My Hijab Story
Assalamu Alaikum WarahmatuAllah wa barakatuhu,
What I am going to talk about today is my Hijab story! The hijab is the covering Muslim women are required to wear after reaching puberty. I planned to wear hijab one day down the line. I was not really sure when. I have been talking to myself that I will wear hijab sooner or later.
No matter where you are in your hijab journey, I hope that I can inspire and encourage you through my experiences insha'aAllah.
Set a target and give yourself a realistic time frame:
Growing up, I had always known I would wear hijab in the future, but I never really set a specific goal.
Last year, I had a car accident, Alhamdulillah that I didn't hit anybody, and it was an accident with two parked cars.
This accident let me think about Allah, Allah is really Raheem, and I thought if I hit a person, and if I killed someone. So I began getting closer to Allah SubhanahuWaTaalla and I started realizing that Hijab is an obligation that every woman needed to fulfill. Why was I waiting to please my Creator? I knew I was not guaranteed to live another day. On May I decided to wear hijab and I told my mother about it, but she advised me to give myself a time frame, so I decided to wear the hijab on Autumn season, when the temperature will become lower and autumn will be easier for me.
Start slow.
Hijab is definitely more than just a scarf around your hair. I always dressed pretty modestly, wearing the occasional sleeveless shirt, but most of the time wore pants and long sleeve shirts anyway. I decided to start slow and stop wearing sleeveless shirts or combined it with a light cardigan. After a few weeks I wore a 3/4 sleeve tops and then finally wore long sleeve shirts with pants. This was when it became a little terrifying because it was the beginning of Beirut summer. I just made some tweaks so that I was dressing like a hijabi, just without a headscarf. At this point I didn’t really take into consideration how tight my clothes were, but I made sure that I wore long pants and long sleeve shirts every day, which was a great start. After many weeks of wearing full coverage at work, it began to feel normal. I couldn’t imagine going back to short sleeve shirts. Starting slow was hands down the best thing I could have ever done while preparing to wear hijab. It made the transition so much easier!
I highly recommend you do this if you want to wear hijab. Start by wearing gradually longer sleeves and gradually increase the length of your bottoms even if you’re starting with a mini skirt! God sees your small efforts and knows your intentions.
Prepare yourself Mentally and physically.
I used the days leading up to Autumn to mentally prepare myself. I would wrap a random scarf around my hair (I had no idea what I was doing) and look at myself in the mirror, sending photos to my cousins and friends who they already wear hijab, and trying to get use to my new image. You need to physically prepare your wardrobe! From the moment I made the decision to wear hijab, I had to start thinking and shopping like a hijabi. I made a promise to myself that anything I added to my wardrobe from that point on had to be hijabi-friendly. I tried to buy hijabi essentials that my closet was lacking such as loose fitting boyfriend jeans and light-weight blazers for layering. Another obvious essential that my closet was lacking were hijabs!
My best destination for hijab clothes is Istanbul, so I decided to travel there to buy my hijab clothes and hijabs. My personal favorite stores to get hijab clothes and hijabs in amazing quality, I suggest to you Armine, Alvina. 2yaka. But if you want some clothes from non hijab store, I suggest LC Waikiki, and for fashionable clothes go for Batik, H&M , and Zara.
But if you are familiar with online shopping like me, I suggest Modanisa, it is an online fashion retailer for women's Islamic clothing, dresses and accessories. The site offers clothing and accessories to women of all ages and offers shipping and delivery all over the world.
Follow hijabi bloggers for inspiration, but find a personal hijab style
Hijabi bloggers made hijab look so fashionable and effortless. It helped made me confident with my decision to wear hijab because I saw that you didn’t have to give up dressing stylishly. If they could be confident with a headscarf and feel beautiful, so could I, insha'aAllah. Try to define your personal style. This is so important when it comes to feeling confident and beautiful in your hijab. Whether you are girly, minimal, boho, sophisticated, classic, hipster, artsy…you can incorporate hijab into your personal style and still be the same girl you have always been!!
Wearing hijab out of your area.
I can’t even tell you how much this helped me gain confidence in hijab. The thought of going out in public for the first time as a new hijabi was absolutely terrifying for me. I couldn’t imagine facing the people I knew and saw everyday at work and town and dealing with the initial reactions. So to overcome this fear, I would wear a hijab on the day that we would travel out when I traveled to Istanbul. It felt so freeing because there I was wearing a hijab!, but no one even knew me so I didn’t feel insecure. I could get use to the feeling of wearing hijab and get more accustomed to it without worrying what people thought of me!
Hijab will become easier with time.
It was the day I returned back from Istanbul, the day I had promised myself I would make the commitment and fulfill my obligation with Allah SWT. I felt more than ready and so excited that I couldn’t even wait one more day. So, the next day on 15 October 2016, I went out to visit my grandmother in a headscarf and never looked back. And alhamdulliah I feel that I am more powerful and confident with my Hijab.
Make an effort to do things for yourself that make you feel beautiful.
As hijabis, we don’t get the opportunity to dress up like other girls and sometimes it can leave us resenting hijab and feeling left out. Before I wore hijab, I use to straighten and curl my hair all the time. After wearing hijab, I was guilty of continually leaving it in buns and pretty much forgetting about it. Now, I make an effort to fix my hair more often (even if its just a braid!). It doesn’t matter if its only my family and I who will see it that day, because it makes me feel good about myself!
Another thing that tends to happen when we start wearing hijab is that since we are completely covered, we don’t pay as much attention to our body image and can let ourselves go. Another reason for that is the fact that girls think they can’t possibly work out in a hijab! This should not be the case! I made an effort to keep up with my regular workouts even after wearing hijab, because it made me feel good about the way I looked and helped with my self-confidence!
Even though we cover ourselves for modesty, it is still our body and we should take care of it. Keeping up with our figure and our beauty will help with our self-confidence, even in hijab!
Continue to perfect your modesty.
As you wear hijab, you will naturally grow and realize what you feel comfortable wearing and what you don’t. However, I ask you to remind yourself of where you started. Don’t look at girls who are wearing skinny jeans and a headscarf with judgmental eyes. Where they are in their hijab journey is between them and Allah, and their efforts to please Him are substantial.
Remind yourself of the reason for wearing hijab in the first place.
If I ever receive any negativity or if I am just having a trouble with my self-confidence in my hijab that day, I always bring myself right back to the reason I started in the first place. Knowing that I am fulfilling an obligation with my Lord and knowing there is immense reward in what I am doing always makes me feel stronger.
Wearing hijab will not stop you from doing anything you want to do in life.
Swimming, Working out, walking along the sea side, photographing, going to excursions, and traveling, are my favorite hobbies and alhamdulliah that my Hijab won't stop me from doing them.
There is a solution for hijabi swimmers is the Burqini, long sport suits, and sooner Nike will launch the hijab for muslim athletes or Nike Pro Hijab
May Allah SWT make hijab easy for all of us and reward us for our efforts! Ameen
What I am going to talk about today is my Hijab story! The hijab is the covering Muslim women are required to wear after reaching puberty. I planned to wear hijab one day down the line. I was not really sure when. I have been talking to myself that I will wear hijab sooner or later.
No matter where you are in your hijab journey, I hope that I can inspire and encourage you through my experiences insha'aAllah.
Set a target and give yourself a realistic time frame:
Growing up, I had always known I would wear hijab in the future, but I never really set a specific goal.
Last year, I had a car accident, Alhamdulillah that I didn't hit anybody, and it was an accident with two parked cars.
This accident let me think about Allah, Allah is really Raheem, and I thought if I hit a person, and if I killed someone. So I began getting closer to Allah SubhanahuWaTaalla and I started realizing that Hijab is an obligation that every woman needed to fulfill. Why was I waiting to please my Creator? I knew I was not guaranteed to live another day. On May I decided to wear hijab and I told my mother about it, but she advised me to give myself a time frame, so I decided to wear the hijab on Autumn season, when the temperature will become lower and autumn will be easier for me.
Start slow.
Hijab is definitely more than just a scarf around your hair. I always dressed pretty modestly, wearing the occasional sleeveless shirt, but most of the time wore pants and long sleeve shirts anyway. I decided to start slow and stop wearing sleeveless shirts or combined it with a light cardigan. After a few weeks I wore a 3/4 sleeve tops and then finally wore long sleeve shirts with pants. This was when it became a little terrifying because it was the beginning of Beirut summer. I just made some tweaks so that I was dressing like a hijabi, just without a headscarf. At this point I didn’t really take into consideration how tight my clothes were, but I made sure that I wore long pants and long sleeve shirts every day, which was a great start. After many weeks of wearing full coverage at work, it began to feel normal. I couldn’t imagine going back to short sleeve shirts. Starting slow was hands down the best thing I could have ever done while preparing to wear hijab. It made the transition so much easier!
I highly recommend you do this if you want to wear hijab. Start by wearing gradually longer sleeves and gradually increase the length of your bottoms even if you’re starting with a mini skirt! God sees your small efforts and knows your intentions.
Prepare yourself Mentally and physically.
I used the days leading up to Autumn to mentally prepare myself. I would wrap a random scarf around my hair (I had no idea what I was doing) and look at myself in the mirror, sending photos to my cousins and friends who they already wear hijab, and trying to get use to my new image. You need to physically prepare your wardrobe! From the moment I made the decision to wear hijab, I had to start thinking and shopping like a hijabi. I made a promise to myself that anything I added to my wardrobe from that point on had to be hijabi-friendly. I tried to buy hijabi essentials that my closet was lacking such as loose fitting boyfriend jeans and light-weight blazers for layering. Another obvious essential that my closet was lacking were hijabs!
My best destination for hijab clothes is Istanbul, so I decided to travel there to buy my hijab clothes and hijabs. My personal favorite stores to get hijab clothes and hijabs in amazing quality, I suggest to you Armine, Alvina. 2yaka. But if you want some clothes from non hijab store, I suggest LC Waikiki, and for fashionable clothes go for Batik, H&M , and Zara.
But if you are familiar with online shopping like me, I suggest Modanisa, it is an online fashion retailer for women's Islamic clothing, dresses and accessories. The site offers clothing and accessories to women of all ages and offers shipping and delivery all over the world.
Follow hijabi bloggers for inspiration, but find a personal hijab style
Hijabi bloggers made hijab look so fashionable and effortless. It helped made me confident with my decision to wear hijab because I saw that you didn’t have to give up dressing stylishly. If they could be confident with a headscarf and feel beautiful, so could I, insha'aAllah. Try to define your personal style. This is so important when it comes to feeling confident and beautiful in your hijab. Whether you are girly, minimal, boho, sophisticated, classic, hipster, artsy…you can incorporate hijab into your personal style and still be the same girl you have always been!!
Wearing hijab out of your area.
I can’t even tell you how much this helped me gain confidence in hijab. The thought of going out in public for the first time as a new hijabi was absolutely terrifying for me. I couldn’t imagine facing the people I knew and saw everyday at work and town and dealing with the initial reactions. So to overcome this fear, I would wear a hijab on the day that we would travel out when I traveled to Istanbul. It felt so freeing because there I was wearing a hijab!, but no one even knew me so I didn’t feel insecure. I could get use to the feeling of wearing hijab and get more accustomed to it without worrying what people thought of me!
Hijab will become easier with time.
It was the day I returned back from Istanbul, the day I had promised myself I would make the commitment and fulfill my obligation with Allah SWT. I felt more than ready and so excited that I couldn’t even wait one more day. So, the next day on 15 October 2016, I went out to visit my grandmother in a headscarf and never looked back. And alhamdulliah I feel that I am more powerful and confident with my Hijab.
Make an effort to do things for yourself that make you feel beautiful.
As hijabis, we don’t get the opportunity to dress up like other girls and sometimes it can leave us resenting hijab and feeling left out. Before I wore hijab, I use to straighten and curl my hair all the time. After wearing hijab, I was guilty of continually leaving it in buns and pretty much forgetting about it. Now, I make an effort to fix my hair more often (even if its just a braid!). It doesn’t matter if its only my family and I who will see it that day, because it makes me feel good about myself!
Another thing that tends to happen when we start wearing hijab is that since we are completely covered, we don’t pay as much attention to our body image and can let ourselves go. Another reason for that is the fact that girls think they can’t possibly work out in a hijab! This should not be the case! I made an effort to keep up with my regular workouts even after wearing hijab, because it made me feel good about the way I looked and helped with my self-confidence!
Even though we cover ourselves for modesty, it is still our body and we should take care of it. Keeping up with our figure and our beauty will help with our self-confidence, even in hijab!
Continue to perfect your modesty.
As you wear hijab, you will naturally grow and realize what you feel comfortable wearing and what you don’t. However, I ask you to remind yourself of where you started. Don’t look at girls who are wearing skinny jeans and a headscarf with judgmental eyes. Where they are in their hijab journey is between them and Allah, and their efforts to please Him are substantial.
Remind yourself of the reason for wearing hijab in the first place.
If I ever receive any negativity or if I am just having a trouble with my self-confidence in my hijab that day, I always bring myself right back to the reason I started in the first place. Knowing that I am fulfilling an obligation with my Lord and knowing there is immense reward in what I am doing always makes me feel stronger.
Wearing hijab will not stop you from doing anything you want to do in life.
Swimming, Working out, walking along the sea side, photographing, going to excursions, and traveling, are my favorite hobbies and alhamdulliah that my Hijab won't stop me from doing them.
There is a solution for hijabi swimmers is the Burqini, long sport suits, and sooner Nike will launch the hijab for muslim athletes or Nike Pro Hijab
May Allah SWT make hijab easy for all of us and reward us for our efforts! Ameen
Disclaimer: I bought the product myself for my personal use and I am not affiliated with any company. I am not paid to do this review and everything I said here is my genuine opinion.
Manal With Love
XOXO 😘❤️😘
Manal With Love
XOXO 😘❤️😘
