Hijab – It is an idea I have grown up with. It was not the result of a life-changing event or a sudden religious epiphany. I started covering my hair (on and off at the beginning) when I was about ten years old. Before you jump to any conclusions – let me make it clear that my parents did not force me into it. But it wasn’t until much later that I actually started wearing the ‘Hijab’ – until I learnt that true Hijab was more than a piece of cloth that covered your hair.

As she walked with slow but steady steps down the street towards he Masjid, she looked like the ‘ideal Muslimah’: gaze lowered, well-covered, tall, strong, and confident. She had come a long way to get to this stage; hers was a story of a rise, a fall, and a rise again. How did she get to this stage? This is how it all started…

A stolen glance,
A flicker of the eyes,
A gaze upheld
When better it is to be blind.

The topic of hijab is one that evokes and provokes. It generates within all of us a plethora of thoughts and emotions. The web and media are replete with opinions of Muslim women and politicians on this sensitive topic. Some non-Muslims have used hijab as a springboard to unleash virile anti-Islamic polemics. Here I wish to share some thoughts on hijab from the perspective of a Muslim male living in America…

I recently came across an article on Salah. The author was an older working woman, looking very glamorous in the picture accompanying the article. She did not wear a hijab. I was skeptical, as I looked at the picture. This woman, who clearly wasn’t dressed very ‘Islamically’ was going to tell me about Salah? Me, a hijabi?