The Hijaab is just not a piece of cloth on my head as most people think it’s a way of life. Actually, if you think about it, Hijaab is the way you talk, the way you walk the very way you carry yourself. In fact, wearing the Hijaab is an attitude in itself. It’s a whole way of life.
As a Muslim girl still in campus it can be hard sometimes wearing the hijaab, with all the questions and judgments people pass on me just because I am wearing the hijaab. “Why do you put it on? You look so much better without it, are you being forced to put it on? Are you being oppressed by people in your family? Since you’re dressed like this you must be part of the Ashabab? you must have been married by 14 and must be staying home looking after your third child right? Do you feel hot?”
Many see my hijaab and make it a point to convert every discussion to a religious debate. Being a polite person, I generally don’t answer as I would wish to.
Even though the hijaab is becoming a popular trend in most countries, and in some as an act of rebellion, such as France, a 2004 law prohibits the wearing or open display of religious symbols in all French schools. Muslim girls were denied medical treatment, barred from playing sports, asked to leave the class or remove their Hijaab. France argues that the ban, which was approved by the Constitutional Council, is necessary to protect the country’s secular culture and the strict division between religion and state.
Due to all this, some of the Muslim girls feel ashamed to wear Hijaab. Hijaab is not a threat. As a Muslim girl, I wear hijaab because of my love for Allah [God] and my duty to Islam. I remember that I wear my hijaab for the empowerment it grants me in declaring where I stand in a world that more often than not is in opposition to all that I am.
I remind myself of the power and privilege of having the choice to decide whether I am explicitly seen or unseen for my difference, and for the ability to pass.
Women in Islam are just like pearls in a shell, priceless treasures, and most beautiful treasures on the Earth are hidden. So, it is important for a Muslim woman to cover her body by choosing to wear the Hijaab since they are considered beautiful treasures in Islam.
Many Muslim women choose to wear the hijaab, not merely as a fashion choice, but as a mode of behavior extending far beyond covering parts of their body. Hijaab is modest action, talk, and dress. A rose protects its beauty with thorns; a Muslim girl protects her beauty with Hijaab.
By Lucky Hassan
