By Sister Maissa I

Islam was written in my heart as a young child. I asked questions upon questions about why Allah created 7 heavens,how He knew our entire life before we were welcomed into this dunya, or why prayer was important. While my parents are Muslim, they were never practicing. My father served as a role model who didn’t pray, as my mother unveiled herself when I was at a young age.

I always knew that Islam was the most important foundation of my life. However, I was unknown to its beauty, purity, and knowledge of everything. I was never taught how to pray or make dua. I was sent to Quran classes where I pretended to know how to pray due to fear of embarrassment. Upon realisation, at the age of 17, I felt my heart and soul whimper from my distance between Allah and I.

I recognised that I am now accountable for the sins of not learning how to pray, and the sin of missing prayer. With the support of my loved ones, they provided me with a prayer mat that had instructions of what to say and do. Immediately, I prioritised my prayer and maintained my 5 daily prayers on time, every day.

After 2 months of consistent prayer, I knew that the scarf was my identity (even though I wasn’t veiled).I decided to veil myself as I knew that pleasing Allah will bring me contentment as my soul will feel some ease.I veiled myself May 2017 alhumdulillah and at times when I feel myself deviating away from my purpose in this dunya, I remember what my soul felt when I obeyed our Creator.Indeed Allah loves those who rely upon Him (Quran 3:159).This is my story behind my veil.