Saudi women need not wear the abaya – the loose-fitting, full-length robes symbolic of religious faith – a senior member of the top Muslim clerical body said, another indication of the Kingdom’s efforts towards modernisation. On his television programme, Sheikh Abdullah al-Mutlaq, a member of the Council of Senior Scholars, said Muslim women should dress modestly, but this did not necessitate wearing the abaya. “More than 90% of pious Muslim women in the Muslim world do not wear abayas,” Sheikh Mutlaq said on Friday. Saudi women have started wearing more colourful abayas in recent years, the light blues and pinks in stark contrast with the traditional black. In 2016, a Saudi woman was detained for removing her abaya on a main street in the capital of Riyadh.

Source: Dhaka Tribune February 10, 2018 11:26 UTC