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litham

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“

As for the women - she does not remove anything of the clothes that are prescribed for her in the Shari'ah, except that she should not tie on the niqab [8] (face-veil) or the burqa 'or the litham (lower face cover, up to the eyes) or handkerchief and she should not wear gloves [9].

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Definitions (1)

American Heritage Dictionary

Century Dictionary (1)

A cloth wound twice around the head and face, so as to leave exposed only the eyes and nose: used by the Tuaregs of the Sahara. The Touareg always keeps his face covered with a litham, a sort of mask; he lives in it, he sleeps in it, and when eating or drinking merely pulls it away from the lower part of his face and passes the food or cup up to his mouth from beneath it. The litham was undoubtedly originally intended as a protection against the sun and the scorching winds, and according to Sir Frederick Lugard, especially against the impalpable dust of the Sahara, but the original use of this garment has been so forgotten through the abuse of custom that the Touareg now considers it immodest to show his face even to members of his own family. Jour. Franklin Inst., May, 1904, p. 326.

GNU Webster's 1913

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Examples (13)

All the Tuaricks are easily distinguished by their habit of wearing a litham, or muffler, with which they conceal their mouths and all the lower part of their face. — Narrative of a Mission to Central Africa Performed in the Years 1850-51, Volume 1 Under the Orders and at the Expense of Her Majesty's Government
I could not see the features of the Sheikh very well, on account of his litham. — Travels in the Great Desert of Sahara, in the Years of 1845 and 1846
His mouth and chin were covered with a thin blue cotton wrapper, a portion of the _litham_. — Travels in the Great Desert of Sahara, in the Years of 1845 and 1846
Highness, the _litham_ being entirely removed from his face [86]. — Travels in the Great Desert of Sahara, in the Years of 1845 and 1846
It is also difficult to distinguish the one people from the other when they wear the litham. — Travels in the Great Desert of Sahara, in the Years of 1845 and 1846

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