The Hijab

Everyone knows we are going through a worldwide COVID-19 pandemic right now. But, there seems to be another silent epidemic going around in the hijabi community. If you don't know, which I'm sure you do, some influencers around the world have been removing their hijab, posting a sudden picture without it, and saying it is a personal choice and that their heart told them to do so and all of that stuff. And of course there are the debates in the comments, the vast majority of them telling her how gorgeous her hair is, others telling her it isn’t a good decision, the ones making it a duty to defend them, and others just reading through and grabbing some popcorn.

So yeah, I've been meaning to address this for a while (not that anyone cares about my thoughts or opinions). But I didn’t know where to start, what to say, how to say it, when to say what. Yes, I am a hijabi. I have been for a little less than a decade now. I am no professional, no saint, no scholar; I am basically no one. I just want to educate those who might get the wrong info from the epidemic I previously mentioned, hopefully help some sisters out there with their head filled with doubts, and maybe avoid having more hijab slowly slipping off heads until they come off completely.

For now, I will not fill this post with a bunch of Quranic verses to prove any sort of point (I will insert some at the end of the post for general knowledge). I'll just answer simple questions with the small amount of logic I have. Plus, I don’t think I am even close to having the qualifications and knowledge to be able to sit here and interpret verses of the Qur'an on a blog post.

Why should a Muslim wear the Hijab when Allah has blessed them with beauty?

Someone actually asked me this question very recently and I thought the way they interpreted the situation was quite interesting. The thing is, modesty is very important in Islam. I am not talking only about physical modesty, but about modesty in every aspect of our life.

Here's a simple way to put it:

Synonyms of modesty would be humility, shyness, decency.

Opposites of modesty would be pride, arrogance, ego.

See that word? Arrogance. Such an ugly word, right? Probably because it is such a despised personality trait. No-one likes arrogance. Well, guess what? Arrogance is considered as a great sin in Islam. Now, if we look back at the little comparison made above, you would see that pride is the opposite of modesty. I honestly suck at maths, but, if we make an equation about this whole situation, that would give a little something like:

human - modesty = pride

The point is, conserving said beauty you have been blessed with, physical or internal, is a way of keeping your ego in check. I am NOT saying that wearing a hijab will automatically make every ounce of pride in your heart disappear. But, it will surely prevent it from becoming bigger than yourself. None of the things we have in this life are ours. They are all from Allah. Yes, perhaps we have been blessed with beauty, but conserving it and not showing it off to the world is a way to constantly remind ourselves that it is all His blessing. Not our achievement.

We tend to forget that nothing made compulsory for us in Islam is detrimental to us. It is all for our own good. That being said, not all things made compulsory will be easy to do.

How the Hijab can be a struggle

I will not paint a rosy picture and tell you that wearing the Hijab (meaning here the veil and the modest clothing that goes with it) is always easy to live with. We're all about realism here! So here's a realistic picture: it's summer. You are getting ready to go to work, and you just think about your office, how hot it gets in there as from noon, and how from 3 p.m to 5 p.m the sun reflects directly onto your desk, and how it not only makes the room even hotter but also makes your long-sleeved blouse literally stick to your skin from sweating so profusely and yet not being able to remove the piece of fabric on your head, ALTHOUGH at this point your hair is stuck to your scalp from, yes you guessed it, sweating profusely. And you dread the moment to put on that underscarf before heading out because you can already feel your head itching by mid-day because of the heat. And it's when you step out and the sun hits your face that you remember the roundish tan you will get on your face.

Am I the only one? Yeah? STOP LYING.

Here's another scenario for you, I'm feeling generous today. So you're sitting in front of the mirror, ready to put your scarf on. And before tying up your hair, you look at yourself and think "hey I'm having a good hair day today. That's great! Oh wait, no one's going to see it anyway.." (that's your ego talking btw, just sayin'). And that's when you proceed to put on your scarf and automatically think you look like a potato with it on and would look so much better without it (ahem, ego.)

(last scenario I promise). So you just bought this really nice dress, perfect colour, perfect size, amazing design. You go home and try it on. Obviously you're at home so you don't wear the longsleeved shirt underneath, or the pants to cover the few centimetres of your leg that the dress does not cover. You try it on and see how beautiful it looks. But, you think how much more pretty it is without sleeves, with the ankles showing because that goes well with the shoes you plan to wear with the dress. And you fall into the same whirlwind again.

My point is, the hijab can be a struggle. Being constantly exposed to pictures of girls looking beautiful in crop tops and tight jeans on social media isn't always easy. Seeing someone roaming around in a tank top in the summer while you feel like you're melting underneath your hijab and long sleeves isn't always easy. Not being able to buy the trendy outfits influencers share on Instagram because it is not modest enough isn't always easy. Having to look up to "role models" who themselves struggle with the hijab and wear alternatives to it, creating so many doubts in your mind, isn't easy.

But here's the catch, life was never supposed to be easy. We were not put on this earth to live a perfect life. Life was meant to have obstacles, ups and downs. We were meant to be faced with challenges and so much of our future is based on how we respond to these challenges. Choosing the easy way out of a struggle does not take the struggle away. It will come back to you later, in this life or the next. The hijab is not just a religious duty, but it is also a commitment. That means it stays, even on the hard days, even when you're bored of it.

The beauty of the Hijab

Wearing a hijab does not mean taking your beauty away. It does not mean that you will never look good. Nor does it mean you will never feel confident. It simply means you will be beautiful in a modest way to the world. You will be modestly confident. And if you ask me, that's pretty amazing.

Wearing the hijab means having a constant reminder of Your Creator, wherever you go, whatever you are doing. It means wearing a veil around your heart, keeping the darkness of the world away from it. It means having a little voice in your head reminding you of your faith, of the meaning of Al-Mu'izz, Al-Walî and An-Nûr*. It means having a daily source of blessings.

Wearing the hijab is a public assertion of our religion. It is an automatic feeling of sisterhood when seeing another woman wearing it. It is a reminder of our Beloved Prophet ﷺ, how many difficulties he faced for the sake of Islam, how he was insulted, attacked and blamed of so many awful things and still had mercy to pray for the people going against him.

The hijab is a shield.

This life is a constant battle.

Why, oh why, would anyone drop down their shield in the middle of a battle?

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*three of the ninety-nine names of Allah

Al-Mu'izz: The One who gives Honor

Al-Walî: The Protective Friend

An-Nûr: The Light

Verses about arrogance:

“… truly He likes not the proud” (Quran, 16:23)

“Verily! Those who disdain My worship (because of arrogance), they will surely enter Hell in humiliation!” (Quran, 40:60)

Verses about Hijab:

"O you Children of Adam! We have bestowed on you raiment to cover your shame as well as to be an adornment to you. But the raiment of righteousness, that is the best. Such are among the Signs of Allah, that they may receive admonition.” (Quran 7:26)

“And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what must ordinarily appear therof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands' fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers, or their brothers' sons or their sisters' sons, or their women or the servants whom their right hands possess, or male servants free of physical needs, or small children who have no sense of the shame of sex, and that they should not strike their feet in order to draw attention to their hidden ornaments. And O you Believers, turn you all together towards Allah, that you may attain Bliss.” (Quran 24:31).