Several months back I remember watching a group of niqabis and thinking to myself, masha’Allah how beautiful and graceful they look! I felt such an awe and respect for them. I adored them and aspired to be one of them. But worldly desires held me prisoner for a while.

On hindsight, now that I have taken that step, I find it puzzling that, out of all the commandments of Allah, wearing the hijab is probably the most discussed and often, the most resisted.

Strange how we always stick out like a sore thumb in a crowd; strange how we are always the attention grabbers on media; strange how everyone thinks we are oppressed and don’t have rights; calling us “ninjas,” illiterate, telling us to go back to where we came from. Strange how we always have to defend our identity and fight for our freedom. But isn’t it indeed strange how we sometimes get caught up in the midst of all this confusion, sometimes giving in, sometimes striving out?

I have come across many people who cannot comprehend why anybody would want to embrace hijab whilst they are young. By young, I mean late teens and early twenties. While, I would confidently say that it is those very years that hijab would probably most benefit us, I would go as far as to say that it is vital as well.

It all happened on exam day. I noted that perhaps I was the only one in the examination hall who didn’t look that tense. Well, I was a little nervous but of course, I tried not to show that. I sat with both my hands at the back of my head and watched the panicking girls around me. It was fun. My fun didn’t last long though, as the invigilator started distributing our exam papers. However, even that didn’t put off my mood. I was more amused at the sight of the extraordinary reactions of my classmates but it all soon changed when the invigilator gave the paper to a girl next to me. She looked at me and smiled. I could tell that she had a few things to talk to me about but before she came to me, a voice boomed into the hall.