JEDDAH — The Islamic headscarf is a symbol of modesty, dignity, and reserve. Neatly wrapping the scarf around her head to cover her hair demands respect and admiration for the Muslim woman who withstands the heat, negative stereotypes from the West, and other obstacles in order to stick to her values and beliefs. The headscarf is dynamic and speaks of a woman's personal style and tastes. It need not be plain black and although several years ago Muslim women may not have had a variety of options, today there is an abundance of colorful scarves in different materials that cater to different tastes. The Arabic word for headscarf is tarha and tarhati means my scarf. Tarhati is also the name of a specialty shop that sells headscarves where the motto is: I personalize my headscarf. I own it, I choose it, and I decide how to wear it. “I believe that hijab is an Islamic tradition which adds something special to women, rather than takes from them. The hijab exudes respect, confidence, and poise. The veil or tarha is a personal item and something Muslim women wear with pride,” said Rayyan Jamjoom, founder and CEO of the business. At Tarhati, which is currently located at Red Sea Mall, women can shop for the perfect headscarf to match every occasion. It is a woman's dream shop because there are over 4,000 distinguished headscarves in an interesting variety of colors, designs, patterns, and fabrics; all under one roof. The shop has 13 different color schemes for the color red alone and customers can also find bandanas, pins and other hijab accessories. Casual scarves intended for everyday use are reasonably priced at SR45 and above. The more elegant and custom made scarves that you would probably save for special occasions range in price from SR200 to SR350. Some of the fancier scarves are made of silk or may have lace, embroidery, and handmade crochet. The shop offers a beautiful mix of a collection of scarves made here in the Kingdom and others from Egypt, Turkey, Pakistan, and China. And every season brings a new collection of scarves so customers can routinely change and renew their look. Tarhati can even design custom made scarves to tailor to individual needs. For example, families often request headscarves to be distributed as gifts to female guests at weddings with the initials of the bride and groom stitched on the scarf. Jamjoom said the idea behind Tarhati is that Muslim women can be fashionable and trendy while still being veiled. “Our team at Tarhati may have started out small but we know what we are doing and we are thoroughly studying the market. Our goal is not limited to simply establishing two or five or ten more branches in different regions in the Kingdom. We envision providing high quality and creative head scarves to Muslim women all over the world. The potential of our product is extremely big,” said Jamjoom. “Demographic studies show that Islam is the fastest growing religion in the West; in the United States and European countries. If the rate of the spread of Islam continues at the current pace, statistics point to the estimate that by the year 2050, the majority of the population in Netherlands will be Muslim. Our plan is to market our products online and to sell headscarves to Muslim communities in the United States and in Europe and we hope that this service will be up and running by the end of 2013,” concluded Jamjoom.
