I’ve Recently Started To Wear A Hijab, And This Is What It Feels Like To Be Me

A young woman speaks of her experience of becoming a hijabi, and talks about the misconceptions people have, the questions they ask. We’re just like the rest of you, she says!

Being a hijaabi isn’t easy. The first stage, where you decide to wear a hijab, and practice wearing a hijab when you were a non-hijabi earlier, is a bit awkward. A bit? Nah. A little more, to be honest.

Weird looks and comments

Those gazes and weird questions are hard to ignore. “Oh. So you’ve started wearing a hijab now? Why suddenly?” Like, hello, at least I took a step. If you can’t encourage me, stop discouraging me like that, please.

But another struggle you face is the way to tie up your hijaab. All you do is keep scrolling online to find a suitable hijab style which looks easy and comfortable. But guess what? You find none, and you end up tying it up anyhow. The struggle is real. However, you learn eventually. Now how can we forget the ‘haraam police’ who keep nagging you on how you’re wearing your hijab?

“This is not hijab. You are not wearing it properly.” Like seriously? Okay fine, I agree I might not be wearing it properly at times, but it’s because I’ve just started wearing it. I’m trying. Stop nagging at me all the time. I’m still learning, and I will learn. There’s always a way to convey things. Argh! And if they see you without a hijab at any function, or at a place where you can choose to remove your hijab, they’ll bombard you with questions like, “Where’s your hijab?” “why did you wear it if you wanted to remove it? Just for fashion huh?”

Noooooooo. Not really. C’mon. Chill. It’s a family function where no non-mehram is around. Calm down. You feel like telling them this, but all you do is listen to them silently and say, “I’ll be careful next time”. Humph!

And the (silly) questions!

The next stage is where you have now started wearing hijab regularly, just like you decided. But is it that easy? Does the questions stop ? Nah. The most asked question is, “Why do you wear hijab or this ‘thing’?”

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You’ll encounter many such people who’d ask silly questions related to your hijab, obviously out of curiosity.

“Don’t you feel hot in that?” Honestly, I do. I really do feel hot. But all I know is that I need to practice it. Be it summer, winter, rains, I’ll wear my hijab and I’m comfortable. Very much comfortable in it. Thanks for your concern though.

“You wear it everywhere? At home as well? Is it compulsory?” Yes I wear it everywhere but only outside. Not at home. I roam in my PJs at home, just like you do. Cause there, it isn’t necessary to wear a hijab until an outsider comes.

“Don’t you feel awkward?” Honestly? Yes. I do. A lot of times. I don’t feel it on my own, but I’m made to feel awkward. And yes, sometimes I do feel that if I wouldn’t have worn my hijab, the person would have behaved differently, or the situation might have been different. Us hijabis are very much underestimated. Like, we are assumed to be illiterate or dumb. Nah.

Don’t judge me on what I wear, don’t assume until you know. In colleges or offices, people avoid talking to us or approaching us to be a friend. Like hello, chill, I won’t eat you. Neither am I harmful. The reason might be their thinking, or I don’t know what. Well, I ain’t much affected with that. You want to talk to me, talk. You want to be my friend, fine. If no, I don’t care either. I am the way I am.

But yes, hijabis are looked down at many times. Many times. But does that stop us? Nah. We are happy, just the way we are. Accept us the way we are, if not, we can make our own place. Being a hijabi is not easy, but being a hijabi is worth it.

Image source: pixabay

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