Najaf Society: A Study of Women's Customs and Traditions

Abstract

Customs and traditions in their common sense are those things that people have become accustomed to doing or performing and have repeatedly done until they have become something familiar, supported and accepted and of course differ from one society to another, and are inherited from ancestors to descendants. Customs and traditions occupied a large part of the life of the Najaf woman who lived in isolation from her social environment. The Najaf woman preserved many of the customs and traditions, whether in terms of her education, which was limited to what is called the millet, which takes it upon itself to teach girls to read the Qur’an and master housework, or in terms of pregnancy and childbirth, as the Najaf woman had many customs related to pregnancy and childbirth and worked to preserve some of them until now and these customs continue after childbirth. Marriage had a large share of women’s customs and traditions, as the Najaf woman continued to perform all of its rituals according to the Islamic religion due to the city’s religious center and the customs and traditions inherited from the ancestors, whether regarding the husband or the wife. Given the city’s religious sanctity, special rituals appear there in the councils. Condolences and funerals, we see councils held for women to offer condolences for the misfortunes of the family of the Prophet or the funerals held upon the death of one of them. These councils were distinguished by their special dress, and according to the religious nature of the city that imposed religious commitment to modesty and hijab, women’s society became isolated from men’s society, which made it possible to express their feminine personality in their society. There were councils held for women among themselves, which sometimes served as an outlet for entertainment and to benefit from stories Literature and knowledge of what is happening outside the home