On February 12th, 2021, I completed five years of wearing the hijab. It feels good. I remember the time when I would yearn to wear a head scarf, but didn’t have the courage to start it in the middle of my ongoing lifestyle.

It was in 2016 and I was moving to another city when my friend suggested that would be the best time for me to transition. It would be a new place with new people and fewer questions. I decided on following this plan. The day when I had to wear it, I was so worried. If I would be able to do it, continue wearing it or if I should even start now or wait until I get married (LOL common reason), if I would be able to wear it in my office, will I be able to carry on working in a corporate environment- if I, would I, will I be – I had so many questions in my mind.

One day, I prayed to Allah (swt) before wrapping my dupatta (Indian scarf) and told Him that I was doing it for Him because He had commanded it and asked for the courage to be able to face my fears. And here I am five years later, still struggling, but alhumdulilah happy and content that I took the decision, and I am still able to stick to it.

Hijab has brought so much patience and calm to my life. It is not limited to putting on a head scarf, but it encourages me to ponder over modesty and decency in not just my clothes, but character and actions, too.

I always knew that it was never a limitation, but the fact that now I have experienced it myself, I am vocal about it even more. I want to raise as much awareness as I can. Education, job, sports, travel, learning new skills- hijab doesn’t stop one from doing anything. Hijab does not restrict anyone.

I want to raise awareness on the fact that hijab wearers are not meek and shy girls. We are fierce, goofy, lovable, nerdy and all that one can be!

I believe it has matured me in its own way. And I pray for sisters who struggle every day to practice hijab, be it the cloth, the environment, or the niyat (intention)- we all have our weak points.

I pray that you get supportive friends and family and Allah (swt) makes it easy for everyone to practice!! Ameen!

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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

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Recently my friend notified me that my story that I submitted last year for world hijab day made the rounds back onto the page again. I thought I’d share what I’ve learned in my one year of wearing hijab. While one year is a short time in comparison to the 24 years I’ve been on this earth, I must admit that I have learned a lot in that small amount of time. Not only have I learned more about myself, but also a LOT about other people and their perceptions of the world and me in hijab. I thought I’d hash out a few of the things that I have come to find out in these last 365 days. I hope this helps others as they embark on this journey of hijab as well.

1. You can’t (and shouldn’t try!) please everyone.

Even when wearing hijab, if not because of it, people will love to judge you. The worst part is that most of the judgement will come from other Muslims! One person will think you are too conservative because you wear hijab, but the next person thinks you are too liberal because you wear jeans. But you know what? Their opinion doesn’t matter! You didn’t put on hijab for people, you put it on for Allah, because you feel it’s important for your growth spiritually. As long as you feel good about how you wear your hijab, no one else’s opinion matters.

2. You are a strong and independent woman! Skin doesn’t determine your strength!

Don’t be fooled by cultural feminists, you don’t need to show some skin to show your strength and independence as a woman. While some women feel that showing cleavage and leg empowers them as women, I feel like my hijab empowers me. While this is a topic for its own post…in a nutshell, hijab doesn’t mean you can’t speak out or have an opinion.

3. You will be treated differently

No matter what people tell you, you will be treated differently. Your friends will need to adjust to you as a hijabi (if they knew you before covering), especially if you partook in activities that are unbecoming of a Muslima (Muslim woman). For instance, now that clubbing and drinking are a no-no, some friends may not find you as interesting or fun to hang out with. You know what? That’s ok. For every person that thinks you are boring, another person finds you inspiring! I have a friend who loves to discuss my (and her) spiritual journies, including coming to hijab. Once on the city bus I saw a girl wearing a scarf loosely over her ponytail, and when she saw me she straightened the scarf to cover her head completely, and then smiled at me. I smiled back. You are making a difference, whether or not you see it.

Also, sometimes you get the stink-eye, but other times you are treated with the utmost respect. I was flabbergasted when a young man (maybe a bit younger than me) stood up on a crowded bus to give me a seat. That never happened to me before I covered. Could it be that maybe there was just one gentleman on the bus that day? Maybe, but when it happened a few more times I started to think it wasn’t coincidence.

4. People are going to assume

People are going to assume that you think a certain way or believe a certain thing because you wear hijab. They think they know why you started to wear it (ESPECIALLY if you just got married to a Muslim). Don’t let that get to you! If you weren’t being stereotyped for wearing hijab, you’d be stereotyped by your race, or your style, or having tattoos, or your hair cut, or your accent… people always want to fit others in a little box, and you don’t need to worry about that. Just keep on keeping on, sister. Their assumptions don’t define you.

5. Everyone’s journey is different

While some people find hijab to be easy, others find it so, so hard. If you are struggling to keep your hijab, while your friends or family seem to be wearing it with ease, that’s ok. There’s nothing wrong with you and there’s nothing strange about your struggle (or lack thereof!) Some days I love my hijab, other days I don’t even want to leave the house because I feel weird with it on. Fortunately, more days I love it . In any case, one person’s trials don’t apply to everyone- but take comfort that someone out there is feeling the same as you are, even if it’s not at the same time.

The post 5 things I learned after wearing hijab for 365 days appeared first on World Hijab Day.

The decision to wear the hijab came at a very young age for me. I had always admired the way my mother and her friends looked while donning the beautiful fabric. I had grown up in a Muslim family, but my situation was far from traditional. At the time of my decision, my father (also a Muslim) was serving in the U.S Military. He was stationed at an Air Force base in Germany. This meant that my family lived on the base, and that my siblings and I attended school there as well. On the morning of my first day of fifth grade, I decided that I was not going to school without the hijab on. My parents were extremely supportive, but asked me if I was one hundred percent sure that I could handle the responsibility that came with wearing it. My voice never wavered as I responded “yes, inshallah.”

The first day of school was one of the hardest days of my entire life. I endured constant ridicule from my classmates and became the target of every person’s taunting. When I arrived home, I went straight to my room and asked Allah to give me the strength and faith that I needed. Weeks turned to months, and soon enough I was addressed as “Nadia” and not “the bald girl,” or the one that looked funny. I carried that same strength with me, as I entered into my Middle and High School years. At that age, the taunting became intensely worse, and the insults stung because of the word “terrorist” becoming so popular among my peers.

Living on a Military air base made the ridicule so much worse, because now I was suddenly the one who was responsible for the deaths of everyone’s friends and family serving in Afghanistan. The bus rides home were hard, because I was stuck in a metal container with some of the worst people in the entire school until I arrived home. Throughout this whole experience, I never once thought about removing the hijab. I knew the only way to change these people’s opinion of me, was to show them nothing but extreme kindness, and to answer any questions they had about the religion with patience and knowledge. I joined in on as many activities in the community as I could, and talked to anyone who would let me. It was a very slow process, but I noticed that some of my classmates who had previously taunted me, now greeted me in the mornings.

The biggest turning point was when a girl who had been the center of most of the hate towards me, approached me and apologized for judging me before getting to know me. From then on, life at school definitely became much easier now that others understood where it was that I was coming from. High School graduation was a year ago, and I proudly walked across that stage in Germany with my hijab on, and my head held high. It was an extremely long journey for peace and tolerance, but I know that I’ve made a positive impact on that community. Since then, I’ve endured harsh discrimination when trying to find a job, or simply when walking through a grocery store, but it doesn’t change the way that I feel about my religion. I am now entering my Sophomore year of College, and still wearing the hijab on my head. There are definitely days when people yell “terrorist” or some other expletive at me, but those many years of intolerance have prepared me for anything that may come my way. I am so thankful for Allah’s guidance that has always had a presence in my life. Alhamdoliallah for the ability of harsh words to become motivators for strength and wanting to make a change.

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