The taqiyah, also spelled tagiyah, gefiyah, keffiyah, and kufiyyah is a short, rounded cap worn by Muslim men. This cap is worn by Arab Muslims with the thawb or salwar kameez. When worn by itself, the tagiyah can be any color. When worn under the keffiyah scarf, it is always white. Some Muslims wrap the turban around the cap. The turban is called an Imama in Arabic. A hadith in the books of Abu Dawood and Tirmidhi quotes Muhammad as saying, "The distinction between us and the polytheists is the turbans over our caps."

In the United States and Britain, many Muslim merchants sell the prayer cap under the name kufi.

Muslims always wear a cap under the turban, unlike Sikhs, Jews, and Arab Christians. (For more information about Arab Christians, see Maronite Church, Orthodox Church of Jerusalem, Melkite Greek Catholic Church, Melkite, and Arab Americans)

Muslims wear the tagiyah cap to emulate Muhammad. The companions of Muhammad were never seen without their heads being covered. In order to emulate their actions, Muslims throughout the world wear a variety of tagiyah caps, fez hats, and other headgear. Another goal of wearing a tagiyah is to be more like Muhammad and therefore obey and follow his tradition. The tagiyah cap is not a modern invention within the US-based Muslim community, but a tradition from antiquity. In fact, ancient Arabs had the habit of always wearing something on their heads. They considered it inappropriate not to wear headgear like the keffiyeh, see Sartorial hijab for further information.

The tagiyah is also called a prayer cap in English. Many Muslims wear the tagiyah during Jumu'ah, or friday prayers at the mosque, and during daily salat, or prayers at home, see external links for photos. For men, it is mustahab, which means praise worthy or seeking the love of God, to cover the head during prayer. Some Muslims use a prayer mat during salat. It is common for men to wear a tagiyah during weddings, see Nikah.

Etymology

Tagiyah is the Arabic word for a Muslim cap used in Saudi Arabia. In Pakistan and India, the prayer cap is called a topi. Topi means cap in the Urdu language. In Pakistan, men usually wear the topi with salwar kameez. It must be noted, that the Pakistani American community is the second largest Muslim ethnic group in the United States. In the United States and Britain, many Muslim merchants sell the prayer cap under the name kufi. The West African name kufi is used because Muslims of African descent are the largest community of Muslims in the United States at 34.6% of total adherents, see Islam in the United States. In West Africa, men wear the kufi with the dashiki shirt or dashiki suit. The kufi is also worn by African Jews and African-American Christians, Buddhists, and Muslims, see Islam in the African diaspora.

Popular culture

In the United States, the topi was featured in the television series, Aliens in America. The kufi was featured on the HBO series Oz, see Muslims of Oz. Traditional Indian clothing is also featured in the Hollywood film Bride and Prejudice. Although the film is set in India, it contains many images of South Asian clothing. It must be noted that the men wearing turbans in this film are of the Sikh faith, see Sikh turban for further information. Furthermore, all South Asian men wear a turban during wedding ceremonies, including Muslims, Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, and Sikhs. As in the use of the kufi among people of African descent, most South Asian men wearing a turban are not Muslim.

The Muslim world

There are a wide variety of Muslim caps seen around the world. Each country or region will usually have a unique cap.

• In Pakistan, the prayer cap is called a topi. The traditional men's attire is salwar kameez. The sherwani is formal wear. Pakistani men wear a variety of other caps including the Sindhi topi, a mirrored cap with a front opening that allows the wearer to place the forehead on the ground during prayer, see Culture of Sindh. Other caps include the karakul (hat), fez (hat), and pakol. Women's clothing is the sari and salwar kameez.
• In Afghanistan, men wear a wool beret called a pakol. The regular cotton prayer cap is also called a pakol. Pakol means tagiyah in the Pashtun language, see Pashtun people. Salwar kameez is the traditional men's attire in Afghanistan. However, among rebab players, the collarless shirt and pants called, payraan tumbaan or peran and tunban is popular. The Karakul (hat) is common. In Afghanistan, women wear the burqa.
• In Indonesia, the peci is the national dress. In the United States, the peci is called a rampuri cap or African fez cap. The Indonesians also produce a machine knitted skullcap that is popular with Muslims and people of African descent. Javanese people wear the sarong with their caps. In the United States, most Muslim merchants sell the sarong as an izar, izaar, or wizar.
• In Malaysia, men wear the songkok. Traditional Malaysian men's attire consists of a shirt, matching pants, and waist wrap that is called a Baju melayu. For informal events, and prayers at the mosque, the sarong is worn.
• In Eastern Europe, men wear the qeleshe. The qeleshe is a white cap that is similar to a fez. The Bosniaks wear the cotton prayer cap, the black beret, and the fez hat, see Islam in Bosnia and Herzegovina. During Eid ul Fitr, the prayer cap is worn with a suit. For wedding ceremonies, a tuxedo is worn. Many Albanians are Muslim, see Islam in Albania. The Albanian folk costume consists of a qeleshe and a fustanella, see Albanian Traditional Clothing.
• In Central Asia, the doppa is most common. In the United States, the doppa is sold as an Uzbek kufi, Bukharan kippah, Bucharian, or Bokharan yarmulke. The doppa is also called the rug cap because the needle work is the same as that found on Uzbek oriental rugs, see Uzbek people. In Central Asia, men wear the doppa with a suit. Uzbeks also wear the tubeteika, which they call a duppi. The traditional tubeteika is a black velvet cap with white or silver embroidery. For festivals, a folk costume is worn that consists of a robe called a khalat. The khalat is often worn with a coat called a chapan. Tajiks wear the rug cap and the tubeteika. In Canada, Neil Peart, the drummer for Rush, wears a tubeteika.
• In China, men wear a white prayer cap with traditional Chinese clothing including the kung fu suit and a robe called a changshan, see Islam in China. In the United States, the Chinese robe is sold as a men's cheongsam. For formal wear, the robe is made of rayon or polyester fabric, because Muslim men are not allowed to wear silk. Cotton robes and kung fu suits are worn to jumu'ah. In China, the Hui people developed Muslim Chinese martial arts.
• In North Africa, the fez hat, tarboush or chechia is worn. In Morocco men wear the djellaba with their fez hats. The short sleeved robe is the gandora. Moroccan women wear a dress called a takshita. In Egypt, the galabeya is worn.
• In West Africa, there is the kufi, which is worn with the grand boubou. The West African robe is called a Senegalese kaftan. The traditional wedding attire is the dashiki suit. The traditional women's attire is the kaftan or the wrapper. In the United States, many African-Americans show pride in their heritage by wearing West African attire.
• In East Africa, the kofia is worn in Kenya and Tanzania. The Swahili people wear the kofia with a white robe that is called a kanzu in the Swahili language. In the United States, the kanzu is sold as an Omani thobe or Yemini dishdasha. A white kanzu and suit jacket or blazer is the formal wear of Swahili men. In Tanzania, non-Swahili men wear the taqiyah cap with a thobe.
• In Turkey, men wear the fez hat and calpack, or a taj, a conical taqiyah cap. The Turkish cap is also common. The Turkish cap is similar to a beanie or tuque. The Turkish cap is made of wool or cotton fleece and has a distinctive pom-pom or toorie on top. In the United States, the Turkish cap is sold as an Turki kufi or Islamic knit cap. Turkish people also wear regular cotton prayer caps. In Turkey, the folk costume consists of salwar kameez for men and women. Turkish men tuck the long shirt into their pants and wear a cloth belt. The long shirt is called an islik, the pants are zivga for men and salvar for women. The cloth belt is a kusak. Women wear a variety of folk dresses with a vest called a jelick and a veil called a yashmak. The traditional wedding dress is red. Men wear the folk costume to festivals and prayers, but most men wear a suit or tuxedo for weddings. Dervishes have a unique costume. Turkish caps are popular in West Africa. In the United States, Muslims of all ethnic backgrounds wear the Turkish cap during the winter.
• In Russia, Muslim men wear the tubeteika. In Russia, the tubeteika is worn with a suit for Eid ul Fitr or Jumu'ah, and a tuxedo for wedding ceremonies. Russian Muslims also wear the doppa or rug cap. In Russia, giving a rug cap to a person as a gift is a sign of friendship. The Russian name for the doppa is tubeteika. In Russia, the folk costume consists of a kosovorotka for men and a sarafan for women. Among Turkic peoples, traditional Turkic costumes are worn. Russian Muslims wear a variety of fur hats including the karakul (hat), which is called an astrakhan hat in Russia, the ushanka, and the papakhi, see Islam in Russia. In the United States, Malcolm X was often photographed wearing a Russian diplomat hat, which is a boat shaped cossack hat. Nikita Khrushchev made the diplomat hat popular.
• In Sudan, the prayer cap is worn under a white turban. Sudanese men wear the white turban with a white robe called a jalabiyyah, see Islam in Sudan and Culture of Sudan. In the United States, the Sudanese robe is sold as an African dishdasha, Sudani, or Sudanese thobe.
• In Somalia, men wear the koofiyad, a cotton prayer cap, with a Saudi thobe or Saudi dishdasha, which is called a khameez (see Culture of Somaliland). Somali men also wear the sarong, which is referred to as a macawiis.

Western reverts

In Islam, a convert to the religion is called a revert, see Religious conversion. As more Muslims have immigrated to the West from traditional Islamic cultures, many Christians have converted to Islam, see List of converts to Islam. Most reverts use the West African name, kufi, when speaking of a Muslim prayer cap.

Two approaches to clothing are seen. The first approach is to add the prayer cap to the traditional clothing of the ethnic group the revert was born into. The general rule is that a revert may wear any modest clothing that exists in their culture, plus the tagiyah or the hijab. This is the cultural clothes approach. For instance, a Scottish American man would wear a kilt and a tagiyah for his wedding instead of the Balmoral bonnet. English American men would wear morning dress and the tagiyah, instead of the top hat. Western clothing, like trousers and an oxford shirt, or a suit, would be worn with the tagiyah to Friday prayers. An Irish American man may chose to wear an Aran sweater with his taqiyah cap to Friday prayer services. A French American man would wear a striped Breton shirt and a beret or a taqiyah cap to Friday prayer services. The clothing must be modest. For example, a German American man would not wear lederhosen to Friday prayer services, because the shorts are immodest, see Awrah.

The second approach is the sunnah clothes approach. For a man, the thawb, salwar kameez, taqiyah cap, and turban are the sunnah clothes. A revert who takes the sunnah clothes approach would wear a white thawb or white salwar kameez and tagiyah for his wedding ceremony, see Islamic marital jurisprudence. The bride wears a white wedding dress. Most brides wear a white veil with the wedding dress, see white wedding. However, a few wear a white hijab or a white hooded bridal cape or full length cloak. For non-formal events such as Friday prayer services, and Eid ul Fitr celebrations, men wear the tagiyah with a thawb or salwar kameez in a variety of colors.

External links

• Turkish costumes

See also

• Keffiyah
• Igal
• Thawb
• Salwar kameez
• Kufi
• Fez hat
• Pakol
• Hijab
• Islam and clothing
• Sartorial hijab
• Nikah
• Kippah – hat worn by Jewish males
• List of hats