Hijabi Beginner: Revert Jan's First Day In Hijab

Hijabi Beginner: 5 Cons Of Hijab

I wrote a 5 Pros Of Hijab post a while back so I thought it was only fair to make a post on the cons too. This is so that you know what you are getting yourself into before you decide to put it on making you less likely to take it off later. And by 'it' I mean the headscarf as Hijab is not a cloth you can simply wear and in essence, is something that is applied to both sexes. So here goes:

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1. Finding what clothes your are comfortable with can be a bit of a predicament at the start: Although most women who get to the point of wanting to wear the headscarf will be dressed pretty modestly already, some are not (including myself in that). I found it very hard when I first started wearing the scarf, to decide what 'sort' of hijabi I wanted to be. Abaya? Skirt? Jeans? Leggings..?! I tried them all and in the end settled for the middle (jeans/skirt). I would defiantly recommend you get that nailed and read on it thoroughly before covering your hair. Oh, and doooon't let any old person influence your decision - I did this and it led nowhere. In the end I realised that everyone has had different experiences, you just have to do what you feel is right.

2. 'Muslim' men.. The Quran explicitly and categorically commands men to lower their gaze and guard their chastity before it tells women to lower their gazes and cover. Paradoxically, I have found it is non Muslim men that fulfil this requirement by not 'checking out' hijabis or modestly dressed women and Muslim men that don't. Okay, firstly and obviously, they are not all like this so I am not making a sweeping generalisation but talking from experience. Secondly, this is never eeever a good thing nor should it be flattering - they look at anything that moves, it's really repulsive actually.

*Translation: "Nothing grabbed his attention.. except a french abaya.." - I'm pretty sure this is right but my Arabic reading isn't amazing so could somebody verify?

3. Shopping: Yes, that cute, pink 3/4 length sleeved dress will need to be bought with a perhaps not so cute long sleeved stretch top in future.. sorryy. And cardigans are pretty much a must but, of course, that's only a problem if you're not hot on them and who's not hot on cardigans?!
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4. Bad Bun Days.. :S Basically the equivalent of a bad hair day. I had one on Friday, it was like a deflated souffle at the back of my neck which was really annoying and itchy.

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5. Headphones: Omg, a nightmare to put on in public. It does depends on the style you are wearing and I think the most un-headphone-friendly hijab style has to be the Turkish wrap where you make a knot around the neck..

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Soo that's pretty much it for me, hope it was helpful and doesn't put you off too much :S Oh, of course, there's the whole terrorist bomb thing blah blah blah.. but just as long as you don't wear a back pack (who would anyway?!) on a train/tube/bus and don't have a suspiciously large bun you should be alright..

Hijabi Beginner: Having Doubts?

When you realise that you should be adhering to the laws of hijab (and if you are a practising Muslimah, you will sooner or later, Insha'Allah), you can suddenly find a million questions and contradictions to prevent you from wearing it and we all know who that's from.. If you are currently in this predicament, then this video that I found on you tube might make things seem simpler, afterall the concept of hijab is a very simple one but it's choosing to follow it that's the hurdle:

Hijabi Beginner: Work Wear Request

Modest, non-hijabi/hijabi in training Nafessa has asked me to make a post on work and smart wear as she has a job interview next week. Although she doesn't wear hijab at the moment, she would like to wear it in the future, Insha'Allah, and is very conscious about dressing modestly first.

Now, Nafessa I have made this outfit especially for you but I am not going to make a whole post about smart dress because I have done so many smart hijab fashion articles before so check out the links at the end of this post of previous stuff in the blog!

In this outfit, the shirt is a tunic and the trousers are a wide-leg cut; left open, the cardigan will drape over and cover your figure without making you look swamped. I have added a scarf so that you have the option of completing your look with a smart Turkish style hijab.

Smart Wear by Zaenab

Here are some other posts I have done that you might find useful:

How To Do Smart

A Smart Choice

The Perfect Combination For A Formal Look

I hope that helps Nafeesa and best of luck with your interview, you'll walk it, Insha'Allah!

Hijabi Beginner: 5 Pros Of Hijab

As part of my 'Hijabi Beginner' posts, I decided to make a list of five of what I think are the main reasons a Muslimah should wear the hijab. When you are thinking about wearing it, so many things go around in your head so I hope the list makes it that bit easier to decide.

Before reading it, remember that the word 'hijab' in Arabic means 'barrier' not 'headscarf' or 'modest dress'. A barrier is something built not something that pops up automatically when you cover your hair with some material. So before you even think about covering your hair, make sure the foundations for a proper hijab are already in place in your life by the way you act, talk and dress especially around men.

1. Simply and most importantly because has Allah (SWT) ordered us to wear the hijab and to cover up. If you believe in Allah (SWT), you pray and do good deeds and wish to obey Him (SWT) then sooner or later you will feel the urge to wear hijab. If you don’t feel like this at all, you should focus on other, more fundamental parts of Islam like reading the Quran, prayer and even things like questioning the sort of effect the people you socialise with have on you and the way you act.

“And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and be modest, and to display of their adornment only that which is apparent, and to draw their veils (head coverings) over their bosoms, and not to reveal their adornment accept to their own husbands or fathers or husbands' fathers, or their sons or their husbands' sons, or their brothers or their brothers' sons or sisters' sons, or women, or their slaves, or male attendants who lack vigour, or children who know naught of women's nakedness. And let them not stamp their feet so as to reveal what they hide of their adornment. And turn unto Allah together, O believers, in order that ye may succeed.”
[Al Nur: 30]

Note what is mentioned first in the Iya: the lowering of the gaze and acting modestly or the covering of the breasts?

2. Dressing modestly in a world where women (and men!) are sexualized a lot will get you more respect from people who may have otherwise just ‘checked you out’ treating you, consciously or subconsciously, as a commodity.

3. Although a daunting thought and often a deterrent for a women wishing to wear hijab in the Western world, people will automatically know that you are a Muslim. This doesn’t have to be a bad thing though! If you are a walking representation of your religion then show it in a good light by the way you act and deal with people; if you change just one person’s bad opinion of Islam the jobs a good’n!

4. Only the people you want to see your Awrah will see it, when your outfit leaves only little to the imagination get back to the drawing board, love. On a slightly more serious note, if your outfits really do lend an eyeful and you want to dress more Islamically, start by de-cluttering your wardrobe of the most revealing items you have and then focus on covering your breasts, waist, hips and then move onto longer sleeves and covering the thighs. You’ll be several steps closer to hijab :)

5. People judge you by your intellect, opinions and achievements instead of your quickly perishable looks and you’re conforming by attempting to replicate unreasonable beauty stereotypes seen in the media.

I could go on and on but remember, the most important reason is because we are told to do so by our Creator who knows us better than we know ourselves and so knows what is good for us and what isn’t (SWT). I’m not saying that the next time you go out you must be covered from head to toe, that’s ridiculous. Islam came to humans in small chunks at a time so they could take it in and adapt their lives easily and over a long period. This is what a Muslimah wanting to be a Hijabi should do, adapt her lifestyle and clothing to be suited to Islam and Hijab only then should she cover her hair. Hope this helps any budding hijabis! More coming soon Isha'Allah :D

Hijabi Beginner: Style Trial

If you are thinking about becoming a hijabi but don't know where to start, my advise would be start with your clothing by gradually making them looser and longer. Funnily enough, this post isn't about clothing, it's about the headscarf. Converting to more modest clothes is one thing but as soon as you wrap a scarf around your hair instead of you neck, you automatically define yourself as a Muslim and this can be a very daunting experience in the Western world.

The thing you have to remember is that Islam and the Quran were revealed to the Prophet (SAW) and his people in small chunks over time, if it had come down all at once, it would have been too much for any of them to digest. It's exactly the same with wearing hijab, you need to do it gradually and over time otherwise you will just bite off more than you can chew and then just turn off to the idea altogether.

If you haven't covered your hair before and want to give it a go, here is a style that I suggest, it is far more discrete than a shayla or amira style and is kind of a 'hijabi half way house':

Here are the steps:

And this is what it should look like:

If you are confortable with this, you could start wearing it with a polo neck top or wrap another scarf around your neck in the winter.

The Hijabi Beginner

If you live in a western country, even the prospect of covering your hair is scary for most. By wearing the headscarf, you are identifying yourself as a Muslim and we all know the general portrayal of Muslims in the media is usually negative, but that's another story..

Anyway, the difficulties that young Muslimahs face in the western world can sometimes leave them feeling isolated especially in certain aspects where they find it hard to explain to their parents just how they feel because their mother and father have a completely different social upbringing to them and have faced very different challenges as young adults so they can't quite relate to their all of their childrens worries. The main point is pressures from school, family and culture are enough without throwing hijab and religion into the equation so I have decided to dedicate a section for the new hijabi or the Muslimah thinking of becoming a hijabi, or on the road to becoming a hijabi. I hope that it might make dressing modestly easier for the Muslimah living in the western world.

The first post is about 2 teenage girls living in the west, one wears hijab and the other doesn't. Here's their stories, they are long but interesting reads. It was written by Robyn Doolittle for the star.com:

ASMAA ABOU ZEIDAN

Asmaa Abou Zeidan scans through her closet and – like most mornings – settles on a shirt her mother doesn't like.
It's a white linen button-up blouse, falling just above the knee.
"She thinks it's too tight," the 16-year-old sighs. "She thinks everything I own is too tight. `That's not the way a Muslim girl is supposed to dress. You're supposed to be modest,'" she says.
Asmaa doesn't consider herself super-religious. She reads the Qur'an – when her parents ask her to. She attends mosque, prays five times a day, and believes in Islam, but right now Asmaa's priorities are her family, friends and being 16.
On a typical day, Asmaa likes to hang around school for a bit after the final 3:15 p.m. bell. Sometimes, she and some friends will hop the 43 bus to the Scarborough Town Centre for some shopping.
"I don't have to be home until dark, although in the winter that's pretty early," she says. "My parents are pretty lenient with things like this. I can hang out with my friends as long as my mom knows where I am."That said, Asmaa lives a life of clear limits. She's never had a sleepover at a friend's house. She's not allowed to have a boyfriend and any secret crushes have to stay that way.
Well-liked at school, and as happy as a 16-year-old can be, Asmaa wears the hijab – by choice. It's a decision she made at 12, late by some standards.
"I liked the way people treated me when I wore it. I get more respect," says the Winston Churchill Collegiate student. "And I like the way it looks." Asmaa skims through her 25 or so scarves, selecting a chequered black and white one, with a pearl pin she bought at an Islamic clothing store down the street. In 30 seconds, she's wrapped it around her shoulder-length black hair.
"My hair's just black right now. But a few months ago I had it dyed red with highlights," she says, her soft eyes beaming. She laughs, anticipating the next question. But who's going to see it?
"What? I'm still a girl," she laughs. "My friends see it sometimes."
She means either at home, when no men are around, or in fitness class. "It's just girls, so when they close the gym doors, sometimes I take off my hijab," she says.
But sometimes, she just lets her hair down. Late at night, Asmaa will sneak down to her building's pool for a swim. Her bathing suit goes all the way to her ankles and wrists. She wears a cap on her head. Only when she's sure no one will walk in, Asmaa takes off the cap to feel the water run through her hair.

ZAHRAA EL-ZAIBAK

Most days, Zahraa El-Zaibak and her friends congregate outside the main school entrance after the final 3:15 p.m. bell.
Kids from other cliques stop to chat. A grade 11 student in conversation with Zahraa's friend Asmaa stops mid-sentence, looking over at Zahraa. He makes a face.
"Are you Muslim?" he asks
"Yes," the 15-year-old replies, with a hint of annoyance.
"Then why don't you wear the scarf?"
Let's just say Zahraa's heard that before.
In typical teenage fashion, clothing is a pillar of Zahraa's teenage life. On this day, Zahraa's wearing a brown crushed velvet track jacket over some loose-fitting blue jeans. It's a modest ensemble compared to what the average, low-rise-jean-wearing high schooler might wear. But by traditional Muslim standards the jacket's too short.
And the jacket's zipper is only half done up, revealing a not-so-baggy tank top that scoops a few millimetres too low below the collarbone.
But it's the one thing she doesn't wear that always creates questions.
"It happens all the time and I'm sick of hearing it," she says, in a severe tone.
"People think that if you don't wear the hijab you're not religious. They look on the outside. If you're wearing the hijab then you're automatically religious, instead of getting to know a person and see what they're really like."
Zahraa is "the sweetest girl you'll ever meet," according to her two best friends. But discussing the hijab brings out an uncharacteristic passion.
A scarf is not the only indicator of your spirituality, she says. She's learning how to read and write Arabic, so she can study the Qur'an, prays, attends mosque, fasts during Ramadan and says she thinks about faith and religion and what they mean to her.
"It's not that I won't wear one," she says about the hijab. "I'm just not ready for it yet. I will wear it one day. I know that. Just not right now. For me, I want to be spiritually ready to do it and not regret it later. It really changes everything."
She knows she's treated differently than Asmaa, her best friend, who does wear the hijab.
"They think you're more – I can't think of the word – traditional."
For one, it would change how she dressed every day. Like many 15-year-olds, she wants to be able to wear what she likes.
As it is now, Zahraa gets up a bit earlier than the rest of her friends. She has to.
Her voluminous shoulder-length hair takes at least half an hour to tame. After a shower and quick blow dry, Zahraa reaches for a can of mousse and works it through the curls, crunching her hands into fists.
The last thing she does before she meets the morning is pull her dark brown bangs back with a pair of bobby pins.

More posts coming soon Insha'Allah, I hope you like the idea :D