A çarşaf (Ottoman Turkish: چارشاف), commonly transliterated to English as charshaf,[1] is a simple, loose over-garment, essentially a robe-like dress, similar to the abaya and chador; see also niqab head-cover and burqa (body and face cover).
The çarşaf is usually black. As with the Iranian chador, the çarşaf usually covers the lower part of the face, and the cloth is held together by a pin placed below the nose. Sometimes, the part of the cloth that covers the lower face is pinned laterally. In contrast to the chador, the çarşaf usually consists of two parts; a top that hangs to about the waist and a bottom that is cut like a wide, floor-length skirt.
The çarşaf, rather than being a form of traditional Islamic clothing, first became common towards the end of the 19th century, during the reign of Abdulhamid II (1876-1908), as a form of rejection of Western influences (see First Constitutional Era). From then, it continued to be used prevalently in remote parts of the former Ottoman Empire such as Yemen, where it is still widespread today.
According to research from 2012 (N/I, N/A 6%), less than 2% of women wore it in Turkey and 5% in Iraq.[2] According to another survey, only 0.1% of Turkish women wore the çarşaf in 2012.[3]
However, it is used for prayer by women, similar to the use of the mukena in Muslim Southeast Asia.
In modern Turkish, çarşaf mainly means 'sheet', 'linen', 'bed lining' etc.[4]
See also
editReferences
edit- ↑ Cassar Pullicino, Joseph (1962). "200 Maltese Folk-Songs" (PDF). Maltese Folklore Review: 25. Archived from the original on 16 April 2016.
- ↑ "El Ezher 'kara çarşaf' tartışmasını kapattı" [Al-Azhar closed the 'black veil' debate.]. Retrieved 13 March 2016. See also Al-Azhar al-Sharif.
- ↑ Çarkoğlu, Ali; Toprak, Binnaz (2007). Sanders, Jenny (ed.). Religion, society and politics in a changing Turkey (PDF). Translated by Çiğdem Aksoy Fromm (Turkish to English). Karaköy, İstanbul: TESEV publications. p. 64. ISBN 978-975-8112-90-6. Retrieved 2026-06-08.
- ↑ "çarşaf". Tureng dictionary (Turkish-English). Retrieved 2025-07-06 – via tureng.com. See also Tureng dictionary.