I was born in a mixed-religious family (my father is Jewish and my mom is a Christian). I was a Christian in the eyes of the Jews and a Jew in the eyes of the Christians…So I decided not to label myself and just started to tell people that I believed in God and I didn’t need a religion to prove it. Back in high school, I had to do a research on the topic of women in Islam, though at that moment the only image I had was of a woman getting beaten up by her husband thanks to my neighbor who used to do that. I later found out that I was wrong, women do have rights in Islam, perhaps a lot more than in any other religion and that there are bad men everywhere regardless of their faith.

4 months later, I woke up one day wondering what would happen if I became a Muslim. So I decided to go to a mosque. When I was there, I heard the most beautiful thing I had ever heard in my life. I asked the Imam’s wife what that was and she told me it was her husband reciting the Quran. That day, I came back home as a Muslim, Alhamdulillah. I thought converting was the hardest part, but it wasn’t.

I tried to follow Islam correctly, but no matter how covered I was or how much I studied, it seemed it wasn’t enough for some people. After a year, I got tired and took off my hijab. I started to walk away from my faith. Somehow the hijab was a constant reminder of who I was now and kept me closer to my faith. I tried to wear it again but my parents won over this and I failed.

Last year I met this wonderful guy who was so religious, generous, and wise…I felt I had to try harder. I thought that if he could do it then I could do it too. I started to pray and study again. And most importantly, I now feel the same way as I did when I first listened to the Quran. He is now my husband, and I could never thank him enough for being so supportive and for making a better Muslim. Alhamdulillah (All praise to Allah) for him and for many other things. Thank you for reading this. May Allah SWT (All-Praised and Exalted) bless you.

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I was born to a Muslim family in Bangladesh. My family was not that religious. My mother did not wear hijab. She was a beautiful, stylish woman. I say ‘she was’ because sadly she passed away from breast cancer in 2007. We moved to London, England in 2004 and that time I was this rebellious teenager who would wear jeans, bunk school and shout at her mum. My mother changed after her diagnosis. She became serious in her prayers, Quran recitation and she began wearing the hijab. At late nights, I would find her crying and supplicating to Allah for forgiveness. You see her illness was terminal. She did not have much time. I was too self-centered to realize that. Gradually my mother lost her hair, beauty and health. She was admitted to a hospice where she gave out her last breath.

For the first time I witnessed death. With my very own eyes. I washed her dead body and attended the funeral prayer. Deep inside, I was empty. Few days later, I touched the Quran for the first time and read it. Islamic shows on TV interested me more than worldly channels. I read this book about death where it says – ‘ Every soul shall taste death’. The punishment in the grave and in Hell for disobeying Allah scared me. I was changing then bit by bit… Finally I began wearing the hijab.

Covering my hair and body completely! It was a new me… I was reborn. I have reverted from the darkness to this Light. It has been 8 years and I am a happy Hijabi along with being happily married and also a very happy mother! My mother is not here today to see all these but I believe it was her tears and prayers to Allah that helped me receive His guidance. Allah guides whom he wills and He guided a sinner like me.

Please mother, forgive me for shouting at you, for hurting you. You never stopped loving me. Ya Allah! Bless my mother with Jannah (Paradise) and bless me as well, ameen.

Dear sisters, life is short. Wear hijab to please Allah. Don’t care what society will say. Live to please Allah, not society.

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My Hijab.

My Hijab is my crown.

I am a queen, and like a queen I don’t shake hands with strange men.

My Hijab.

My Hijab is peace.

This piece of cloth that covers my body.

Is serenity.

A sign of submission.

They say it’s a sign of submission to my husband.

I say:        No.

Submission to Someone much more important.

Omnipotent.

Allah.

Lord of the Worlds.

My Hijab.

My Hijab is a reminder.

A reminder to myself to behave in the manner I am supposed to:

With integrity.

Peacefully.

Respectfully.

Honestly.

Auspiciously.

Humbly.

Modestly.

My Hijab.

My Hijab may serve as a reminder to other people of how to treat me:

I am not an ornament for your eyes.

My beauty will not be cheapened by using pieces of my body to sell your:

Body wash

Cars or

Power tools.

I will not be used in some misogynists’ music video.

No.    You may not have my number.

All that man covets is hard to reach;

Gold and Jewels must be mined.

Oil must be drilled.

Pearls lie

Sealed

In shells

At the bottom of the sea.

Why is my body any different?

My Hijab, believe it or not, has nothing to do with you:

Your laws to ban it.

Your opinion that I’m oppressed.

Your view on my style of expression or belief system.

Your hateful heart and your hands that rip it from my head.

Your not in charge of my fate

My destiny.

My.          Maker.          Is.

My Hijab is my Piety.

My non con formation to mainstream.

I will NOT let YOU make me AFRAID.

This is who

I AM.

Before you made it something for people to fear.

And attached words like “Terrorist” to it.

Before you attempt to

Try to make me

Take it off,

or Assimilate.

My Hijab:

Get used to it. It’s not going away.

My Hijab is happiness:

Tranquility.

Serenity.

I am here.

I am empowered.

My Hijab is a liberation.

The Flag in the Muslimah Liberation.

The first movement of ‘feminism’;  started by the Prophet Muhammad.

May Peace and Blessings be Upon Him.

I declare these streets

Any streets

My Hijab’s country.

My Hijab’s Universe.

We are free and answer to God Alone.

But mainly

My Hijab and everything under it Is mine.

Mine

Mine

Mine.

My God Given Right.

My Freedom.

My Protection.

My Liberation.

My Dedication to My Maker and

No One Else.

The post My Hijab: A response to Eve Ensler’s “My Short Skirt” appeared first on World Hijab Day.

I loved having people take a second look at me because it made me feel beautiful. But after learning and understanding more about Islam, I realized that I was wrong. I then started to wear hijab with the encouragements and motivation from my love ones.

Starting was not easy. I got negative reactions from people around me due to my drastic change. To make matters worse, my soul mate seemed distant and cold towards me. I was confused and upset because with a heavy heart, I had to remove my hijab to save my marriage.

Again with the removal of my hijab, I was shunned by the people who thought I am doing wrong. Alhamdullilah, now Allah has opened his heart to allow me to wear hijab. I feel so much happier. I feel secure and I urge all women to support wearing hijab.

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I am a devout Christian.

Growing up, I distinctly remember the first time I saw a hijabi in The Hague, Netherlands. I was about 3 years old. It was also the first time I saw a black person, so all in all it was a very culturally enlightening day! I remember I didn’t think it was strange when I was a 3 years old after my mother had explained why these women were covering their heads and I kept that indifferent attitude for most of my life.

About 6 years ago, I met one of my best friends in the entire world who is like a sister to me. She is the most dedicated and devout Muslim I have ever met and we really supported each other in our faith in a school where most of our friends were secular. To me, she was an absolute rock to depend on.

Being friends with a hijabi, I of course became interested in the whys and wherefores of covering up. First, I wanted to know how to style it because I’ve always loved playing around with scarves. Later, I became more interested in the day-to-day implications of wearing it.

Worryingly, I became distinctly aware of the abuse she experienced while just walking down the street and one day, I decided to walk home from her house in hijab just to see what people’s reactions would be like. It was only a 15 minutes walk down a relatively empty street but the experience was enlightening. I got some very intense stares and dirty looks although most people simply looked right through me.

Personally, I have considered becoming a nun several times. As you may or may not know, nuns cover their bodies much in the same way that a hijabi does because it is a sign that they are “married to Christ” aka have dedicated their life to the glory of God and to doing His work. I strongly urge you to speak to any nun or monk you come across because their experience of God and spiritual life is incredibly inspiring and enlightening, even if you don’t personally believe and just want to find out more or talk to someone about your problems.

We live in a world where being religious has become a sign of stupidity, of a servile attitude or weakness of mind. I believe that it is a sign of immense strength. We must declare our belief in God, the Almighty, maker of Heaven and of Earth, loudly and with pride.

I am incredibly proud of my hijabi sisters for being so brave and going out there every day to face the worst aspects of humanity head on.

“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” [2 Corinthians 4:16-18]

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I am a born Muslim who never practiced Islam before even though I still loved Allah more than anything! I always had an urge to wear the hijab but was never strong enough to go with it. Alhamdulillah, I started reading the Quran and  started to question my life style 24/7. It came to a point where I was listening to a lecture and this Sheikh (scholar of Islam) said if you were to die today and face Allah, what  you got to present in front of Him saying here I did this for you? I took a moment to think what I had to offer and honestly, I couldn’t think of one thing.

Yes, I’m a loving, caring, helpful person with a huge heart but I felt like this question had a deeper meaning. So I said if I didn’t have anything ’till today to offer Allah, I’ll start by this, and I wore my hijab  on January 26, 2015. And I have  never been happier in my life. My life makes sense now. I don’t feel lost anymore. I have a purpose now. I see how different I get treated by the brothers -with so much more respect, even from strangers. If someone offered me 50 million dollars to remove my hijab, I would never in a million years take it off. My hijab, my pride! Salam (peace) to every sister who is on the right path! May Allah be pleased with us. Ameen.

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I’m a very new Muslim convert. I was raised in a Christian family. I am living in Holland, where it’s not so easy to be a Muslim. I’m just started to wear  hijab  few weeks ago and experienced the greatest feeling ever. When I wear my hijab, I feel perfectly happy, free, confident, strong, secure, and honorable. Because of prejudices, it’s not easy to wear  hijab in my country and without hijab I feel empty, naked, and uncomfortable. No one forced or asked me to wear it, but it feels great and amazing. It makes me so happy and it’s showing me the way of heaven , Alhamdulillah.

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I am a born Muslim to a religious Muslim society of Saudi Arabia that commands specific dress codes. Thus I started wearing Abaya (Long-length dress specific to Muslim women) pretty much earlier without realizing its substance. However, with growing maturity and understanding of the doctrine of Islam, I have embraced Hijab from within the depths of my heart with profound sagacity and multifaceted import to it rather than wearing it senselessly just because the law demands for it (which should not be the case anyway).

On this World Hijab Day, I would like all the readers out there to question their purpose. The question needed to be asked is: What is Hijab for you? Is not it much extensive with numerous suggestions that is definitely much more than dress. Having said that, when we talk about the dress aspect of Hijab; the scarf along with a garb, it is not just a textile thing but much beyond that. For me, this attire is the brooch of identity, the reflection of my ideology, assertion of my customs, resistance to cultural imperialism, a fight to break fixated racist image, a mark of solidarity for victims, a mandate for dignity of women against objectification, and an aesthetic appeal to fashion.

In religious terms, it is the representative expression of the intrinsic connection to God (‘abd) and an appendage to the ummah’s (Muslim nation’s) essence (huwiyya). It is an elaboration of an abstract bond between an individual believer and a transcendent power. But is it all? No. Besides being the religious emblem, Hijab has served as multi-dimensional symbol of identity and political resistance throughout history. Hijab is used as a political symbol as much as religious one- it is a cultural way to make a declaration and take a stand.

For me, Hijab with its roots in Islamic theology, branches off outside the realm of religion to multiple tracks: a visual reminder of anti-colonialism, to protest against cultural imperialism, a struggle for recognition, and a resistance against Islamophobia. It is a symbol of Islam that is designed into a symbolic resistance to Western policy of assimilation, to protest the cultural imperialism and to stand in solidarity against stereotyped profiling that comes along being Muslim. Considering the growing violence against Muslims on one hand and on the other hand the upsurge of terrorism in our names, I, through my hijab, stand with the victims. I tell the narrative of a Muslim who is not an alien or a social exile but much like other humans who are social animals. I tell the story of frustrations, of humiliation,  and of struggle. My hijab tells the stories of hate crimes, propaganda, and war against my community.

My hijab speaks of my religion, my solidarity, and my identity. My hijab is a narrative of resistance. My hijab is an assertion of my belief. My hijab is mine.

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“I was very surprised,” Munira Khalif, senior at Mounds Park Academy, said. “The best part for me was being able to call family members on the phone and to hear their excitement. This was truly a blessing from God.”

The 8 Ivy League schools are Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University and Yale University. In addition, Khalif was accepted to Stanford, Georgetown, and the University of Minnesota.

“I am humbled to even have the opportunity to choose amongst these schools because they are all incredible places to learn and grow,” Khalif said.”

Extracurricular excellence

In addition to her exceptional academic record and vigorous class workload, Khalif is a state speech champion and founder and leader of MPA’s Social Consciousness Club.“Munira has thrived in MPA’s rigorous educational environment, where we challenge students to be intellectually curious and confident communicators,” Randy Comfort, MPA’s upper school director, said. “She already is making a difference in communities across the globe, and I know she is ready to embrace the challenges that arise in our constantly changing world.”

World contributions

Khalif is one of just nine young people from around the world to receive the UN Special Envoy for Global Education’s Youth Courage Award for her work as a young education activist.

She was also appointed as A World at School Global Youth Ambassador, working to promote universal education.

“I believe Munira has great potential to affect change on the world stage, given her combination of intelligence, sensitivity, powerful internal drive, practical skills and charisma,” Lisa Pederson, director of college counseling at MPA, said. “She interacts positively with people of different backgrounds, opposing viewpoints and ignorance.”

Khalif founded Lighting the Way, a non-profit campaign to make education accessible for East African youth, especially girls, by focusing on scholarships, building libraries, and mitigating sanitation issues. She has also served as a teen ambassador and advocate with Girl Up, a campaign of the United Nations Foundation that mobilizes American girls to take action on behalf of their counterparts in other countries.

She plans to major in political science and continue working to make a positive impact on the world through public service.

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I am 24 years old. I am from Egypt but now I live in the U.S. I am a born Muslim. When I was young, my father sent me to an Islamic school where I was taught Islamic teachings in addition to the regular classes. I started wearing Hijab as a part of the school uniform from the 1st grade and by puberty, I wore it everywhere. I can’t remember anyone asking me whether I really wanted to wear Hijab or not. I had never thought about it before. Since I came here to the U.S, a year ago, I started to question myself. Did really want to wear Hijab? I used to think if it was for my father, my culture or traditions I’m wearing it. Then I was here alone, in a new place and no one knew who I was so I could do whatever I wanted to.  And to take care of the image in front of my own family and people, I wouldn’t share anything online.

But to my own surprise, I really wanted to keep the hijab for the rest of my life. Though I wasn’t asked of my opinion years before when I started wearing it, but I was not forced to wear it either. Hijab makes sense for girls. I believe this is how Allah created us. Hijab is modesty and virtue.

My Hijab has always given people a chance to know the real me regardless of my beauty or my color. I am not judged by my body or shape. Instead I am judged by my personality, mentality, character, and humanity. For me, this is absolute fairness.

In the U.S., the country of “freedom”, my Hijab forced everyone to respect me and no one dared to ask me to dance, to drink, or have sex. Why? Because Hijab is a crown on my head. I feel like a real queen among my colleagues here. Accordingly, I behave within the frame my Hijab and to meet people’s high expectations. My Hijab protects me greatly from committing sins if Satan tries to make me forget that Allah is everywhere (by His divine knowledge).

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