To anyone thinking of wearing a hijab,<\/p>\n
The first thing I want to tell you is that a hijab is not just a scarf, it\u2019s the clothes you wear, the way you talk, the way\u00a0you act and more, but for\u00a0now\u00a0let\u2019s just talk about wearing a scarf. Wearing a scarf isn\u2019t just a\u00a0Muslim\u00a0thing, it is also encouraged in other religions such as Christianity,\u00a0Judaism\u00a0and\u00a0Sikhism, but as a Muslim I can tell you a few things about it which may apply to people from other faiths too. Through this letter I want you to just remember that it is just a scarf around your head, it\u2019s not something like a life\u00a0altering\u00a0surgery or\u00a0getting\u00a0aa huge\u00a0tattoo\u00a0on your face, but it will change a lot of things for you.<\/p>\n
As someone who has worn a scarf for just over six years I feel like it\u2019s a huge part of me now, just like how you would put clothes on\u00a0every day. Most people see the hijab as a\u00a0sacrifice\u00a0of some sorts as if\u00a0hijabi\u2019s\u00a0are sacrificing their beauty for the sake of God but that couldn\u2019t be further from the truth. Everyone wears the hijab for different reasons but for me I feel as if I\u2019m concealing my beauty so that people can look past that, it shows that I am not just this beautiful object I\u2019m an actual person because it\u2019s only when you take away\u00a0someone’s\u00a0beauty do you see what\u2019s on the inside.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re thinking of wearing a hijab I would advise you to think about what your intentions are, you have to do it for the right reasons. The first reason has to be for God and not because you\u2019re being forced into it otherwise you\u2019ll hate it, you have to be willing to wear a scarf, don\u2019t think of it as a sacrifice think of it as a way to get closer to God.<\/p>\n
The hijab has been viewed as a sign of\u00a0oppression\u00a0but it isn\u2019t, Islamically women are encouraged to dress modestly for a few different reasons, one reason is to take a stand against female\u00a0exploitation, by covering up you are saying \u201cI\u2019m not just an object of beauty for you to gawk at, I\u2019m a human who knows my worth\u201d. Another reason is for protection, women are being sexually\u00a0harassed\u00a0all the time and by wearing a hijab you are less likely to\u00a0be\u00a0harassed (not saying it doesn\u2019t happen at all), the saddest part is that the excuse \u201cshe was asking for it\u201d is used too often so by dressing modestly you\u2019re protecting yourself from that. These are the right reasons to wear a hijab, so make sure you fully understand this before wearing it.<\/p>\n
Like I said before it is just a scarf around your head, it\u2019s as normal as putting a top on. But you\u2019ve seen the media, you\u2019ve seen how people react to\u00a0hijabis. As a practising\u00a0Muslim\u00a0who wears a hijab I am not\u00a0oppressed, the\u00a0hijab\u00a0is empowering if anything.\u00a0\u00a0Like I said before about seeing past the beauty to the person I actually am, that\u2019s the complete opposite of\u00a0oppression.<\/p>\n
You have to understand that wearing a hijab is the easy part, it\u2019s how you will be treated which is harder. As someone who has worn a scarf since I was 12 I\u00a0can\u2019t tell\u00a0you how differently you will be treated because I don\u2019t know anything else, but what I can say is that I have been asked to remove my scarf at an airport and even heard someone whispering\u00a0Islamophobic\u00a0things on a bus, but things like stares I never take notice of.\u00a0So\u00a0if you\u2019re in your teens or older then you probably will realise how different other people treat you.<\/p>\n
Islam has been\u00a0represented\u00a0badly in the media and it\u2019s sad that people who wear a scarf or look like a Muslim have to deal with hateful people. If you\u2019re thinking of wearing a scarf then this is something you have to consider too.<\/p>\n
People usually think of a hijab as just a black scarf wrapped around your head, and what I\u2019m going to tell you now isn\u2019t considered very Islamic and a few people may disagree with it. You can wear a scarf however you want (within reason), so if you want you can wear it traditionally, you can have it half up and half down, you can wear it as a turban or even just wear a\u00a0beanie. The idea behind this is that you wear it to the point to where you are comfortable.\u00a0So\u00a0if you are just starting out and do not feel comfortable wearing it traditionally then why not start wearing hats at first, then when you\u2019re comfortable wear it as a turban and gradually build yourself up.<\/p>\n
Most\u00a0believe\u00a0that by wearing it as a turban and by showing hair you\u2019re not wearing it properly but everyone wears a hijab for different reasons and as long as your intentions are there then you can wear it however you want. I have worn a scarf for ages now and even though sometimes I don\u2019t wear it in the traditional way like I used to before I have a stronger faith right now than before.\u00a0Again,\u00a0this is just how I feel and I believe only God knows what\u2019s best, so you should try to wear it but only if you\u2019re comfortable.<\/p>\n
For some reason people think that by being a\u00a0hijabi\u00a0you are supposed to be a perfect Muslim this is another thing which isn\u2019t true. No one is perfect and everyone sins this isn\u2019t an exception for\u00a0hijabis, so by wearing a scarf don\u2019t think you have to be perfect, of course that is the aim for every Muslim though. What you will find when you start wearing a scarf is that somethings will be easier to avoid, for example I wouldn\u2019t go into a club because I wear a scarf and I would feel completely out of place.<\/p>\n
But everyone still sins, I still listen to music, I even disagree with things like homophobia. Just because you wear a hijab doesn\u2019t mean you have to follow everything, you\u2019re not a representative for every Muslim but by taking this step you do have to have the intention to improve yourself and get closer to God.<\/p>\n
So\u00a0before you decide\u00a0ask\u00a0yourself these questions: why am I doing it? How will it affect my life? How will I wear it? And how am I going to change? But remember that wearing a scarf is an amazing thing and you will be rewarded for it.<\/p>\n
To anyone thinking of wearing a hijab, The first thing I want to tell you is that a hijab is not just a scarf, it\u2019s the clothes you wear, the way you talk, the way\u00a0you act and more, but for\u00a0now\u00a0let\u2019s just talk about wearing a scarf. Wearing a scarf isn\u2019t just a\u00a0Muslim\u00a0thing, it is also…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24690,"featured_media":135797,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1801],"tags":[15244,15526,14165,15527],"thb-sponsors":[],"class_list":["post-135795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life-in-real-world","tag-hijab","tag-muslim","tag-religion","tag-wearing-a-hijab"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n