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HIJAB



I used to be terrified of Islam and the veil

Many years ago during the Iranian revolution (that must have been around 1979), I recall a conversation I had with colleagues at work.
The previous night I had seen TV images of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini talking to his people and I got terrified seeing all those black clothed, veiled women.
It scared me so much that I told my colleagues, the next morning, that I would gladly register voluntarily in the army should it ever come to that, to defend my country against the threat of Islam and of being forced to wear a headscarf.
At that time I did not know anything about Islam.

My ignorance and fear lasted another 20 years, until I finally got the courage to read about Islam.
I didn’t want to be scared of something without knowing exactly what it was.
So I started reading about the basics of Islam and I was very surprised, I had no idea that Islam has the same roots as Christianity and Judaism.
Even while reading about Islam at that time I didn’t want to read about de hijab (Islamic headscarf) the dread was still present, thus I avoided any information about that subject.
And when I accepted Islam in 1999, I did so without accepting the headscarf. I did my best to find articles where it said that it was not mandatory and I felt myself strengthened in my resolution not to wear it.

But then after being a Muslim for 2 years, I changed my mind.
I was a Muslim but nobody could see, I was just one of many women in a crowd and I felt invisible, I wanted to let people know and see.
“I am a Muslim and I am proud of it. I love my religion and I want to show it”. What better way to show it than by wearing the Islamic headscarf!
Christians wear a cross, Jews wear a yarmulke, Sikhs wear a turban and almost every religion has some special garment one way or the other.
I surprised myself, who would have thought some 20 years ago that I would ever choose to wear the headscarf voluntarily.

And now, after wearing the hijab for more than 10 year, I can say wholeheartedly, that it shows the love I feel for God and for my religion and that I can't imagine ever not wearing it.
I am proud to be a Muslim and I show it in: Red, Green, Blue, Purple, Pink, Brown, Flowers, Stripes, Polka dots, Gold and Silver.
Every colour but black, because maybe there is some one out there, just like me, who has a negative association with black headscarfs and the last thing I want is to keep that somebody from investigating into this beautiful religion called Islam.