The Hejazi turban ( ar, العِمامة الحِجازيّة, ʾimāmah
IPA: ), also spelled Hijazi turban, is a type of the
turban headdress native to the region of
Hejaz
The Hejaz (, also ; ar, ٱلْحِجَاز, al-Ḥijāz, lit=the Barrier, ) is a region in the west of Saudi Arabia. It includes the cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Tabuk, Yanbu, Taif, and Baljurashi. It is also known as the "Western Provin ...
in modern-day western
Saudi Arabia.
It is but one version of Arabian turbans that have been worn in the
Arabian Peninsula
The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate ...
from the pre-Islamic era to the present day. Islamic Arabs of the
Arabian Peninsula
The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate ...
region such as the
Quraysh
The Quraysh ( ar, قُرَيْشٌ) were a grouping of Arab clans that historically inhabited and controlled the city of Mecca and its Kaaba. The Islamic prophet Muhammad was born into the Hashim clan of the tribe. Despite this, many of the Qur ...
,
Ansar,
Qahtanites,
Kindites,
Nabataeans,
Qedarites
The Qedarites ( ar, قيدار, Qaydār) were a largely nomadic ancient Arab people, Arab tribal confederation centred in the Wadi Sirhan, Wādī Sirḥān in the Syrian Desert. Attested from the 8th century BC, the Qedarites formed a powerful p ...
,
Adnanites,
Himyarites,
Lakhmids,
Ghassanids
The Ghassanids ( ar, الغساسنة, translit=al-Ġasāsina, also Banu Ghassān (, romanized as: ), also called the Jafnids, were an Arab tribe which founded a kingdom. They emigrated from southern Arabia in the early 3rd century to the Levan ...
, and others used to wear the turban alongside the
Keffiyeh
The keffiyeh or kufiya ( ar, كُوفِيَّة, kūfīyah, relating to Kufa, link=no), also known in Arabic as a ghutrah (), shemagh ( '), (), in Kurdish as a Shemagh ''(''شهماغ'')'' or Serwîn (سهروین) and in Persian, as a ...
which is also popular today in the rest of the
Arabian peninsula
The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate ...
.
Versions
The Arabian Hejazi turban is still worn today by some
Ulama and
Imams.
Worn in coloured or white varieties, the turban was a common inherited cultural headwear in the region of
Hijaz. The ''Imamah'' was the traditional headwear for many in the region, from traders to the religious scholars, and the colours in which it was worn differed between individuals.
In particular, the coloured turban is known as a ''Ghabanah'' and was a common costume for the inhabitants of
Mecca,
Madinah and
Jeddah
Jeddah ( ), also spelled Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; ar, , Jidda, ), is a city in the Hejaz region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the country's commercial center. Established in the 6th century BC as a fishing village, Jeddah's pro ...
in particular. ''Ghabanah'' today is the heritage uniform headwear for local traders and the general categories of the prestigious and middle-class. There are several types of ''Ghabanah'', perhaps the most famous is the yellow (Halabi), that is made in
Aleppo
)), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black".
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and is characterized by different inscriptions and is wrapped on a dome-like hollow
taqiyah or a Turkish
fez or
kalpak cap. It is similar to turbans in neighbouring regions, like the ''masar'', a traditional lightly-coloured turban in
Oman that is also common in some regions like the south of
Yemen and
Hadhramaut.
Additionally, sometimes
keffiyeh
The keffiyeh or kufiya ( ar, كُوفِيَّة, kūfīyah, relating to Kufa, link=no), also known in Arabic as a ghutrah (), shemagh ( '), (), in Kurdish as a Shemagh ''(''شهماغ'')'' or Serwîn (سهروین) and in Persian, as a ...
or white
ghutrah are wrapped around the head in a style resembling a turban.
Suppression
However, with the Hijaz in particular falling under
Saudi control, there have been attempts to suppress local ethnic dress and enforce cultural homogeneity with wider Saudi society. With the introduction of a law in 1964, there was a temporary ban on wearing the traditional turban - local urban Hijazis could no longer wear them and had to instead wear the Saudi national dress that included a white
Ghutrah or red and white
Shemagh instead.
See also
Citations
References
*
* Danforth, L.M., 2016. 6. Saving Jeddah, the Bride of the Red Sea. In ''Crossing the Kingdom'' (pp. 168-185). University of California Press.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hejazi Turban
Turbans
Islamic male clothing
Hejaz
Middle Eastern clothing
Arabic clothing