Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And tell the believing women to lower their gaze
(from looking at forbidden things), and protect their private parts (from
illegal sexual acts) and not to show off their adornment except only that which
is apparent (like both eyes for necessity to see the way, or outer palms of
hands or one eye or dress like veil, gloves, headcover, apron), and to draw
their veils all over Juyoobihinna (i.e. their bodies, faces, necks and bosoms)
and not to reveal their adornment except to their husbands, or their fathers,
or their husband’s fathers, or their sons, or their husband’s sons, or their
brothers or their brother’s sons, or their sister’s sons, or their (Muslim)
women (i.e. their sisters in Islam), or the (female) slaves whom their right
hands possess, or old male servants who lack vigour, or small children who have
no sense of feminine sex. And let them not stamp their feet so as to reveal
what they hide of their adornment. And all of you beg Allaah to forgive you
all, O believers, that you may be successful”
[Al-Noor 24:31]
So I had been thinking of what my first post should be about
and I knew it had to be something serious and close to my heart that others
could relate to and the first thing that came to my mind was…hijab..
The hijab is something that I hold so close to my heart. Anyone who knows me knows that over the
years I have struggled with the hijab and Ma sha Allah I overcame the struggle
and I now wear the niqab. As a revert, hijab is not something that I grew up
knowing or understanding. The only thing I knew about the hijab (well thought I
knew) was that it was a scarf that Muslim women wore. That was it. Literally.
A lot of women struggle with the hijab for a variety of
reasons. This could be due to low emaan, lack of knowledge in regards to the
hijab and why it is worn, pressure from family and friends, temptations of the
dunya (the world and society), wiswas (whispers from shaytaan) and many more, I
could go on and on and on...
First time I wore
the hijab
The first time I ever wore a hijab was in my mums shop. My
mum is not Muslim but she sold the slip on hijab that you see little kids
wearing. Anyways, I tried it on and I started taking selfies. Like literally
posing, pouting, different camera angles THE LOT LOL. When I looked through all
those pictures I took I loved how I looked I really did. That’s what made me
decide to look into Islam. I became curious..
After a month or so of looking into the religion, I started
to wear the hijab full time BEFORE I even took my shahada. This is where I
believe I went wrong and where I believe a lot of reverts go wrong.
Alhamdulillah it is a good thing to embrace the hijab as Allah SWT has made it
compulsory for us to wear BUT what a lot of reverts do is let excitement flood
the brain instead of knowledge. Instead of taking time to research what the
hijab was, why we wear it, why it is compulsory etc. I literally went “Oh, this
is something we have to wear? OK *flings on the hijab*”. I didn’t attempt to
ask any questions..NOTHING. I didn’t understand the true beauty of hijab which
is why it was something that later on I removed…
First Time I Took
Off my Hijab
So a few months went by and I was still wearing the hijab.
Alhamdulilah at this point I had already taken my shahada, learnt to pray etc.
so at this point I was seeking knowledge about the religion, adapting words
like “Subhan’Allah and Ma Shaa Allah” to
my vocabulary LOL..but not ONCE did I look in to learning about hijab.. why?..because
I thought I didn’t need to…
So I later on applied for a job which was a position for a well-known
brand within their head office. I was SHOCKED to have even been offered the
chance to have an interview. Reading the interview email I saw that it would be
a group interview/assessment so instantly I GOT NERVOUS. I wanted this job so
BAD it was an amazing opportunity so I made the decision to remove my hijab for
the interview. This was when the hijab struggle began…It was so easy to remove
because I didn’t understand the importance of hijab, I didn’t know why we wore
it. I literally said to myself “ When I get offered the job I will wear my
hijab on the first day and I won’t take it off again” *inserts rolling eyes
emoji*
I remember walking outside my house for the first time in
MONTHS not wearing my hijab and I felt WEIRD. I felt like everyone was looking
at me thinking “where’s her hijab” like I felt all types of awful. Anyways, I made
it to the interview and imagine I was out into a group with a hijabi sister…how
ironic..
So me and my fast self was about to salaam the sister when I
remembered I wasn’t wearing my scarf so… yeah I withheld that salaam. At that
point I wish I wore my hijab but the damage had already been done so I just
cracked on with the interview.
Fast-forwarding...I GOT THE JOB!! So my first day comes and
guess who didn’t wear her hijab? ME. I thought “They’ve seen me without it and
might look at me weird if I wear it so I might as well wait till I settle in”.
RIDICULOUS…ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS… I was offered this job 4 years ago in October
and I didn’t put my scarf back on till December… I just randomly put it back on…This
was the beginning of me putting it back on and off and on and off again…
Friends &
Family
So that was the beginning of me taking my hijab on and off
and on and off for THREE YEARS. Sometimes it would be a turban then nothing.
Then Hijab and own clothes then nothing. Then hijab and abaya then nothing. It
became a pattern. This was because I would always give myself an excuse as to
why I should take it off and I honestly believe shaytaan would mess with my
head as well. My mum is a big time Christian so she was never fond of me
wearing the hijab in the first place but now I honestly believe the reason why
she doesn’t take me seriously when it comes to the religion is because she has
seen me take the hijab off so many times Subhan’Allah. I have a lot of
non-muslim friends so that is also what made it easy to take it off. It’s like
shaytaan leads you to believing that when you take off the hijab you instantly
fit in with your friends and society and that you don’t have any restrictions
which leads you to believe that you are somewhat free which Subhan’Allah is the
furthest from the truth.
This is why I apologise if I am repetitive in this post but
I have to keep stressing how important it is to do your research when it comes
to hijab and also modesty. Not wearing hijab does not make you “free” it makes
you LOST. The hijab does not restrict you it PROTECTS you. If you classify the
hijab as a “restriction” then you MUST be doing something haram or have the
intention to do something haram. Think about it…
Putting it back on
Alhamdulillah I eventually woke up and done my research
about hijab which made me realise what a blessing it was and the true beauty of
hijab. I learnt that hijab was not just the scarf on your head, but also your
character and your appearance as a whole. I learnt about the importance of
hijab through online videos, lectures, sisters and books there is information
EVERYWHERE. I will leave some useful links at the end of this post.
Alongside of me doing my research on hijab I would also
research about the dunya and how temporary this life is. People try and
convince themselves that even though they have removed their hijab that they
will continue to do other things like pray, fast during Ramadan, seek
knowledge, read Quran etc. but are you really being honest with yourself? Once
you abandon the hijab you start to abandon other aspects of the deen, the next
thing to go could be your salah (prayers), then you’ll abandon fasting and
before you know it your LOST. You’ll start to adopt wordly desires such as the
latest clothing, wearing makeup outside, free mixing etc.. There is no order
when it comes to falling off deen, but when one part is abandoned the rest
follows like a domino effect…
After seeking knowledge about hijab I made the decision to
wear the hijab and to KEEP IT ON. Alhamdulillah I now wear jilbab and niqab. I
feel LIBERATED and I feel FREE. People especially my non-muslim friends ask how
I can possibly feel free whilst being so covered. Now I am about to be honest..
I feel free because I don’t have to conform to what society
deems to be “beautiful” or “on trend” or “perfect”. I feel free because I do
not have to make an effort to be visibly appealing to anybody but my husband. I
feel free because I am striving to please Allah SWT. I feel free because I don’t have men pestering
me trying to speak to me inappropriately. I feel free because I can have extra
sleep in the morning before work because I don’t have to worry about my hair,
or makeup or if my outfit goes with my shoes. I feel free because I can walk
down the road and see friends from my days of jahiliyyah (ignorance) and not
say hello especially as I am socially awkward. I could go on and on and on
LOL..
My Advice
1.
If you already wear the Hijab DON’T TAKE IT
OFF.
You may feel like you rushed to wear it or
you may feel like you are not ready. This is all rubbish. When is it ever the “right
time” to do something that Allah SWT has commanded us to do? You have already
made the step to wear it now keep it on. DO YOUR RESEARCH and learn about the
beauty of hijab. Trust me when you allow yourself to take it off once you have
just unlocked a new level of struggle into your life. You need to know/remind
yourself why you wear it, the blessings of wearing it and how much it really
benefits you.
2.
Don’t get sucked in by the Dunya
A sister who does not truly know the
superiority of Hijab will always remain envious of
disbelieving women. In the society that we live in everyone is
trying to look like that girl on instagram. Don’t be sucked in to the temporary
life and think about you ahkirah. Not wearing the hijab will open the door to
you committing more and more sins. The hijab is there as a shield don’t make
yourself vulnerable but dropping it. The other day I gave an example on social
media saying that this world is like a lollipop. You keeps sucking and licking
the lollipop because it is so sweet but what happens when you come to the end
and your left with only the stick? Some people chew on the stick whilst others
throw it away. Don’t be the loser that chews on the stick because you want to
hang on to the Dunya that bad…
3.
Pick your company WISELY
Believe it or not but the company you keep
can influence you negatively or positively. You need to be around those who
benefit you and equally you can benefit them. Those who can relate to you in
terms of hijab and the religion. I’m not saying you should cut off any of your
non-muslim friends but understand that there are different levels to friendships
and if they are not benefitting you or helping you islamically then there
should be limits to that friendship. For an example, if you used to be a smoker
and you have now given up smoking and are trying to practise, going to your
friend who smokes like a chimneys house would not be the smartest move would
it?
Abu Huraira reported: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “A man is upon the religion of his best friend, so let one of you look at whom he befriends.”
Source: Sunan Abu Dawud 4833
Grade: Sahih (authentic)
according to An-Nawawi
4.
DO NOT FOLLOW HIJABI FASHION BLOGGERS OR
YOUTUBERS
If you are trying to implement the CORRECT
way to wear hijab then DO NOT FOLLOW HIJABI FASHION BLOGGERS OR YOUTUBERS. When
I first wore hijab I watched so many youtube videos which then led to me
following how these youtubers would dress etc. A lot of these youtubers do not
promote the correct way of wearing hijab so I would never recommend anyone to
follow what they do as you can easily be misled to believe that a “turban” is permissible.
5.
Stop Procrastinating
Procrastination is a big disease and the
worst thing you can do is to delay wearing the hijab for no reason. Shaytaan
will plant excuses in your head to make you think that you’re not ready or the
infamous “I’ll start the next Ramadan”. STOP PROCRASTINATING. Take the initial
step to get back on track and just put it on. There is NOTHING stopping you. No
job, family member or friend should stop you from wearing it. 9/10 times people
don’t feel “ready” to wear the hijab because they don’t feel “ready” to let go
of the Dunya and their haram lifestyle. What is more important to you? Pleasing
the Dunya or pleasing Allah SWT? Leave that haram lifestyle that you seem to
cherish so much because believe me one day it will leave you and In shaa Allah
hopefully it won’t be too late. Turn back to Allah SWT, repent and try and be
upon the straight path…
Useful Links:
