Reply #44: Rare exceptions exist. Keffiyeh or Ghutra is head dress of Arabs

[hlthe2b]

Do some occasionally wear it similarly as a turban?.. yes.



But turbans are the official religious head cover of Sikhs.

Similarly, some Arabs wear a white skull cap underneath that could make it confused with a yamika.

Blurring this distinction by those who know no difference, has resulted in Sikhs and many others to be caught up in anti-Arab anti-Muslim anti-"other" hysteria--sometimes with tragic results, as has been pointed out by others on this thread. Few Arabs wear turbans so that when bigoted, ignorant individuals go after those specifically wearing turbans, they are very likely to be targeting Sikhs, who are not Arab, not Muslim and, in fact most likely to have originated or have descended from those who originated from India, where the majority of Sikhs continue to live.


The keffiyeh (Arabic: كوفية, kūfīyä; plural: كوفيات, kūfīyāt) is also known as a shmagh, shemagh or yashmag ( شماغ, šmāġ, a ghutra ( غترة, ġuträ) or a hatta ( حطّة, ḥaṭṭä), and is a traditional headdress of Arab men, made of a square of cloth ("scarf"), usually cotton, folded and wrapped in various styles around the head. It is commonly found in arid climate areas to provide protection from direct sun exposure, as well as for occasional use in protecting the mouth and eyes from blown dust and sand.

Local variations exist. Many Palestinian keffiyeh are a mix of cotton and wool, which lets them dry quickly and keep the wearer's head warm. The keffiyeh is usually folded in half, into a triangle, and the fold is worn across the forehead. Often, the keffiyeh is held in place by a rope circlet, called an agal (Arabic: عقال, ʿiqāl). Sometimes a skullcap is worn underneath the keffiyeh, and, in the past, it has also been wrapped around the rim of the fez. The keffiyeh is almost always of white cotton cloth, but many have a checkered pattern in red or black stitched into them. The plain, white keffiyeh is most popular in the Gulf states, almost excluding any other style in Kuwait and Bahrain. The black-and-white keffiyeh is most popular in the Levant. The red-and-white keffiyeh is worn throughout these regions, but is most strongly associated with Jordan, where is it known as shmagh mhadab. The Jordan keffiyeh has cotton-made decorative strings on the sides. It is believed that the bigger those strings the more value it has and the higher a person's status is. It has been used by Bedouins through out the centuries and was used as a symbol for honor and tribal identification.

The keffiyeh, especially the all-white version, can also be called a ghutra ( غترة, ġuträ), particularly in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain (where the skullcap is confusingly called keffiyeh), but is also known in some areas a shmagh ( شماغ, šmāġor a hatta ( حطّة, ḥaṭṭä).