Oman sets up to $2,600 fine for citizens wearing 'tampered' traditional dishdasha

Gulf Today Report

The government of the Sultanate of Oman has decided to fine anyone who does not wear the white dishdasha, after a government decision earlier this month to preserve the Omani heritage.

On the streets of the Sultanate, Omanis used to wear the traditional clothes  which consist of a long no collar dishdasha and a head covering, which differs from the other GCC countries as it is a turban of different colours, wrapped in a special way.

At the beginning of January 2022, the Omani Minister of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion, Qais Bin Mohammed Al Yousef, issued a decision related to the Omani dishdasha, stipulating a ban on importing or designing traditional Omani clothes, compromising them or making any modifications to them which may harm the Omani identity.

According to the decision, a fine of not exceeding 1,000 Omani rials ($2,600) will be imposed on anyone who violates the provisions of this decision. The fine is doubled in the event of a repeat violation.

A source at the ministry affirmed that the specific specifications set by the ministry require that the dishdasha is without a collar, and that the main pieces of it are externally and visible to the eye, besides being made of a single-coloured fabric.

The authorities warned several times last year not to harm or abuse traditional Omani clothes by sewing, drawing or printing logos or trademarks of foreign clubs, placing a drawing that violates the public taste or merging designs between the sleeve and dishdasha with shapes and models which harm the looking of the traditional Omani costumes.”