As my term as the Student Trustee for our public school board came to an end, I looked back on how exactly I got this position. The announcement was made that anyone interested should go ahead and apply. I don’t know what pushed me to do it, but I decided, why not, I’ll give it a shot insha’Allah. I submitted the application, and a week or so later, we were all called in for interviews. I had just begun wearing abayas full time a few months before. As my interview got closer and closer, I got more and more nervous. The fellow we call Shaytaan had a fun time messing with my mind.

Hijabiology, or the study of life in Hijab, is an intriguing science. It involves humorous encounters and humbling experiences in the life of a Hijabi, and we present you with a few of these stories here.

Shaykh Muhammad Alshareef once compared North Americans with the English. He mentioned how in England, when a person doesn’t like an attribute of another person, he or she often just says it out right. They’re very straightforward people. In North America, on the other hand, people smile and pretend there’s nothing wrong, when in reality, they may be fuming inside. These are generalizations, and obviously, there are exceptions.

When I went to Pakistan a couple years ago to visit family, my attire wasn’t exactly a hit. Why wasn’t I taking off my hijab inside the house (when non-Mahrams were present)? Why was I wearing a “gown”? Who did I think I was? If I really wanted to make so-and-so happy, I would take off my hijab and wear this or that. SubhanAllah. I’ve lived in a non-Muslim country my whole life and visiting a Muslim country, I had innocently assumed people would be more practicing and accepting. Sadly, I was wrong.

A few months ago, I was walking with a sister who normally doesn’t wear hijab. We had just prayed Jumu’ah at my public school, and she had decided to keep her scarf on that day. As we walked through school to class, two things happened: people (supposedly her friends) either ignored her completely, or blatantly stared in shock. Oh yes, there were also the few odd bursts of laughter.