Mutawwifat’s Role Has Changed Over the years

Thursday, 20 December 2007
By Kholood F. Al-Rhamah

JEDDAH - From cooking meals and tidying up places to providing all possible services to women, the mutawwifa female pilgrim guide had always been hands-on in rendering service to pilgrims in the past. The rules of tawafa, unlike other careers for women, cannot be learned from schools, but are passed on from one generation to another.

"Only women from to families who have been offering tawafa services down the line, can be considered as mutawwifa. The basics and demands of tawafa are learned from childhood," said Dr. Wafaa Mohammed Mandar, mutawwifa and supervisor of the women's committee for southeast Asian pilgrims.

She recalls a time when she would actively help her father and brother serve pilgrims.
The role of the mutawwifa in those days was more pronounced and interactive because there were few pilgrims to serve. The pilgrims stayed in the mutawwifa's place or just next door," said Mandar.

Nowadays, the role of the mutawwifa has become more of a man's job with women merely delegating tasks.

Mutawwifat today are limited to preaching, visiting sick pilgrims in the hospital, and accompanying them in the holy sites.

Mutawwifa Faten Ibrahim Hussein, education supervisor in the South Asia Mutawwifs Establishment, said language barrier is the biggest obstacle in carrying out these tasks.

"We need translators when receiving pilgrims who can't speak Arabic and English," Hussein said. She added that the role of mutawiffah has decreased due to the foundation of the Hajj establishments which took all the roles and made it basically masculine jobs.