The buibui is an attire attached to Muslim religious values and its main aim is to ensure that Muslim women are properly covered so as not to attract men’s attention.

It has however over the years undergone some transformations and now some buibuis are made to fit in with the current fashion trends.

For instance, there are those made from jeans material while others are grey; a diversion from its original color black.

Some of the buibuis worn today are so transparent that it becomes easy for one to tell what the person is wearing inside.

Haiya! sought the opinions of some buibui wearers and a cleric in Mombasa.

The Organizing secretary of Council of Imams and preachers of Kenya Sheikh Mohammed Khalifa maintained that the attire should be made from a heavy material, be black in color and have no decorations.

He asserts that the attire’s main aim is to cover female Muslims from attracting the attention of men.

“It should not reveal the curves of a woman, it should be heavy and should not have any decorations that can attract attention”, says the cleric.

But Najma Mohammed, a fourth year student at a college in Mombasa, says she wears decorated and open buibuis because she feels comfortable in them.

She complains that the original buibui is old fashioned for teenagers like her.

“It is not that I want to look sexy or attract the attention of men but I put on something that fits within present day’s fashion trends”, she says.

Khadija Aden a single working Muslim lady also thinks decorations on buibui have no effect on someone’s principles.

She says that she wears decorated buibuis because they look good; she does not wear them to attract the attention of men.

“All women like looking good in clothes and it’s not that their looking good is aimed at attracting men”, she says.