BY: Lubnah Abdulhalim
THE EVOLUTION OF THE BUIBUI
There is a lot of mystery behind the buibui and the ones who
don’t wear it probably wonder how the Muslim women survive under those ‘heavy
blankets’ as some would get sarcastic about. The buibui has been worn in the
coast and around the world since time immemorial and many view it as Islamic
attire.
The buibui is presumed or rather believed to be a
traditional dressing by the Arab tribes and when they came to spread their
religion of Islam in the Coast of Kenya, people quickly adapted to their
traditions and assumed the buibui to be part of religion, which is actually not
true. The Islamic religion required a woman to wear a loose fitting and non
conspicuous attire in which the Arabs then, believed that the buibui was the
best suiting the characteristics of the attires required. A young girl would be
introduced into wearing the buibui as soon as she reached the puberty age or
even earlier so that she may adapt to the culture.
The old buibui which was worn by our ancestors was the very
simple one, with no shiny or beautification on it at all and the only colour
used was black. The buibui itself was made of three pieces of black fabric; the
lower piece that is attached to another upper piece. However, these two pieces
were only attached at the back; leaving the lower piece hanging loose at the
front and thus, the women then, had to hold the piece while walking. The third
piece was a light fabric that looks like a veil that is attached to the upper
fabric at the head. The main upper fabric had ties for tying under the chin. When
one wears the main upper and lower fabrics attached only, some part of the
front hair remained exposed by this. Therefore, the third light piece becomes
handy. This light material had two purposes; one, the woman could pull it
forward to cover the hair that is exposed and bring it down to the chin and
tuck it in around the cheeks. The lady would then use the main upper fabric
that is still loose to make the ‘kizoro’ which is to pull the loose piece
across her chest and face, which leaves only the eyes section uncovered. Two,
the woman could let the light veil fall over her face and thus covering herself
completely. The piece of material however, is light enough to allow her see
through though the person seeing her may not be able to clearly make out her
face. It is very rare to find anyone with such a buibui nowadays with an
exception of our grandmothers’ maybe or the very traditional people remaining
probably in Lamu county or Zanzibar
in Tanzania.
Soon afterwards, new styles of buibui came up. The open
abaya at the front which could expose the dress one is wearing inside, the ones
which had simple design of flowers at the end of the arm, to the buibui coats
which came in various colours before they disappeared for quite a while and are
now back once again. The coats look more official like and the difference
between the ones that were there long time ago is that they were not body
fitting like the present ones. Afterwards, came the very conspicuous buibui
which have all kind of designs all over it. Slowly by slowly, the buibui
evolved to be a fashion thing rather than tradition or religion.
It is believed that there are various reasons as to why
Muslim women wear buibui. The first is as Islamic attire in which, the buibui
is perceived as a symbol of respect, honour and dignity. The buibui is worn so
that the woman may cover all her beauty and only expose it to direct family and
husband. The old women would often say, ‘buibui ni stara’ to show its actual
essence of it being a cover.
The old women who we probably call the grand mothers and
great grand mothers of our time know of the buibui as a tradition and you may
come across pagans or non practicing Muslims who still wear the buibui. This is
because many have grown up seeing our parents, relatives, neighbours wearing it
and we grew up believing like the buibui is the main attire and symbol of the
coast region, which is actually true.
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| Photo Courtesy: lifeinmombasa.com |
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| Photo Courtesy: aliexpress.com |
The current generation has given a priority to fashion and
all what it entails. Since the old buibui seemed too simple and unattractive to
the youth of today, business personnel had no option but to make something trendy
to suit their tastes. It is then that new buibui styles of all kind evolved;
from the very colourful ones, to the transparent ones, to the body fitting, to
the official coat buibui and much more. The Muslim clerics would not differ
with me when I say that the buibui has actually lost its essence and is now
taken lightly not as of before. Even the loose women use it to cover themselves
while doing their dirty businesses. The current buibui is very conspicuous,
shiny with much to which a man would fancy about. It is tight and has become
more of fashion attire rather than a cover as previously perceived.
Now this can be hilarious but some people believe that the
buibui is worn due to laziness of wearing smartly and being neat? This sounds
so absurd but some people can even confess that since they wear the buibui,
they tend to get lazy to wear something smart and instead go for simple clothes
like the dera or such. If that same person were to walk out of the house
without a buibui, she would definitely wear something totally different. Some
may even go to events like weddings with very simple attires inside but with no
worry since they know that the buibui is good enough and will not expose the
inner dress. Those who fall under this category know themselves but then, it is
obvious that that isn’t the main essence of wearing a buibui.
With all this, there are some women who still uphold the
buibui with dignity and treat it like the symbol of respect it is. The buibui
though, is not only found in the coast of Kenya
but all over the nation too. Without being bias, we all will admit that the
Somali community makes the best use of buibui of being a cover more than any
other community. You would always see majority of them with the buibui and
jalbab and they very well portray the ‘true Muslim woman’ image. Still, we
can’t completely blame fashion for straying away the purpose of the buibui
since there have come new styles like the abayatul ra’s which allows a woman ton
cover herself from head to toe very well.
However you may take the buibui, let us not forget that its
main purpose was to be a symbol of dignity and honour rather than fashion or
beautification. As for those who feel pity on how much women in buibui
suffocate, you shouldn’t worry…the buibui is our lifestyle that we are proud
of!
