World Hijab Day
The hijab (the scarf wrapped around Muslim women’s heads) is not the most important part of being a Muslim woman, but it is certainly the most visible. Although just less than five percent of the population of Britain is Muslim, it is unofficial of how many women actually wear the hijab.
At Eden, not all of us wear the hijab. The choice of wearing the hijab is completely up to us, so when we’re ready to wear the hijab, then we’ll wear it! People may think that wearing the hijab is something that you have to do and while wearing it, you’ll have to look religious. Well, according to Muslim fashion blogger, Dina Torkia, she says:
“I want to show the world that you can look amazing whilst wearing a scarf. However, I did have some struggles with trying to keep it on because of all the stereotypes that were aimed at women like me”
Stereotypes are most commonly aimed at Muslim girls in hijabs. People think that Muslim women are oppressed into wearing the hijab. Seventeen percent of political women believe that wearing the headscarf makes them feel inferior towards themselves as Muslim women and their careers.
87% of Muslim women say that they wore the hijab out of their own free will and were not forced in any way to wear the hijab.
Although there are a variety of different ways of wearing the hijab, a large population of women around the globe choose to cover their hair. Many women choose to wear the hijab for many different reasons, these reasons include:
- For being modest
- To be fashionable
- To gain piety
- To not gain unwanted attraction
And there are many other reasons as to why Muslim women choose to cover their hair.
There are different types of ways to wear the hijab. At Eden, we wear a purple two-piece hijab. This hijab is part of our school uniform which represents one faith aspect of our school.
The hijab is a symbol of modesty, piety, spirituality and religious behaviour. As young Muslim girls, we have to face the criticism and the praise of wearing the hijab. Most of the time, its criticism and we have to put a brave face and face the world.
World Hijab Day has just taken place on the first of February and this gave non-Muslim women the opportunity to experience how it feels to wear a hijab.
“I support World Hijab Day because I hope women will not be discriminated for wearing the Hijab. A woman should not be criticized or looked upon differently just because she chooses to wear a Hijab” says Carol Lee, a non-Muslim woman who tried the hijab for a day.
By Zahra – Year 9