Ramadan is just around the corner, and our hearts eagerly await its return. Wasn’t it just yesterday that we parted from the beloved month in tears? Has a whole year already gone by? What do we have to show for the passing of a year, and how will we greet this Ramadan? What have we done to prepare for it?
Ramadan is about renewing our relationship with Allah – reading the Qur’an and interacting with it anew, letting Allah’s words pour over our hearts to transform us. Ramadan is about perfecting our prayers and increasing our nawaafil; it’s about seeking His forgiveness and pardon, and saving ourselves from the Hellfire. Ramadan is about fasting and taqwa…

As I was looking across the list of terms for that particular day, it was this string of words that caught my eye: “Too late to put the hijab back on?” Like I said, there’s no way for us to know who made that search, and the anonymity provided by the internet can be a blessing. But somewhere out there, it seemed, is a person – a sister, perhaps – wondering if it’s too late for her to put her hijab back on. Maybe she’s young, and maybe she’s old. Maybe she wore the hijab for years before taking it off, and maybe just one day. Whatever her circumstances, she’s wondering now if there’s any way back.

I was discussing with a colleague of mine, she’s non-Muslim and we were talking about the hijab. She does respect my beliefs and values and the fact that I wear the hijab, etc. But what she is having trouble understanding is: Why do Muslim women have to cover the hair? Why the hair especially? She is asking if there is a specific verse in the Quran that says that we need to cover the hair? She said: “Who decided that hair was sexy? Why can’t you just dress modestly without covering the hair?”

Umar ibn al-Khattab radiya Allahu anhu said, “My Lord agreed with me in three things.”

A year ago today, by the hijri calender, we launched IGIC. It was December 29th, 2008, corresponding to the 1st of Muharram, 1430 AH. Today is December 17, 2009, and (according to some calculations) it corresponds to the 1st of Muharram, 1431 AH.