** The Day of Arafah will be Sat Nov. 5, and Eid is Sun Nov. 6.

“By the dawn * And by the ten nights…” [89:1-2]

The ten nights that Allah swears by in Surat al-Fajr are the first ten days of Thul-Hijjah… days, which the Prophet salla Allahu alayhi wasallam teaches us, are the best days of the world.

Remember your excitement during the last ten nights of Ramadan? Remember your levels of worship and your commitment to qiyaam and du’aa and reciting Qur’an? It’s time to revive those same sentiments for the season of Thul-Hijjah.

Read up below on how to make the most of these days, even if you’re not going for Hajj…

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The Best Days of the World

The Prophet (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said: “There are no days in which good deeds are more beloved to Allah than during these days. The Sahaba said: Oh Rasul Allah, not even jihad in the path of Allah? He (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said: Not even jihad in the path of Allah except for the man who goes out in the path of Allah with his life and his wealth and returns with neither of them” [Bukhari].

And he (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said: “The best days of this world are these ten.” [Read more about the virtues of these days, along with a suggested action plan]

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 Hajj is a Season, Too

It wasn’t so long ago when Ramadan came to us this year. Ramadan, that season of blessings, that season of du’aa and worship and nearness to Allah. The days are charged with excitement. Every day is a chance to earn reward, every day a chance to be forgiven. And when the last 10 days of Ramadan come around, those last 10 nights, we gear up even more, ready, anticipating, searching for the best night of our lives. And then, before we know it, Ramadan is over. And we wait again for the next yet, hoping and praying to be blessed with witnessing another Ramadan.  But for the Muslim, there are other seasons, as well. Hajj, is a season for all of us, not just those in Makkah embarking on the pilgrimage.  [Read more]

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Small Words, Big Reward

Keep your tongue moist with the remembrance of Allah! Refer to this list of simple words that come with a big reward, bi’ithnAllah. Some simple, easy phrases and words everyone can take advantage of.

Say them during these blessed days, when good deeds are most beloved to Allah.  Make every moment worth it. Here are some phrases to help you take advantage of your time, and to help you build your homes in Jannah,  insha’Allah… [Read more]

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Ramadan was a race towards good deeds for many of us. How many will race in this season, too… and how many will get left behind?

(What are your favorite resources on the virtues of Thul-Hijjah? Share them in a comment below!)

Dear Little Auntie

MashaAllah, this is a blog by 3 sisters (one of whom also blogs here) answering the advice of anyone and everyone in the most kind and helpful way possible. As they put it, it is:

A little bit of advice- a little bit of humor-

This blog is meant to help my young Muslim sisters on their journey to Paradise.

We have featured a post of theirs called: Dear Non-Veiled-Wanna-Be-Veiled-Muslimah which was received very positively by you, the readers. This is a blog where you can ask any question on your mind – from Prom to TV shows, from boys to parents. If you need advice, this is the place to go insha’Allah – no judging, just lovin’. These are sisters, masha’Allah, who truly want to see their sisters pick themselves up from any little slips and come out smelling like a rose. May Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala increase them in their efforts, Ameen.

Bismillah
As salaamu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullah dear Readers,

We will now be beginning a sub-project of IGIC inshaAllah called ‘Sunday Spotlight.’

We will feature a website, cause, or project on various Sundays which we have deemed to be worthy of promotion by the IGIC website. It may not be necessarily related to hijab but it would be something that our readers find interesting, bi’idhnillah. If you feel you want to submit something for being featured in Sunday Spotlight, please fill out the Contact form with your request inshaAllah. Not all requests will be posted.

For our very first post, we’d like to feature Global Deaf Muslim.

MashaAllah, this is an amazing project which ensures that the Qur’an reaches the hearts of all our Muslims – whether or not they can hear.

Quran in ASL aims to provide access to Islam for Deaf Muslims in North America. Deaf Muslims have long been excluded from accessing Islamic information as few within the Muslim community have knowledge of the language of the Deaf in North America – ASL (American Sign Language). The lack of communication between hearing and Deaf Muslims has prevented the spiritual and religious advancement of Deaf Muslims worldwide.

GDM (Global Deaf Muslim) was established by Deaf Muslim graduates to address the rights and needs of Deaf Muslims in North America and beyond. This latest initiative aims to provide access to the Qur’an in ASL so that Deaf Muslims, alongside their hearing brothers and sisters, can finally begin to learn about this sacred message from God – Allah (swt).

Please visit their website at http://www.globaldeafmuslim.org/ and check out their videos on YouTube to see how you can participate in this noble cause.

JazakumAllahu khayran.

Taken from: http://brasscrescent.org/

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh dear readers,

We are happy to announce that I Got It Covered has been nominated as Best Female Blog for the Seventh Annual Brass Cresecent awards alhamdulillah!

Please take two minutes out of your time to vote for us in the ‘Best Female Blogger’ category inshaAllah:

http://www.brasscrescent.org/

We would like to personally thank all of our readers for nominating us and we hope you will continue to show your support for us as your favourite Muslimah blog on the web!

JazakumAllahu khairun!

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh,

The last ten nights are here, and as the doors of Allah’s mercy and forgiveness are wide open, we’re preparing to take a break from our regular posting activities at IGIC.

Our advice to everyone is to do the same – to spend time away from the internet, and to give as much time as possible to the worship of Allah. Make i’tikaaf if possible, for all ten nights or as many as you can. Pour your heart and soul into the coming days, into your du’aa and prayer and hope in Allah.

The last ten nights are here, and Laylat al-Qadr could be any night, including tonight. Allah has blessed us all with this amazing chance – so take the keys of opportunity that lay directly before you, and search hard for Allah’s pleasure and reward.

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If you’re debating the issue of hijab in your head, if you want to start wearing  a scarf or jilbab or niqab and fear is holding you back – if you want to take that “leap” this Ramadan – don’t hesitate any longer. Raise your hands up in du’aa, and know that Allah answers the call of the caller when he calls out to Him.

Here are a few pieces from the site you might have missed; we hope and pray that they’ll be of help to you:

And She Leaps – and so can you!

My Inner Struggle for Hijab – what’s holding you back?

Welcome to My Life – a day in the life of our sister, and how one year later, everything changed

[You can also browse through the IGIC archives, where you'll find a list of all our previous posts.]

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If you missed our Ramadan-related posts from the last few days, here they are again for your benefit:

When the Night is Dark – with resources and advice regarding qiyam

But I Can’t Pray – specifically for our sisters who can’t pray at this time; no need to miss out!

Small Words, Big Reward – a list of beneficial athkar; simple words that come with a big reward

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Also, a few other worthy articles regarding the last ten nights:

GPS for the Night that is the Best – an easy to read guide on Laylat al-Qadr

Exclusive Sunnan for the Last 10 Nights [Ibn Rajab] – a list of five sunnahs specific to the last ten nights in Ramadan

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And finally, a must-see video on Laylat al-Qadr, what it is, and why we should all be searching for it (“it shakes the mind”):

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Jazakum Allahu khayran to everyone who visited this site during Ramadan, everyone who read our posts and shared them with others, everyone who took just a minute or two to make du’aa for us. We may not get the chance to say it often, but after seeking the pleasure of Allah, our readers (you guys!) are the biggest motivation for this site. Your support and your du’aa, your comments and your feedback, mean more to us than you can know. Please continue to make du’aa for us, and visit us again after Ramadan when we’ll be back to posting insha’Allah.

May Allah ta’ala bless the remainder of your time and ours in this precious month, grant us the reward of Laylat al-Qadr, and allow us to witness Ramadan for many years to come. Ameen.

The issue of a Muslim woman’s hijab has become a hot topic in our times, so much so that it’s discussed in every media outlet, and is the subject of governmental laws and controversies. Even before it became politicized, hijab was (and remains) an important and deeply personal decision for many Muslim women. Should I wear it? When? What should it look like? What can I expect, and how can I overcome my fears?

In conjunction with HabibiHalaqas.org, I Got It Covered is excited to bring you our first collaborative project. On Tuesday, June 29th at 7:00 PM EST, join us for the sisters only webinar, “That Covered Girl.”

In order to attend, just fill out this form. Find the event on Facebook, and make sure you invite all your friends!

This webinar is an amazing chance to reach Muslim women who want to know more about hijab, need moral support, or have a lot of hijab-related questions.

This webinar will cover:

- The fiqh of hijab: What is hijab and why should I wear it? Do I have to wear it? Who should I cover in front of, and how?

- Personal development and perceptions of hijab: What should I expect when I wear hijab? How will people view me? How will I feel about myself?

- Overcoming the struggle of hijab: Will hijab be a struggle? What can I do to overcome that struggle? What if I’m not ready yet, and I just want to improve myself first?

- Positive experiences with hijab: What good will come out of wearing hijab? Will it all be pain and tears, or can I expect something else?

- And more!

As a reminder: This is a sisters only event, involving online webcast with audio and visual presentation.

Our speakers for the night:

Kanika Aggarwal is an engineer by profession, currently pursuing Bachelors in Islamic Sciences through Arees Institute, studying under Shaykh Isam Rajab and has taken several other courses related to this topic.

Sarah Mushtaq is an undergraduate student at the University of Windsor. She currently serves as the Windsor Ameerah of Qabeelat Ittihaad, AlMaghrib Institute’s branch in Windsor and Southeast Michigan. She is also a student with AlHuda institute, which allows her to marvel at the beauty, eloquence, and depth of the Qur’an. She is a regular contributor at igotitcovered.org

Webinar timings:

Toronto Time: 7 pm EST
Chicago Time: 6 pm CST
LA Time: 4 pm PST
Egypt Time: 4 am
London Time: 12 am

Here’s the sign up link one more time: http://bit.ly/V2Dg8.

See you all there insha’Allah!

Alhamdulillah, as May 2010 comes to a close, so does our reader take-over month. We wanted to take the time to thank everyone for participating, whether it was by submitting a story, commenting, or just dropping in to read. As one of our staff writers commented on this month’s submissions, IGIC has some very talented readers, masha’Allah! Going through your stories, and seeing what you had to offer of wisdom and joy and tears, was a beautiful experience for us, and we ask Allah to reward you on our behalf, and on behalf of everyone who stopped by here.

Remember that our doors are always open to submissions, so if you have anything you’d like to share with the site, get in touch with us.

Starting tomorrow, insha’Allah, we return to our regular posting activity. If you sent in something during May and it wasn’t featured on the site, please know that it was only because we had more stories than we could handle for the month, walhamdulillah! Don’t worry, though – we’ve held on to all your stories and ideas, and will publish as many of them as soon as we can, insha’Allah.

May at IGIC was fun, and we pray that everyone benefited as much as we did. We hope to have more take-over months (maybe on different topics) in the future, may Allah make things easy.

Just in case you missed any of this month’s personal hijab stories, here they are again, in the order they appeared in (click on titles or images to be directed to the full posts):

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When I Asked Allah to Help Me

by Mariam Sabr

Some 25 years ago, I was growing up as a teenager in Midwest America like most teenagers were.  Although I was more conservative than other girls my age, I was accustomed to wearing jeans and T-shirts and occasionally a nice dress. I lived in a small community, and although we were quite secluded from other cultures, we did follow movies with great interest. During high school, the need to be “cool” was very important to me and my friends, and we had to wear the right clothes to fit the part.

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Sorority President Dons Hijab

by Amy

I must’ve spent an hour in front of my mirror trying to wrap that bland, brown, wool scarf around my head that night. I tried wrapping clockwise, counter-clockwise, pinning above and below, finally satisfied with my first attempt at “professional dress” with the addition of a headscarf. I then had to sneak out of the house – my parents didn’t know yet, and they wouldn’t understand – and conquer my fear. I had to present myself, the president of my sorority, as a Muslim; and not just a Muslim, but one who wears hijab!

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A Story About Waiting

by Selma

My journey to hijab is a story about waiting. About months and months of waiting, wishing to wear it and still not doing it out of fear of others. I was waiting for the perfect moment, but one, day I simply got tired of waiting. The beginning: I grew up in a non-religious family in an upper middle class district of Berlin, Germany. My father being Turkish and my mother German, I always felt I had to prove to my German friends, teachers or people in general that I was just as good as them.

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After 9/11

by Salvy Ahsan

Living life in this dunya is not easy for the Muslims. Muslims face so many difficulties, right and left. I also faced many hardships in my struggle to practice Islam. Often when I go out in public, I encounter very pleasant people who give me uplifting remarks such as, “I love your culture and traditions. I always wanted to know more.” Other times, people do not make feel as comfortable when they give me strange and stealthy stares. The first thing that people notice about me is my hijab, a scarf that covers my hair and neck.

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Advice from a Friend

by M.

It’s funny how less than eight months ago, I would cringe at the thought of dressing more modestly. I looked down upon friends of mine that were practicing Muslims, and considered them to be on their way to “extremism,” may Allah forgive me for thinking this. One day, I was making my way through the mall when I bumped into a girl who was wearing the niqab and all black. I paused for a moment, confused as to who this woman who was staring at me was. After a few seconds, she recognized me and jumped.

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Out of the Ordinary

by Iman

I grew up in an “ordinary” family. What is “ordinary,” you may ask? “Ordinary” as in not praying, listening to music, not wearing hijab, and leaving my heart to blacken while distancing myself more and more from Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. Over the past few years, Allah ta’ala has strengthened my eman and that of my family, and may He continue to strengthen it. Ameen. Over the past few years, Allah ta’ala has strengthened my eman and that of my family, and may He continue to strengthen it. Ameen.

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Death and a Promise

by Shahida Rahman

I started wearing hijab when I was five years old. I would see my mom, my two older sisters, and my aunt wearing it; I thought it would be cool to wear it, too, and I wanted to be like them. I was five, mind you, so I never really understood the meaning behind wearing the hijab. All I knew was that it would cover my hair, and I was a Muslim. As I grew older, I slowly began to understand the meaning behind wearing the hijab and what it was for. It’s a veil that covers our hair and body, yes, but it is also so much more than that.

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Words in My Heart

by Dewi

I would like to share my story about how I came to observe the hijab. I am an Indonesian woman. I am now thirty-eight years old, married and have three kids. My story began in November 2007, while my family and I were living in Courbevoie, France. My husband had received an international assignment from the company he worked for in Indonesia, so we moved to France in August of 2004. When we did, all my day-to-day activities changed. I took care of my family without any help, unlike in Indonesia, where I had a helper. My youngest was only four months old at the time.

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I Was Waiting to Die

by Nazeeha bint Renard

You can ask me what I had for dinner yesterday, and I will stop and think. But ask me at any time, on any day, when I reverted to Islam… and the answer comes quickly to the surface of my mind. Before I tell you “when,” I will answer the question of “why?” I was waiting to die. No, there was no illness of the body. My heart and soul were dead. My body felt like it existed without purpose. It was not a morbid feeling; I just didn’t connect spiritually, in my mind, to any faith.

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Like a Shattered Snow Globe

by Anonymous

My journey to hijab is a fairly recent phenomena. I was born in a middle class immigrant family. My parents had come to the States in the late seventies, early eighties, from conservative middle class homes. My grandparents from both sides were farmers, who lived on meager incomes, and my father came to America with the hopes and dreams for a brighter and better potential future.While growing up, my brother and I were taught salah, Arabic, and recitation of the Qur’an.

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If Tomorrow Never Comes

by Mdm Z

The hijab is not just a covering to me. It is a reminder to me that I belong to Allah and to Him I will return. That He is my Creator and I have to respect that which he has entrusted me to care for – myself. It is such a simple concept and yet as a twenty year old, it was not a concept that I was keen to think about. At twenty, life was so full of excitement and new experiences and adventure. There was just too much to do – college assignments and research, my social life and family commitments.

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“Someday, One Day, Insha’Allah…”

by NPV

As a teenager, I remember my father reprimanding me if I did not have a scarf on when I left the house. Being a typical teenager, with no thoughts of accountability, it did not take me long to realise that I could wear it when I left the house, but there was nothing compelling me to keep it on. And so it carried on. I would wear my scarf when I left the house, and if I was not with my father, I took it off. I was rather consciously blocking the ayah, “…and whatsoever good you do, Allah is aware of it…” [2:215], from my head.

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On My Way to the Masjid

by Aseel

When I was a child, about 10 or 11 years old, I was so excited about wearing the hijab. I wanted to wear it as soon as possible. It was something you obeyed Allah with, without caring what any other person thought. Unfortunately, I was in a private Christian school where hijab was forbidden! Although the Muslims and Christians in my country live in peace to some level, some said that the school I was in forbade hijab in order to get financial aid from France. Anyway, it was only a matter of time for me.

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I Hated the Hijab

by Nadia

This is my hijab story. I’m afraid to tell it. Afraid of what people will think of me. You see, for me, wearing hijab wasn’t all blooming roses and rainbows and inner peace. It was blood and tears and a nafs raging and rebelling. It was the hardest thing I ever did for Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. I pray it was sincerely for His sake, that He may accept it from me, otherwise all this hardship will be in vain. I tell this story for the others out there who feel the same, who feel like aliens in the midst of women overjoyed at wearing hijab.

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Before Hijab, I Was Scared

by Shuma

Before hijab, I was scared. I was scared of what people would think, I was scared of what people would say at work, I was scared of scaring away potential husbands, I was scared of losing friends, I was scared of not being beautiful anymore and standing out in the crowd. All of these things stopped me from wearing hijab sooner, and now I wish, so much, that I had done it sooner. Because I could have saved myself from a lot of fitnah and lot of confusion had I done it sooner.

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Cleansing Tears

by Heba Youssef

It was difficult to distinguish between the tears streaming down my face, and the warm, comforting water flowing out of the showerhead. Quietly sobbing as I bathed had become routine for that week; it was the only outlet in my day where I could mediate the painful battle that ensued between my heart and mind. Just weeks earlier as I poured thoughts into my journal, I convinced myself that I would wear hijaab in two more years when I was done with school.

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Summer of Contemplation

by Yahsmin Mayaan Binti Bobo

It was a summer of contemplation for me. Turning the idea over and over in my mind was like turning over new soil for better cultivation and growth. Not every young woman made such a shift but evidently, it had been written. I thought about Islam every waking moment of every day. During this deliberation and with a bit of resistance still, I went to the movies with a male friend from high school. It was strictly platonic but I wore something that attracted a great deal of attention, none of which was positive.

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The Hardest Year

by Bint Sadiq

I used to say that the eleventh year of my life was my worst one, but now I know that I needed to go through that year in order to be who I am today. That year was the year my family moved to a new city. It was the year my mom returned to university for the first time since I was five years old, and the year my dad had to constantly travel overseas to visit his sick father. It was the year my grandfather died. But believe it or not, the thing that had the biggest effect on me was that it was the year that I made the change from Islamic to public school.

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Thanks again, everyone!

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,

We’re gearing up for reader take-over month during May, where we’ll be featuring personal journeys to hijab shared by our readers. We’ve received some amazing submissions, masha’Allah, and we’re excited about sharing them with everyone! We begin posting the first of our stories on Monday, May 3rd, insha’Allah, so stay tuned.

In the meantime, we still have a few “empty slots” for stories at the end of the month. If you weren’t sure about sending your story in, or have been delaying it, now’s the time to get writing! The Prophet salla Allahu alayhi wasallam taught us, “Do not belittle anything of good, even if it is to meet your brother with a smiling face” [Sahih Muslim].

We await your stories (send them in to submit@igotitcovered.org), and see you Monday with the first of our reader submissions, insha’Allah!

Call for Submissions

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh, everyone,

We decided to do something a little different at IGIC, to try to give the site a change of pace. We’re turning the month of May into reader-takeover month, insha’Allah – and we need your help to do it!

All throughout the month of May, we’d like to post your personal stories about how you came to hijab. Everyone has a story to tell, and we often hear back from readers about how inspiring the blog and (especially) the personal stories on it are. We even got a request recently for more personal stories, so we’d like to dedicate one whole month to that.

Please send in your submissions via the contact form, or using the email address listed on the same page. Some things to keep in mind:

Topic for May

If you would like your submission to be posted during reader-takeover month in May, please write about your personal journey to hijab.

If you write about something else, we won’t be able to post it in May, but we may keep it on hand to post at a later date insha’Allah.

Submission Information

When making a submission, please include the following:

1. A valid email address, so we can contact you if the need arises.

2. The name you would like the story published under: would you like us to use your full name? First name and initial? A pseudonym, or something else? Whatever you’re comfortable with, just let us know.

3. If you’re interested in posting a short bio and/or link to a personal blog, please include that as well. Bios are completely optional.

Get Writing!

Please help us make reader-takeover month in May a successful one! Send in your submissions starting now, and spread the word among friends and family.

We’re truly excited to start reading and sharing your hijab stories with others. If you have any questions, leave them in a comment below. And get writing!

Yours,

The IGIC Team

(c) zainubthewayfarer. Used with permission.

I Got It Covered (IGIC for short) is a blog about hijab, but for those of us involved in the project, it’s so much more. IGIC is a perfect example of how we should never belittle the smallest of ideas, never underestimate the power of a simple suggestion. It’s a lesson in taking time out to plan and work behind the scenes, like a seedling which grows underground before poking its head out of the soil. It’s an illustration of the beauty of teamwork and sisterhood, and working together for the sake of Allah.

But let’s back up for a minute. What is IGIC, again, and how did it all start?

The Start

IGIC began as a simple suggestion. It was during an AlMaghrib class on the Sciences of the Qur’an taught by Sheikh Muhammad Ibn Faqih. If you’re not familiar with AlMaghrib Institute, do a google search on it, and the website will come up first thing on the list.

Sheikh Muhammad’s suggestion was that sisters “Should start a website that demonstrates Muslim women’s willingness to wear the Hijab.” He suggested that “We gather signatures from all around the world so that we could prove once and for all that Muslim women willingly wear the Hijab.”

None of the sisters currently involved in IGIC were in that class. None of us actually heard the suggestion.

But one sister attending the class heard the suggestion and took it to heart. She posted the idea on the AlMaghrib student forums, adding, “Does anyone know if this project has been initiated yet or at least who might be interested in initiating it?”

AlMaghrib has a sizeable student body, masha’Allah. And when an idea gets posted on the forums, especially a good idea with a lot of potential, people start buzzing.

People read that first post with interest and added their own thoughts. “There must be something else we can do to help others understand us instead of simply collecting signatures, which might not make a huge impact,” another sister who had attended the class said. “Someone suggested we start a blog and have as many sisters as possible contribute to it by sharing their stories, reasons and benefits of wearing hijab, niqaab, abaya, jilbab, etc. If anyone can think of any other ideas regarding this, then please do share!”

From there, things took off. Lots of people got excited. We shared ideas. We brainstormed on possible names for the project. A domain name was registered. A team was formed. So many small suggestions followed that first small suggestion by the Sheikh, until the idea for IGIC was born.

We had a lot of material to work with, and a good group of sisters willing to do it. Now it was time to get to work, to put it all together.

The Seedling

The beginning was a rough one for IGIC. We had a lot of ideas, a lot of enthusiasm, enough resources and volunteers. But we were at a loss on how to put it all together.

As volunteers, we didn’t know anything about each other. We were sisters who had met online on an internet forum, united by our love for Islam and knowledge and hijab, and the hope to do something for the sake of Allah. We lived in different cities and countries, across different time zones, and the internet remained our main way of communication.

But there was a lot to discuss. And we didn’t know where to start. We’d never done anything like this before. Sure, we had sisters who were skilled in their own areas: writing, editing, web design and development. But how were we supposed to put it all together?

May Allah bless and reward the sisters who stuck with IGIC in its early days underground as a seedling. They were rough days for the project, but blessed by the mercy of Allah. Every time we started a discussion, things would come to a sudden halt. It was a jarring experience, and after months of starting and halting, starting and halting, it didn’t seem like we were going anywhere. There were days when we thought the project would never take off, moments when we might have thought of giving it up entirely.

But by the mercy of Allah, we pushed forward. There was always one sister or another to ask what the next step was, to remind us to keep moving, to inspire and encourage us forward. “Renew your intentions,” they’d say, or “Think of the reward lying ahead!” If anything, our IGIC experience gave us a profound understanding of Surat al-Asr:

“By time, * Indeed, mankind is in loss, * Except for those who have believed and done righteous deeds and advised each other to truth and advised each other to patience.” [Al-Asr, 103].

Truly, we would have been lost, and IGIC would have been lost if, through the blessings of Allah, we hadn’t had a group of sisters, striving in belief and righteousness, and advising each other to truth and patience. We ask Allah to make us so, and to purify our intentions.

We took our time with IGIC. We took time to get to know the other sisters on the team, developing a sense of sisterhood. We discussed our vision and our plans at length. We fussed over kinks and details. We made timelines; sometimes we stuck to them. And then one day, nearly a year later – it was such a long year in the time of IGIC! – we found ourselves setting and announcing a launch date. Allahu Akbar! What a blessing from Allah.

The Vision

One of the things we really took our time with on IGIC before the launch was developing a vision and a written mission statement. We took a hint from Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. We had each member send in their own personal mission statement for the project, what they hoped to contribute to and see come out of the project. Then we took all those individual statements and put them together. What we ended up with was this:

I Got it Covered is an online network that personifies women everywhere who willingly respond, with love and dedication, to the command of their Lord in wearing the hijab. Through the stories and voices of these women, IGIC exposes the realities behind covering, correcting stereotypes about hijab and becoming a source of inspiration and support for women who wish to pursue wearing it. Doing so, IGIC hopes to create bridges of education, respect and understanding, ultimately sharing the beauty of Islam with the world.

It was a statement we were satisfied with, because it began with the concept of sincerity (doing it for Allah), because it focused on hijab, because it ended with a broader spectrum and vision of supporting Islam. And because we’d worked together as a team to perfect it.

We officially launched IGIC on December 29th, 2008, corresponding to the 1st of Muharram, 1430 AH, over a year after Sheikh Muhammad’s first small suggestion was made. We’re not even sure if Sheikh Muhammad is aware of the project, but here is IGIC, moving and growing and expanding, and all praise and thanks are due to Allah.

The Future

IGIC has been on the web for over a year. It’s hard to believe, subhan Allah! Any good in the site, we acknowledge is from Allah alone, and any mistakes or problems with it are from the evil and imperfections of our own selves. We ask Allah to forgive us and guide us to what is better.

We’ve come a long way at IGIC, but we still have a long way to go. And we’d love to have your help along the way!

What can you do for IGIC? Read, comment, and share with friends. Send in your submissions, your own stories about hijab! Remember to never underestimate the power of a simple idea; never belittle the reward that can lie behind a small word or the sharing of a single link. Let us know your thoughts and ideas on the site and how we can improve – we love hearing from our readers! And make du’aa for IGIC. Lots, and lots of du’aa.

We ask Allah to accept from you and from us, and to make us leaders for the people of taqwah. Ameen.

The IGIC Team

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This article initially appeared in the October/November 2009 issue of the Modest Beautiful Muslima Magazine. The section called “The Future” was amended to reflect the time difference between when the article was first published and today.