Hijab seems to be quite a controversial topic in today’s world. Whereas a less than a 100 years ago a woman choosing to cover her hair was seen as no big deal, nowadays it seems like it’s the most shocking thing a woman can do – yet wearing revealing clothes is seen as normal! Such are the times we live in, and before I get into why Hijab is important for a muslim woman, I wanted to share my story.
Growing up
In my family, the women don’t wear Hijab per se, though they do dress conservatively (full sleeves, etc). Though I live in a Muslim country, I went to a school where majority of students were non-Muslim (Christian, Atheist or Hindu), which I think was a really good experience for me because I was friends with people who had different thoughts on religion and helped me to have an open mind on people and their beliefs. It was only in university where I made a lot of Muslim friends and became more aware of my religion as well as my culture.
9/11
When 9/11 happened, Islam was thrown into the limelight in a negative way. People wanted to know more about Islam, and for someone like me who was born a Muslim and thought that was enough, I realized how little I knew about my religion when people would ask questions and I would’t know what the answer was.
I felt like 9/11 was a wake up call for me and Muslims everywhere to understand our beautiful religion better, before it was lost it in the hands of some violent extremists and it’s image tarnished further.
Thinking about Hijab
It didn’t seem like an option for me to start Hijab, because I didn’t see how it could fit into my life. None of my friends did it, I hadn’t grown up seeing it in my family, and I thought ‘If I believe in Allah and Prophet Muhammad, I pray and fast and do the 5 pillars, and I try to be a good person, shouldn’t that be enough?’.
Over time though. as I reached my senior year in university, I subconsciously started the process of Hijab without even knowing it. My sleeves became longer, my tops became looser, and my jeans less tight. My university was more of a fashion show for girls to come dressed up to everyday, and I started wondering about what the point was of making an effort to look attractive everyday, to get compliments, have guys look at you (a nice way of saying check you out 
and to have girls look at you enviously. It didnt feel right for me to be praying inbetween classes, then take off the abaya (a plain black loose dress) provided in the prayer room, and walk out onto campus dressed in tight clothes.
and to have girls look at you enviously. It didnt feel right for me to be praying inbetween classes, then take off the abaya (a plain black loose dress) provided in the prayer room, and walk out onto campus dressed in tight clothes.
I felt like a total hypocrite; praying to Allah in abaya and loose clothes like He has asked me to, yet in front of the world wearing something else. What I was in front of Allah is what I was supposed to be in the world as well, because Allah sees everything, and it became harder for me to ignore that disconcerting feeling.
Wearing Abaya selectively
I started wearing Abaya selectively in places where I wouldn’t be comfortable at all in tight clothes and I didn’t really care what people there thought; such as the market place (bazaars) and grocery stores. I initially wore the abaya and then the shehla (headscarf) as well, and would immediately feel alot more comfortable being covered up.
In the working world
After university I started working full time and wore the abaya to work, with the headscarf draped around my neck as an accessory. This helped me to transition to being covered up from the neck downwards, yet I didnt feel like it was too big a jump for me. I felt like university life was different from when you are working in terms of your interaction with men; at work you have all kinds of people around and a lot of men you might have to interact with frequently, and it was better to draw that line to say ‘Im not interested’.
Covering up socially
I also changed my dressing to absolute full sleeves, loose fitting and long lengths in my western outfits as well as my shalwar kameez (luckily the fashion was of long flared shirts anyways!), and my clothes were appropriate and the only thing left was to cover up my hair.
What motivated me to finally put on the Hijab (headscarf)
A better understanding of Islam and Hijab
The main motivation was just getting closer to Islam. As I prayed more regularly, read the Quran, listened to Islam lecturers such as Hamza Yusuf and Yusuf Estes (I will put up links to their lectures on Hijab in seperate blog post), I Alhamdulilah felt a closer connection to Allah and the teachings of the Prophet. When that happens, the feeling of modesty is an automatic effect of actively trying to get closer to Allah. I felt like covering my hair was the right thing to do, and I realized that my world was going to need to adopt the Hijab and accept it, rather than Hijab trying to get into my world.
I was going to have to change my life to let Hijab in, rather than I change Hijab to fit into my current life.
Learning how to wear the headscarf in a nice way
I also had a close friend start Hijab and she wore the scarf very well. I could never wear it in a simple way (some women would say you have to wear only black but I’ve never seen a Hadith or Quran quote that affirms that) and I saw that by wearing a scarf you can still look decent yet stylish (I don’t agree with those overdone styles of big poofy camel humps fyi).
I felt it was important to look stylish not because I was trying to impress anyone or look *cool*, but the fact is that it is not something to oppress us and we are young and have the freedom to try out new things, have fun with our dressing in some ways, and since I just got married recently, I didn’t want to look boring to my husband when I was out with him 
Some good resources to learn how to wear the hijab are MakeupAdikt on youtube and Pearl Daisy.
Some good resources to learn how to wear the hijab are MakeupAdikt on youtube and Pearl Daisy.The final decision
There was no ‘Eureka’ moment for me when I made the decision, but just a gradual build up to it. I discussed it with my husband and he was supportive as I had known he would be, as were my family and friends. Then one day I headed out to the market, bought all the cute pins and matching scarves, prayed 2 Nafl Salah to ask Allah to help me find peace with my Hijab and let it be a source of reward for me since I am doing this for Akhira (the Hereafter) and not Dunya (the world), and started wearing it from that day on.
The reaction
Most people were supportive, and all of the important people like my family, in-laws, and friends were proud of the step I had taken. I was surprised how so many girls I wouldn’t have thought would be thinking about Hijab told me they wanted to start as well and asked how did I get inspired etc (which shows you we shouldn’t judge people on appearances!).
There were some people of course who didn’t care for it too much, or who still think it’s a temporary phase I’m going through, but that’s just from a lack of understanding on their part. A lot of people can’t believe a woman would choose to cover her hair when she has no external pressures (like how some girls are forced to wear it because of their families or their husbands), and I find it hard to tell them how amazingly liberating it is to wear the headscarf, and the opposite of oppressive (the topic of oppression is too long and I’ll cover in another blog post).
I hope insha’Allah my story can benefit you or someone you know, and that all of us Muslim women stay proud to wear our Hijab and let the world know we are Muslim, and we are not afraid to show it, even if it’s to disapproving eyes – we are not going to take it off to make the West more comfortable with us, since it is our identity and our liberation that they, sadly, fail to understand.
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