My journey to wearing the hijab was one that will always remain special to me. I was born into a Muslim family that wasn’t practising so I didn’t know much about Islam besides the fact that I was a Muslim. However I began looking into Islam when I was in year 11 while attending a Catholic school. I never thought I’d even wear the hijab, it was something I never wanted to do growing up... if anything, I despised it. I’d make up excuses to not wear it. I’d look to those who misrepresented it and used them to justify why I never wanted to wear it.
Being in a Catholic school means hijab isn’t apart of school uniform. Before I attended the Catholic school, I attended an Islamic school where the hijab was mandatory for high school students. Truth is, I rebelled against it, against the school which is how I ended up in a totally different one - the complete opposite. (I was very stubborn lol)
SubhanAllah, while attending the Catholic school, I endured many hardships, most of which included being targeted for being apart of the Islamic faith. I was an outsider, even when I thought I wanted to be one in the Islamic school, I was forced to be in the Catholic one. Sometimes the grass isn’t greener on the other side.
So, a year later in year 11, I decided to start looking into Islam and wanted to see why they were targeting my religion, why they were calling the women who wore hijab ‘turban heads’, why they were always playing videos in front of me of terrorism memes and waiting to get my reaction, why they were trying to peer pressure me to do things that were against my religion, why the whole year group wanted nothing to do with me because I chose to not to attend functions for religious reasons.
And that’s when I found myself feeling like something was missing. I found Islam but something didn’t feel right. I felt a burning desire to learn Islam. I called myself a Muslim but I wanted to prove to myself not just with words or actions but with my identity that I was one. That I actually belong to this beautiful religion. I put in my mind that the day after my last HSC exam I will put on the hijab.
November 3rd, 2017 was the day that I finally put on the hijab Alhamdulilah. I felt like a new person, I felt like all the pain and the tears were worth it. Allah swt Put the love for Islam and the Hijab in my heart when I thought I never could even truly be apart of Islam. He Chose to bring me closer to this beautiful religion when I would fight against it. It’s all His Plan. I put on the hijab nearly 3 years ago and never looked back. Alhamdulilah.