Hijab is the Islamic dress code that God ordered women and girls to wear. It requires to cover up the hair, the neck, the ears, and the entire body. The main purpose of it is to protect the girls from unwanted and prohibited actions by boys. There are several theories about what is the age at which the girl must wear the Hijab; some say at 13 others say after she reaches the age of puberty which of course varies between a girl and another. Either ways, it is preferred to be worn at the time where the girl's body starts to attract boys and even seduce them. That way it protects girls and boys from committing any sins that God forbids us from. Of course, the more loose the clothes are the better. However, that doesn't mean she has to cover up in front of other girls and women. She can wear whatever she wants and show her hair to all ladies and few boys/men. The only men that are allowed to see a girl who wears the Hijab without it are : her dad, her husband (and no not her boyfriend!), her brothers and uncles. BUT there is much more to the Hijab than the dress code. When wearing the Hijab, a girl must respect it and be worthy of it. She must show all the qualities of a respected Muslim girl, she must have good manners and ethics.
When it comes to me, I didn't wear the Hijab either specified age dates. I wore it a couple months before I turned 20.
I come from a moderate preservative Muslim family. We do what God tells us to and what His messenger prophet Mohammad (Peace and Blessings Be Upon Him) said in his messages. However, we do have some mistakes that we do, after all we are all humans. My parents never brought up the idea of the Hijab since they thought I was still too young in their perspective. My dad always said that he will know when the time is right. My mom wore the Hijab when she was 13 years old I believe and she was forced into it. She now says that she is very grateful that my grandmother forced her at the time, but she didn't want to force it on me and my sisters. She believed that when we were ready we would decide to wear it without the need of being bossed around.
I always thought about wearing it but hesitated. So how did I finally decide to wear it?!
Well, my entire life I always got what I wanted in everything. God was always on my side leading my way to was the best for me. I was a straight A student always earning scholarships and on the high honors list. During my entire school years I would always be exempted from my finals due to my outstanding grades. That came from the hard work but the main reason was because I always put my faith in God and trusted Him. In addition to that, I applied to the YES scholarship to be an exchange student and I thought I didn't stand a chance due to my pronunciation problem, but I believed that if it was a good thing for me God would make it happen and if not then I was better off without it. Turns out it was a very good thing and I did win the scholarship. My entire year I was away from my family, my home, from my comfort zone, but I always knew that God was with me. I faced some tough situations while being in the States but God helped me overcome them. After graduating high school, I applied to the school of Engineering at the Lebanese University and that is the hardest uni here in Lebanon. I did my part and studied and left the rest to God and I was in! Moreover, ever since I was a baby I had to go through several surgeries. I had my first when I was only 3 months old and my last was recently after I turned 20. God always made all these surgeries turn out great with no mistakes or errors. God helped me recover and made everything well.
All of the previous reasons encouraged me to wear the Hijab in a shy attempt to thank God, not that we can ever thank Him enough. However, there is a saying in the Holy Quran that asked people if they believed in some of what God said and didn't believe in other things. It made sense to me, God ordered us to pray and we pray. God ordered us to fast and we fast. God tells us to wear the Hijab and I didn't!
I knew that everything God ordered us to do was for our own good. I knew that the Hijab was to protect the girl from the cruel world we live in that was filled with uncontrolled men. I myself did face a few incidents that I probably wouldn't have faced if I was listening to God and wearing the Hijab.
After some thinking, God finally enlightened my mind and convinced me to wear the Hijab.
I was a bit worried about how I would look in it, how people would react to me. But I put all that aside and thought about God only. To my surprise, turns out that the Hijab looked pretty well on me and I was getting compliments from my friends and family. They were encouraging me to do the right thing.
Some people ask me sometimes how did the Hijab affect my life? Did it come in your way or affect you negatively? How did you adjust your clothes style and are you comfortable with it?
I will say with confidence that wearing the Hijab is the best thing that ever happened to me. Ever since I wore it, I got power that I didn't have before. I got the power to control my life more, I was able to decide who shook my hand and I unconsciously forced people to respect me more. I was able to show the world that I am proud to be a Muslim and I thanked God for such a blessing. I was now able to sit in class without having to worry about the way people looked at me for I knew I was doing the right thing. And let me assure that it was never an obstacle in achieving my goals. I was like any other person with one difference, I chose to not show my body off to everyone. As to my dressing, it didn't change much. Except the part about showing off my hair, not much was different. I wasn't the kind of girl that would wear mini skirts or tight tops so I just started to cover up my body more with a bit more loose clothes. I was happy and satisfied with my new life style and I am proud.
I thank God everyday for the blessing of being a Muslim and for wearing the Hijab. It is almost a year now and day after day I am more glad that I decided to wear it.
Before wrapping up this post, there is a saying I would like to share. I once read that if being naked is a proof of civilization, then congratulations to the animals for they are the most civilized.
In conclusion, wearing the Hijab a privilege that comes with responsibilities. One must show good manners and not just cover up her body, that is not the point of Hijab. Hijab simply is to protect the ladies and reflect the TRUE message of Islam.
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