I would like to share with the other sisters how I became Muslim. It was because of Hijab. I was doing reports on the radio (Radio McGill) a few years ago, and everyone was talking about women wearing hijab. The newspapers were full of derogatory remarks about Muslim women. I decided to find some one who wore hijab and learn what it meant to her. After the interview, we became friends, and within one month I had decided I wanted to be a Muslim. Wearing hijab for me reminds me of that special day.

But I can understand how you feel about wearing hijab on the first day. It is difficult to wear hijab at first-- people look at us in a different way. When I first started wearing it after becoming Muslim, I put it on and then took it back off. I was shy and a afraid that people would laugh at me. Some women tried to discourage me and made me feel that since I covered I had lost part of my intelligence and my brain, that I was no longer free and had become submissive.  All the prejudice about women wearing hijab came to the surface when they saw me. But after one or two months the same people that made fun of me, gained respect for me.  I now wear my hijab everywhere and no one makes me feel bad.

One girl last term at university, told me that I was old fashioned and that she hoped I would be more modern. "How more modern can I get?", I asked her! I am on the internet, she is not, I am finishing my degree, she is not. I know about the latest news, she does not. Islam backed me about the equality between men and women and she is still struggling to be equal with men.

Being Muslim no race is superior to the other  and we are all equal in front of Allah. How much more modern can we be, we are ahead in many ways, and to cover reinforces those ideals of Islam.

So don't worry, walk tall and proud and remember that you are beautiful inside and outside. That is what convinced me to become Muslim, the purity of heart and the beauty that comes with wearing hijab. Allah helps us with these doubts and at the end we become stronger.

WaSalam

Um-Khalthum