Fatima Amenda
Junior Member
Suban’Allah I began studying Islam just after the Egyptian revolution in 2011. Friday February 11 2011 renewed my faith 110 percent the power of prayer is powerful for a reason, that the will of Allah swt answered the prayers from the unity of Egyptians. The Arab Springs in Egypt to me was a great sign and invitation of a mass Exodus for the world watching to Muslims and Non Muslim alike to leave behind our vain desires of sin including our never ending attachment to our iPhones, iPads, iPods, so many ‘i’s connecting to the world of space age technology (used for the wrong reasons, instead of righteous actions). It was a call to prayer to come towards the right path, not to be lost anymore and left behind. Allah swt reminds us in many ayats throughout the Qur’an about a specific lifestyle, as we know as Muslims these messages are timeless:
“Then, after them, We sent Moses with our tokens unto Pharaoh and his chiefs, but they repelled them. Now, see the nature of the consequence for the corrupters! (7.103).
Living in the society and lifestyle I was raised the pressures of vanity had put a price tag on my life especially my insecurities (cosmetics industry first gained 82 million dollars in 1912, in 1967, 7 billion dollars, 2007 $170 Billion dollars to change the way a woman looks and smells). What we are told is a carefree spirit in the freewill society is really enslaving our spirit with a heavy price to pay; in the end if we don’t heed the warnings we suffer great regrets in our individual life and as a community.
Wearing the hijab is one of the many true gifts and blessing from Allah swt. During my first year of study in 2011 and first half of 2012, Suban’Allah I began changing, from being concerned about my hair and makeup to wearing a hat, buying lose clothing and began discarding wearing makeup. I realized even with mascara I couldn’t perform proper ablution. Alhamdulillah after making Shahada on July 21 2012 I was ready to wear hijab, not only was I ready I was excited although it didn’t come easy.
Beginning to wear hijab and discarding all makeup was a difficult transition because I would look in the mirror and didn’t feel I was looking at me, the person I knew nor did I see a Muslim looking back. I would cry while hearing this voice in my head telling me to stop wearing this hijab but I didn’t give up instead I would pray to Allah Subana wa Ta’ala, Please Allah! Let me love my hijab. I would pray when I performed ablution to wipe away the vanity from my eyes.
I would struggle with how to wear one while looking in the mirror. It was taking me an hour to learn to wrap one where I would feel comfortable, I would watch Youtube videos and realized I was wrapping my hijab right but this was an inner struggle of my outer vanity, so I would pray to Allah Subana Wa Ta’ala to give me ease in wearing my hijab. It took months of fighting in the mirror if I wanted to go out taking sometimes an hour and in tears until one day I cried so much because I didn’t want to stop wearing my hijab but to stop this fuss in the mirror. I was crying so hard when I felt a gentle tug at my heart telling me to go try one more time and so I did. Alhamdulillah it took me five minutes to wrap and was so easy Suban’Allah, when this happened I also saw a Muslimah looking back, not the deception of my eyes anymore that the mirror wanted to confuse me with.
“O Allah! Purify my heart of hypocrisy, my actions of pretence, my tongue of lies and my eyes of deception. For You know well the deception of the eye and all that is concealed in the heart “[Kanz al-Ummal of Ali al-Muttaqi]
The concept of the ‘makeup your face, perfume your body’ was all I knew, Suban’Allah I felt so liberated and given dignity as a woman when I became part of the Islamic community and realized beauty comes from the mind and spirit, the inner self, the outer self is just an illusion (test) on what we want others to perceive about us, but even more, how we perceive ourselves.
Allah Subana Wa Ta’ala promised Muslim woman when we wear a hijab we are recognized, and as more women become Muslim the more womenof strength will show the world a woman in hijab is to be respected. A hijab/niqab/burka wearing woman is not oppression, telling a Muslim woman we can’t wear one and be covered up or shouldn’t wear one, is oppression. We are intelligent human beings who are more then a hijab , instead the hijab is a large part of our identity so we can be recognized as an individual and not be annoyed.
“O Prophet, tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks close round them (when they go abroad). That will be better, so that they may be recognised and not annoyed. Allah is ever Forgiving, Merciful.” (Quran 33:59)
The Beauty of a Muslim woman is felt more then seen and we don’t want to become just another face in the crowd, if we do it is then we will actually loose our identity and risk being put on the market for every Tom, Dick and Harry to think they can approach us with unclean thoughts or intentions, instead they see a woman not to be annoyed because we submit with the Prophet of Allah
“Then, after them, We sent Moses with our tokens unto Pharaoh and his chiefs, but they repelled them. Now, see the nature of the consequence for the corrupters! (7.103).
Living in the society and lifestyle I was raised the pressures of vanity had put a price tag on my life especially my insecurities (cosmetics industry first gained 82 million dollars in 1912, in 1967, 7 billion dollars, 2007 $170 Billion dollars to change the way a woman looks and smells). What we are told is a carefree spirit in the freewill society is really enslaving our spirit with a heavy price to pay; in the end if we don’t heed the warnings we suffer great regrets in our individual life and as a community.
Wearing the hijab is one of the many true gifts and blessing from Allah swt. During my first year of study in 2011 and first half of 2012, Suban’Allah I began changing, from being concerned about my hair and makeup to wearing a hat, buying lose clothing and began discarding wearing makeup. I realized even with mascara I couldn’t perform proper ablution. Alhamdulillah after making Shahada on July 21 2012 I was ready to wear hijab, not only was I ready I was excited although it didn’t come easy.
Beginning to wear hijab and discarding all makeup was a difficult transition because I would look in the mirror and didn’t feel I was looking at me, the person I knew nor did I see a Muslim looking back. I would cry while hearing this voice in my head telling me to stop wearing this hijab but I didn’t give up instead I would pray to Allah Subana wa Ta’ala, Please Allah! Let me love my hijab. I would pray when I performed ablution to wipe away the vanity from my eyes.
I would struggle with how to wear one while looking in the mirror. It was taking me an hour to learn to wrap one where I would feel comfortable, I would watch Youtube videos and realized I was wrapping my hijab right but this was an inner struggle of my outer vanity, so I would pray to Allah Subana Wa Ta’ala to give me ease in wearing my hijab. It took months of fighting in the mirror if I wanted to go out taking sometimes an hour and in tears until one day I cried so much because I didn’t want to stop wearing my hijab but to stop this fuss in the mirror. I was crying so hard when I felt a gentle tug at my heart telling me to go try one more time and so I did. Alhamdulillah it took me five minutes to wrap and was so easy Suban’Allah, when this happened I also saw a Muslimah looking back, not the deception of my eyes anymore that the mirror wanted to confuse me with.
“O Allah! Purify my heart of hypocrisy, my actions of pretence, my tongue of lies and my eyes of deception. For You know well the deception of the eye and all that is concealed in the heart “[Kanz al-Ummal of Ali al-Muttaqi]
The concept of the ‘makeup your face, perfume your body’ was all I knew, Suban’Allah I felt so liberated and given dignity as a woman when I became part of the Islamic community and realized beauty comes from the mind and spirit, the inner self, the outer self is just an illusion (test) on what we want others to perceive about us, but even more, how we perceive ourselves.
Allah Subana Wa Ta’ala promised Muslim woman when we wear a hijab we are recognized, and as more women become Muslim the more womenof strength will show the world a woman in hijab is to be respected. A hijab/niqab/burka wearing woman is not oppression, telling a Muslim woman we can’t wear one and be covered up or shouldn’t wear one, is oppression. We are intelligent human beings who are more then a hijab , instead the hijab is a large part of our identity so we can be recognized as an individual and not be annoyed.
“O Prophet, tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks close round them (when they go abroad). That will be better, so that they may be recognised and not annoyed. Allah is ever Forgiving, Merciful.” (Quran 33:59)
The Beauty of a Muslim woman is felt more then seen and we don’t want to become just another face in the crowd, if we do it is then we will actually loose our identity and risk being put on the market for every Tom, Dick and Harry to think they can approach us with unclean thoughts or intentions, instead they see a woman not to be annoyed because we submit with the Prophet of Allah
