ex hijabi

[serendipity_000]

I never wore hijab when I was younger and nobody in my immediate family currently wears hijab.

I started wearing hijab for awhile despite my family's embarrassment but then stopped wearing it again.

Has anyone else been in this position? What made you eventually start wearing it again?

I'm trying to start wearing it again and insh'Allah I will. I feel weird without it but I don't want to deal with all the questions and comments that will arise if I do start wearing it again.

And for girls with really long hair (like waist length)...what do you do with your hair under the hijab?

[shadha]

When I had long hair, I would just pull it back in a low bun.

A couple years ago, I use to despise all the attention the Hijab brought me. I was young and felt really self-concious. I hated being stared at. I hated answering their nosy questions. But now, I love walking into a place and have all eyes fall on me. It's like, what up. Even if some people act mean towards me for wearing it- I have no problem acting mean back. You get what you give. I still deal with the questions, but I carry myself more proudly now, so the prying questions just roll off me. I also strongly feel that if they can wear whatever they want then I sure as hell will wear whatever I want and how I want. Don't like it? Kiss my Hijab. Having that belief really made me become a stronger Hijabi. I want a shirt that says "Kiss My Hijab". Anyway, often times people are really nice and shower me with compliments on how nice I look in the Hijab or the Hijab style I did that day or how I Islamize 'Western' clothing etc.


shadha-

[thejellymill]

lol, I'm the same as you Shadha. I liked it when I first put it on at 16, then soon hated it and almost took it off but alhamdulillah my uncle (who is not religious so it makes it even weirder) convinced me to keep it on. He was like, "how can you take it off if it's in the Qur'an?" I really really hated it and my family gave me crap in the beginning but now everyone's okay with it alhamdulillah and it helped that my sister and I began to wear it at the same time (she did it 3 months earlier mA). I never did mind the questions though. I am afraid my sister will take it off though, she's 18 (same age I went through that no-more-hijab phase) and away at college with nobody to "talk her back into it."

Serendipity it just sounds like you were young and had no support system when you were going through the doubting phase.. that must have sucked and I'm sorry . Now it seems you're older though and inshallah you're more mature and can support yourself through the decision...do you have friends or family that could help you? Also, there is no denying that if you are really serious about this you are going to HAVE TO fight your doubts, it's not usually easy in the beginning. Good luck

[MuslimZ]

interesting take (I don't necessarily agree)
Hijab and Molestation « Ali Eteraz

[Hanbali]

shadha said

When I had long hair, I would just pull it back in a low bun.

A couple years ago, I use to despise all the attention the Hijab brought me. I was young and felt really self-concious. I hated being stared at. I hated answering their nosy questions. But now, I love walking into a place and have all eyes fall on me. It's like, what up. Even if some people act mean towards me for wearing it- I have no problem acting mean back. You get what you give. I still deal with the questions, but I carry myself more proudly now, so the prying questions just roll off me. I also strongly feel that if they can wear whatever they want then I sure as hell will wear whatever I want and how I want. Don't like it? Kiss my Hijab. Having that belief really made me become a stronger Hijabi. I want a shirt that says "Kiss My Hijab". Anyway, often times people are really nice and shower me with compliments on how nice I look in the Hijab or the Hijab style I did that day or how I Islamize 'Western' clothing etc.


shadha-

May Allah [swt] reward you.

[rawrr]

If you work out why you are wearing it in the first place, it should help you to gain the confidence to wear it again inshAllah. The hijab has been a huge personal battle for me, and it still is some days but like jellymill says, keep fighting those doubts.

Putting long hair into a bun seems like a good idea.

[thejellymill]

MuslimZ said

interesting take (I don't necessarily agree)
Hijab and Molestation « Ali Eteraz

I dont agree with it either but it IS very interesting. Thanks for sharing

[sally]

rawrr said

If you work out why you are wearing it in the first place, it should help you to gain the confidence to wear it again inshAllah. The hijab has been a huge personal battle for me, and it still is some days but like jellymill says, keep fighting those doubts.

Putting long hair into a bun seems like a good idea.

work out?

tenchar.

[thejellymill]

sally said

work out?

tenchar.

lol i was confused too, read that over like 10 times and finally figured it out. Replace 'work out' with 'figure out' ...i think its just lack of punctuation or something. Or maybe the both of us just have fried finals brains

[Deel]

what everyone said already is really good advice/great stories
as for me, i started wearing hijab in the second grade because i saw my mom and older sister wear it and i just wanted join the club. i didn't know why they covered. i just did it anyway. i wanted to copy them. then i got older and didn't want to deal with the questions either. they were annoying, but only because i didn't know the answer myself. so i suppose i was forced to study the hijab for myself, because i realized i needed to know before i explained it to others.
now alhamdulilah, i'm really glad when people approach me with questions because nine times out of ten they are afraid to show their curiousity for Islam. and knowing they're idea of hijab is probably completely inaccurate and twisted, i do my best to give da'wah with my hijab.

inshaAllah you'll start wearing it soon i hope . it's such a beautiful thing, and it makes you feel great. and people will see that about you too, even when you don't realize it


ps: "Kiss My Hijab." i like it shadha

[fatima]

i put it on when i was a kid too...i think i had just turned 11. honestly, i think it was easier for me in a way cuz i never really knew what it was like to not wear it, it wasnt this huge life changing experience for me to put it on alhamdulillah. in a lot of ways girls that put it on later in their teens/twenties seem to struggle with it a LOT more (and inshallah will be rewarded for their struggle ) because they know the difference. they know what its like to blend in with everyone else and what its like to not have to worry about finding hijab-friendly clothes all the time. these are things that alhamdulillah i dont really think about, im so used to the stares/questions from people that i dont notice, whereas a new hijabi might be uncomfortable in that type of a situation.

but inshallah youll be rewarded for every single thing you struggle with for the sake of Allah(swt) and islam. and you will get used to those things too, it just takes time. so stay strong

[ChotooMotoo]

I put it on a few months after I converted to Islam. I wanted to wear it because I believe that a) Islam tells women to wear it and b) because without hijab, nobody would ever know I am Muslim, it's a mark of my faith. I have taken it off. I had a job where my boss basically told me to take it off, or I would be fired. I took it off. I wore it to work, took it off for my job, and put it on when I left. Since y'all don't understand my situation back then, I don't want the discussion of "oh, that was so wrong, you should have sued." I knew plenty of hijabi's who took off their hijab after 9/11. I've had to remove it in airports as well. I also used to take it off for my microbiology, biochemistry, and one chemistry lab because basically it was a hazard no matter how I tried to wear it.

While I wear hijab, I can really understand why people choose not to wear it as well. It's really hard. YOu are a visible symbol of Islam when you wear hijab, and as such you are judged everywhere you go. If you're already non-white, AND you wear hijab, you face double discrimination when it comes to getting jobs and so forth. Yes, you can argue that it's just another test from Allah (swt), and that people should do it anyway, not everyone is that strong, or ready for the responsibility that comes with wearing hijab. I've also seen new converts who started wearing hijab, then niqab, and they actually ended up leaving Islam in the end because people pushed them too hard, too fast (or they pushed themselves).

Everyone has their limits.

[rawrr]

sally said

work out?

tenchar.

thejellymill said

lol i was confused too, read that over like 10 times and finally figured it out. Replace 'work out' with 'figure out' ...i think its just lack of punctuation or something. Or maybe the both of us just have fried finals brains

Whats wrong with work out..?

It makes sense to me...

[thejellymill]

rawrr said

Whats wrong with work out..?

It makes sense to me...

Yea.. it makes sense. I think it's just that sally and my brains are totally fried thanks to final exams, papers and such. I feel weird and sleep-deprived.

[rawrr]

thejellymill said

Yea.. it makes sense. I think it's just that sally and my brains are totally fried thanks to final exams, papers and such. I feel weird and sleep-deprived.

I feel for you. No, I feel exactly like you. I'm such a goof. I waste my day eating ice-cream and reading this forum, and then study (half asleep) at night....

I wish I was smart and sensible and nerdistic.