Hijab

Ok, so I may not wear a hijab myself but I still can’t believe the stupidity or prejudice that some people come out with they see a girl with a hijab or a naqab on. Quite a few of my friends do wear the hijab and I’m always amazed at the kind of things people ask them. I know for one of my friends, Nazia, the decision to wear hijab during high school was not an easy one and she struggled with it but in the end, it all worked out. But it can’t be easy for them sometimes, I mean seriously, why do people not think before they speak anymore?

Hijabi’s have can have some trying times as well...

• Sat on the train to Manchester and watched a hijabi trying to put on her earphones so she could listen to her iPod. She finally managed to put them on after a struggle and looked up to see me looking at her. I smiled, she smiled and shrugged her shoulders as if to say what can you do? We sat and chatted for the rest of the train journey. Her battle with her earphones was in vain :)
• In high school, watching my friend Nazia trying to push loose strands of hair back under her hijab, only to make a mess of it after 15 minutes of trying. Eventually it lead to her having to excuse herself from classes and go to the ladies bathroom to re-adjust her hijab. A repeat performance at least once a day :) (But then again, if you having a bad hair day, no one would ever know!)
• People stop and stare when they see a naqabi walking about in broad daylight. (I admit I’ve done this a few times as I often wonder what the girl looks like underneath, bad I know. But then I’ve made quite a few friends this way, lol. Not recommended for guys to do this though ;)
• A hijabi playing some kind of sport always makes people stop and stare. Whether it be in my ji-jitsu classes, playing a basketball/netball match at uni or even paintballing :)

Ok so not so serious and then there are the questions. Some are quite innocent but when we hear them they just sound so... well funny. Examples are from when I was working in Harrogate, at university or just out shopping, even in Bradford…

• "So do have hair under your hijab or do have to have it like shaved off?" What? Why would u shave it off? Of course they have hair under their hijabs
• "So do you have to pass the appropriate levels so you can wear the ninja style one as oppose to the standard one?" lol. ok this was a genuine question and she was actually very sweet, bless her! The term ninja was used to refer to the full naqab. The answer is no you don’t have to undertake any um “tests” and whether you wear you wear the naqab or the hijab is a personal thing
• "How do you wash your hair with your hijab on? I suppose you don’t have to as it doesn’t get dirty?" lol, um no, you still wash your hair and yea your allowed to take your hijab off when you’re having a shower ;)
• "Don’t you get bored of wearing the same scarf thing for the rest of your life?" I think she was referring to the actual cloth used and not the concept of wearing the hijab forever. Women usually have more than one head scarf :)
• "So do most girls wear it from birth back home then?" Yes because in other countries all newborn female babies get issued with tiny little headscarves as soon as they leave the hospital (sarcasm), lol. No honestly they're just babies. The choice to wear a hijab/naqab is up to the individual.
• "So do you get like sacrificed by your family if you say no to wearing the hijab?" I couldn’t actually answer this at the time as I was rolling around on the floor with laughter. But um no... you don’t get um “sacrificed”, it’s personal choice and I think the girl asking the question got a bit confused about what kinda religion we were followers of :)

Can’t think of anymore at the moment but feel free to add to the list if you’ve come across any funny ones :)