While starting to write my experience towards my fulfillment (hijab), emotions like those of 7 years ago overtook me, like that end of August when I went out with my hijab for the first time, like that freshness I felt under the heat of the sun during the hottest days, which I did not feel, like that time when I thought that everyone who saw me with my new garment felt my happiness, and like that smile in my face that reflected everywhere.
My decision as a Muslim to fulfill my obligation towards God was longstanding. I cannot even name it a decision, rather, a long wait for the moment I would complete my obligation properly. However, it was my inner self that was waiting for the final moment to fulfill itself, since God is not in need of our actions, we are the ones who need the mercy and forgiveness of our Lord.
It was a time when I had 3 weeks before the birth of my first child. I was getting my maternity leave from the job that I loved very much and I did not know how my new journey was going to go. But, I did not want in any way not to have my hijab when the time for birth would come. Since as good as a process it was, unexpected things could happen, too. I did not want to come out in front of God without my hijab since God does not burden anyone with more than one can bear, and I was not prepared to give any excuse why I did not cover.
After giving birth to my first child, during a time when I needed the help of many of my closest family members, physically and spiritually, they decided to walk away from me because of my choice to wear the hijab. I never gave up because of my reliance on Allah, which would always open the doors of goodness for me.
I returned at work wearing my hijab, in a place highly frequented by people, some of them highly prejudicial towards me. I decided to break that prejudice with my work and dedication, my closeness towards patients, my pieces of advice and kindness towards them. Only this way I broke those engraved opinions of the people that a hijabi woman cannot be successful, that she must stay only inside her house, that she has no right to serve others with her knowledge and work, etc.
We should not see hijab as a barrier for our work and activities, because hijab is a part of our soul. We should not have preconceived ideas for our hijab, thinking that it might cause problems in our lives. We should be a good example in our society giving our contribution with love, motivation, and determination through the good things God gave us.
Therefore, when I am asked how I, as a hijabi, get by in a society like ours, I answer that knowledge breaks ignorance, and that our work, contribution, love and commitment for our country break those barriers built between us.
I advice all hijab wearing women to never give up on their goals, to never conform to the life they are served by the society, to never blame their hijab and see it as a reason for their failures, but to try hard continuously towards the path of knowledge and commitment, and the most important of all, to never stop their prayers towards the One who promised us “Call upon Me, I will answer you.”
Today, I work for “Bora Pharmacy” (located in Kosovo) as an Accountable Pharmacist with amazing people who respect and appraise me highly, not because of the way I look, but because of who I am. I continue volunteering in the group “Familja dhe Shendeti” on Facebook together with hundreds of physicians and professionals from different fields of medicine, which deals with everything that has to do with health and family.
As a wife and a mother of two children, plus two others waiting to be born, I try to find a balance between my family, professional, and humanitarian life.
God gave us 24 hours a day, and we are the ones who have the choice to fill those hours, minutes, and seconds of our life properly or not!
May God make us useful! Ameen!
By Laureta Berisha Kosumi