**6. Conclusion**

In this chapter we have considered what happens when garments are passed as 'Islamic' gifts from one woman to another. By being rendered as gifts, such garments are symbolically charged in powerful ways. They are perceived not only as 'Islamic' and indicative of religious piety, but also as expressions of friendship, of the essence of the person who is the donor, and of the expectations and norms of the group to which the donor belongs. When passed between individuals, the garment-gifts create individual-to-individual, as well as group and community, bonds and a sense of inclusion and belonging, while also serving everyday functional purposes for the receiver. They draw symbolic community boundaries and establish alliances, inclusions and exclusions [25]. Bonds between the women of a particular family can be created and nurtured through garment gifts. Such gifts can also invite new members into a family and act as means whereby non-Muslims are converted to religious observance. These garments are essentially gifts of continuity, aimed at establishing long-term relationships

<sup>7</sup> Khadija described the garment as 'traditional Somali dress', which is likely to refer to Dirac. This is a type of garment that Finland's Somalis would nowadays wear only in gender-segregated celebrations, if even there. Dirac 'is a fulllength, sleeveless, quadruple-shaped dress-like garment, often made of translucent fabric'. [24] It is the sleevelessness and transparency of this garment that makes it unsuitable for public appearances of veiling women.

which will uphold community bonds and religious practices. To receive such a gift is an honour; but to refuse them risks causing great offence, in terms of rejecting not only a personal overture but also the behavioural norms of the religious community which stands behind the donor. To refuse a garment-gift from a community member or family member risks certain sorts of social catastrophe. To fail to participate in expected ways in the community after receiving a garment gift can mean a severe loss of face. In such ways, garments given as gifts work as powerful means of socialisation and norm enforcement.

These are particularly female and 'Islamic' forms of gift-giving, yet they involve similar kinds of patterns of obligation, belonging, transmission of values and socialisation into expected behaviours as other types of gift-giving practices among other groups in different situations. Our empirical data here demonstrate that some of the original insights of Mauss as to pre-modern gifting practices are still compelling today, even when the nature of the physical objects being gifted is profoundly shaped by globalised garment industries and the conditions of ethnic diaspora. The gift remains today a powerful means of pulling individuals into dense webs of community connections.
