joy Of Muslima Fashions
Note that the Al Arabiya news article cited below is dated February 28, 2008. Fitna: The Movie (a working link at the time of this posting) cannot be blamed for the outburst of "Islamophobia." Via this posting at Sons of Apes and Pigs: DUBAI (AlArabiya.net)...
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Green Energy
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Gentlemen, feast your eyes on the "Sharia Swimsuit"
What do you do if you are an observant Muslim woman but you also like swimming?
This year, shops in Egypt have the answer: You buy what has become known as the "Sharia swimsuit".
It is part of a growing industry catering for religiously-observant women.
It is no longer mainly the westernised elite that can afford such leisure activities as swimming.
More and more Egyptians, including the more religious, can now do so as well.
In such a conservative society, many women have until now either had to sit on one side or go into the water in their clothes.
All covering
The "Sharia swimsuit" offers one solution. It is a high-necked, swimming costume with sleeves and a small skirt, to be worn over long trousers.
It first appeared a few years ago, but was expensive and hard to find.
This year, it is widely available - and comes in new cuts and colours.
A salesman at the Sports Mall in Nasr City shows me rails of the new Egyptian-produced swimsuits.
10 models are available but are they selling well?
"Of course they're selling well, very well," says the salesman.
"You know we're living here in an Islamic country, it must be popular."
However, the highest religious authority for Sunni Muslims, Al-Azhar, does not recognise the new swimming costume.
One of its clerics, Sheikh Mahmoud al-Hanafi, says there is no such thing as an Islamically-acceptable swimsuit - the only thing Sharia law recognises is Islamic dress that is meant to protect women from what he calls "gossiping eyes."
Conditions
"Islamic dress must have conditions," he says.
"It mustn't be (so) tight that exposes part of the body, mustn't be translucent that the person can see through,"
Size and colour, please?"Also it mustn't be attractive for strange men to look at a lady, how she is dressed. No."
The sheikh, though, had not seen one of the costumes.
But 15-year Nasr has - and she's a convert.
"The Islamic swimming suits they are better for us because of our religion and everything which says that we must be properly covered," she says.
"It is easier for us than to wear normal swimming suits because some of the parents do not like their girls going around in the normal cuts of swimming suits.
"It allows women or girls to do what they were not able to do before in an Islamic way."
The new swimsuit is, by shopkeepers' accounts, a big hit this summer among women who wear the veil.
Important market
As Egypt becomes more of a consumer society, they are an increasingly important market.
The Geneina shopping mall in the adjacent neighbourhood of Nasr City, boasts a smart fashion boutique for veiled women alongside shops selling skimpy t-shirts.
It is not that more women are now covering their heads.
That happened in the late 1970s and 1980s as a religious revival swept the region.
What is new is that more and more products are now being targeted specifically at religiously-observant women.
The new swimsuit is just the latest splash.
- Egypt: As Islamic-fundamentalism Grows, Mob-style Sexual Harrassment Becomes The Norm
From the BBC: Campaigners in Egypt say the problem of sexual harassment is reaching epidemic proportions, with a rise in such incidents over the past three months. For many Egyptian women, sexual harassment - which sometimes turns into violent mob-style...
- Ha!
Remember this? Seems circumstances have changed somewhat. JihadWatch: "Burkinis" for non-Muslims scrapped at British pool An update on this story. "Swimming pool's dress code for non-Muslims is scrapped," by Neil Millard for the Evening Standard,...
- Non-muslims Told To Don "burkinis"
Then I think Mulsims should be told to wear regular bikinis duirng NON-Muslim swimming sessions. Or try skinny dipping. Jihad Watch: U.K.: Non-Muslims told to don "burkinis" and other "modest" attire to swim during "Muslim" swimming sessions Submitting...
- The Joy Of Muslima Fashions
Note that the Al Arabiya news article cited below is dated February 28, 2008. Fitna: The Movie (a working link at the time of this posting) cannot be blamed for the outburst of "Islamophobia." Via this posting at Sons of Apes and Pigs: DUBAI (AlArabiya.net)...
- Storm Track Infiltration: Separate Swimming Pools For Muslims
It seems not even New Zealand is being spared from creeping Sharia law. Muslim women there are seeking their own swimming pools. There are calls for special pool facilities to be set up for Muslim women so they can swim without compromising their...