My Hijab Story

Recently, some of our followers shared their courageous hijab stories with us. We were so inspired that we decided to re-post a few. 

@h_ayts I started to wear my hijab three years ago. I had thought about it before but after my best friend passed away it really opened my eyes that life is too short to keep my postponing on wearing hijab. Now I wear it and I am proud alhamduillah.

@maryakurd When I started wearing the hijab I was 15 years old. The reason I started wearing it was because I wanted to be more religious and find more about my religion. I watched videos of the judgement day and about what would happen in the grave. I decided that I wanted to become better as a person and as a Muslim. So I started to wear it. I was really proud of it, and I still am very proud of the fact that I started wearing it. I got many different reactions when I started wearing it. My teachers thought that I was forced to wear it by my parents and I explained that it wasn't like that. Some thought that I was married off to a man that forced me to wear it and stuff like that. Some called me ugly, that I looked old in it -there are still a lot of people who does that. Some said that it made me beautiful. However, I got more negative comments about it than the positive ones. Sometimes it made me really sad and angry. Sometimes I simply ignored it. Once I thought of taking my hijab off, because of the negative comments and it also gave me depression. I started to hate myself and the way I looked while wearing the hijab. I wanted to stop hating myself and stop thinking about taking it off. So I started to ask myself questions about it: why did you wear it in the first place? Did you feel proud or were you scared? I remembered how it felt for the first time when I wore it and how much it made me feel happy about myself and how much it made me feel beautiful no matter what people thought. Now I'm starting to feel better little by little and the thoughts about taking the hijab off is gone. I'm grateful for Allah for everything and for the friends that always supported me when I felt sad.

@thamil_vili I converted to Islam about a year and a half ago from Hinduism. After doing research and trying to understand the logistics of the word khimar in the Quran and interpretations of Islamic scholars, I decided that I wanted to wear the hijab. However, I haven't been able to because my parents are close minded and have not been accepting. While I have received threats from my parents, I have decided to be patient and wait to wear the hijab until I go to university this fall, for the safety of myself and my younger sisters. Some days, I feel blessed to be able to wear the hijab and feel empowered by the freedom of being able to practice Islam. The hijab is something that is supposed to protect women and bring them closer to Allah (swt). In many places, there are women who feel oppressed and forced to cover up, causing them to despise the hijab. While the hijab stands for something so powerful, one should be given the freedom to choose because there's no compulsion in Islam. My journey has made me become more open-minded, to not judge other Muslim women for whether or not they wear the hijab because we don't know what's in their hearts, their intentions or their struggles. The hijab represents who I am and wearing it makes me represent the Muslim Ummah; wearing the hijab makes me feel empowered. I have come to realize that showcasing or altering my outer beauty to fit the standards of society will cause greater harm for myself. In order to not become attached to this dunya (temporary life), I feel that I must plan for the Hereafter as much as I can by becoming more obedient to Allah (swt) by following what is asked of me in the Quran and from studying the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (saw).

@hiramunir.r I can never truly explain why I started doing hijab, because, in all the reality the reasons I provide you with, the most important one is that Allah (swt) opened my heart to it. I started the hijab to defend myself from the lustful gaze of men; from the continuous judgements of people on the basis of my looks, and only regarding them. It liberated me as created my own identity. The love from hijab since that day only elevates in my heart, simultaneously, increasing my self-esteem and the control over what and who I offer myself to be seen. My hijab has played the biggest role towards self-realization and self-worth, and I can't tell you how incredibly grateful I am to have taken that step. It has empowered me beyond any measure. When I started it, I met with a lot of criticism, still do, over how flawed my hijab is and some even saying I look better off without it, but I truly believe only Allah (swt) is aware of my intentions and efforts. I have never regarded physical appearance, it's not what allures me, and I want people to do just the same. I want to bring about a change in the mentality of the people I live amongst, and for that, I needed to bring that change in myself. I wanted to grasp any chance of making my bond stronger with my Lord, so I seized this opportunity. However, hijab isn't just covering up the apparent, it carries a far more deeper meaning. It's attaining modesty, it's embellishing our character and it's having a beautiful patience. It's a promise, to never stop trying to seek God in everything, through everything.

Share your story with us in the comment section! #MyHijabStory

Stay Humble, 

Yusra S