During Ramadan in Morocco, the djellaba bziwiya reigns supreme

The traditional Moroccan djellaba gains
exceptional popularity during Ramadan and
both children and adults alike wear it. Many
Moroccan cities are known for making this
authentic traditional wear, which is
considered a symbol of Moroccan identity.
The Bzoui djellaba, named after the Bzou
region in Bani Malal in the western center of
the Moroccan kingdom , is one of the finest
and nicest types of this authentic traditional
dress.
Most Moroccans are familiar with this type of
djellabas, which they wear on religious
occasions, weddings, parties and in
parliament.
Mohammad al-Idrisi, a producer of traditional
wear, said, “During the last 16 days of
Ramadan, demand for the Bzoui djellabas
significantly increases and their prices range.
An average-quality djellaba costs 1600
dirhams [$180], while the price of high-
quality djellabas reaches 6000 dirhams
[$600]. During Ramadan, the sale of Bzoui
djellabas and silhams [another traditional
dress] is twice as high as in previous
months; foreign demand is also higher
than local demand.”
Regarding the making of the Bzoui djellaba,
Zahra, a handicraft worker, said, “It takes
around a month to make it. First, the wool
is set and washed. Then, it is mixed with
brimstone to be weaved later. Silk is
available in all colors, according to demand
— including white, yellow and blue — and it is
brought from Fez. Then the djellaba is woven
and sold in Sidi Saghir Bin Minyar market on
Fridays. Girls sell it in this market, which was
named after Sidi Saghir Bin Minyar [one of
the region’s holy figures] due to its closeness
to his grave. The price of the djellaba [here]
ranges between 1500 and 5000 dirhams
To increase the revenues of their craft, some
djellaba knitters established cooperatives for
women to facilitate buying the raw material
and marketing their products. The head of Al-
Wafaa Mazouz Lel Nassij Cooperative,
Habiba Zaradi, 50, said that the djellaba
plays a role in local economy. She considered
it the second source of income for her family
after her husband’s salary and the only
opportunity for the women and girls of Bzou.
Habiba is careful to teach the craft to her
daughters and granddaughters, and the
djellaba knitters hope their income will
improve by introducing regulations around
the marketing [of traditional djellaba] in Bzou
and establishment of female cooperatives in
Bzou. The women there have started to fear
for their craft. The Handicraft Delegation in
Azilal [a town in central Morocco]
recommended establishing a committee to
control the quality of the textile used
and fight fake silk. It intends to put a quality
stamp on the product to distinguish it from
other producers in the region.
Interested people in the craft believe that the
problems that the djellaba trade faces include
lack of marketing and popularity. Moreover,
some brokers and middlemen buy djellabas at
competitive prices and sell them at a high
price in major cities, considering silhams and
djellabas are among the finest traditional
clothes. By contrast, some of those studying
the history of Bzou would face
serious impediments since the historical
record does not give satisfactory answers or
sufficient evidence to extract the hard facts
about the origins of various walks of Bzoui
life. The emergence of this textile’s industry
in Bzou remains the focus of conflicting
opinions and different narratives, including
two probable ones: the first stating that this
textile was discovered before the Islamic
conquest, while the second suggests that it
appeared in the second century of hijra.
According to the first narrative,
Bzoui inhabitants came to the region over
successive periods from different areas.
Before the Islamic conquest, the sons of
Zounour from the Bzoui Sanhaja tribes
arrived in the region, and some of them came
in the era of Musa bin Nusayr. Then, Bzoui
citizens followed in the subsequent eras until
the beginning of the Alawite era.
The second narrative suggests that the textile
industry in Bzou originated in the Levant. It
reached Morocco and settled in Sijilmasa via
the Iraqi and Syrian traders in the middle of
the second century of hijra. It then flourished
with the arrival in Morocco of the Arab Banu
Hilal in the seventh century hijra.