Wearing hijab for 1 month
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Category: Religion - Islam
Forum Name: Islam for non-Muslims
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Topic: Wearing hijab for 1 month
Posted By: Lalli36
Subject: Wearing hijab for 1 month
Date Posted: 10 June 2011 at 1:01pm
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Hello to all,
First of all, greetings! I am a non Muslim female and I live between Venezuela and the USA. I attend university in the USA and unfortunately, several Muslim women at a neighboring school have been experiencing some harrassment. As such, to raise awareness, the two schools have joined forces in an experiment.
A woman from each school who is not muslim will wear hijab for a period of one month and report on their experiences. I have been asked to represent my school. Because I live between two countries, I have been asked to wear hijab for one month in each country to compare my experiences.
I have one reservation. Could this be construed as offensive to some members of the Muslim community? To have a non Muslim doing this? Of course this has been done many times in several famous cases and it seemed to be received well, but I just wanted to ask. =)
Secondly, I could truly use some help with where to find the clothes. I would like to order online, but I'm not sure what to look for. I also have to consider that Venezuela is extremely hot and I have a heart condition which makes me highly sensitive to heat.
Your help is most greatly appreciated.
Respectfully,
Lalli
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Replies:
Posted By: semar
Date Posted: 11 June 2011 at 12:19am
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I have one reservation. Could this be construed as offensive to some members of the Muslim community? To have a non Muslim doing this? Of course this has been done many times in several famous cases and it seemed to be received well, but I just wanted to ask. =)
This is not offensive. So we so proud of you, that you care about us. However, just to make sure there is no misrepresented / misunderstood, please following the common attitude of hijabi. For example don't drink in public, or hug a male in public. Note: "just in public", if you are not in public you can do as usual.
Secondly, I could truly use some help with where to find the clothes. I would like to order online, but I'm not sure what to look for. I also have to consider that Venezuela is extremely hot and I have a heart condition which makes me highly sensitive to heat.
I don't know in Venezuela, but there is many on ebay, some of them they ship internationally. For the "hot issue" you can choose thin cotton fabric, loose style. ------------- Salam/Peace, Semar "We are people who do not eat until we are hungry and do not eat to our fill." (Prophet Muhammad PBUH) "1/3 of your stomach for food, 1/3 for water, 1/3 for air" |
Posted By: Chrysalis
Date Posted: 11 June 2011 at 4:03am
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Hi Lalli! I wear the Hijab too, and I would love for you to try it out... even if its an experiment. I don't think anyone would mind. For clothing, you could cover your head/neck with a Scarf and wear modest clothing that covers your entire body and is not tight. It could be anything, skirt, shirt etc. But if you want to experiment and see if people react to 'cultural' clothing, you could try wearing an Abaya as it stands out more. ------------- "O Lord, forgive me, my parents and Muslims in the Hereafter. O Lord, show mercy on them as they showed mercy to me when I was young." |
Posted By: Lalli36
Date Posted: 12 June 2011 at 7:40am
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Thank you so much for your kind words. I am glad to hear some support for this! I do intend to follow the proper behavior when in public. I would appreciate some help with this however. What does this entail? Are there places I should not go (a restaurant which serves alcohol? I've had mentions of this before but not sure) I began to wear hijab two days ago and have had some amazing reactions, both pleasant and unpleasant. Unfortunately, several of my male relatives refuse to go in public with me in protest. They think it's a silly experiment. Almost everyone else is incredibly supportive. Many of my female friends are interested in joining the experiment! Hijab truly is beautiful! I absolutely love it! It takes away so much stress as that I normally experience as a woman with having to look just so and show a certain amount of skin to be accepted. I feel so much more confident in hijab, which I didn't expect, to be honest. Regarding what to wear, I have found many modest things in my closet that do not show my shape as I dress modestly anyway. The first day I wore long loose dress pants with a black sun dress over a long sleeve black t-shirt and I *loved* the head scarf that I wore. A Muslim friend showed me how to wrap it and helped me pick out clothes, although I'm not sure I did such an awesome job when I had to do it myself =P Second outfit was a long loose maxi dress with a grey long sleeve t shirt underneath and a grey and white head scarf =) Thanks again for all of your help! Lalli |
Posted By: pure_columbian
Date Posted: 13 June 2011 at 5:31am
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Hi Lalli
I think its wonderful you are trying out this experiment.
I would be really interested to find out how you were treated and how your felt wearing the hijab once the experiment has finished. Hope you'll write a piece once its finished.
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Posted By: Chrysalis
Date Posted: 14 June 2011 at 5:58am
I think you should avoid Bars, Clubs and Pubs.. but if its a normal resturaunt that just serves alcohol that should be fine. [We Muslims are supposed to avoid restaurants that serve alcohol & pork. So we don't go to Bars, Pubs, Clubs.] However it should be okay to go to normal everyday restaurants even if they serve alcohol [as long as u don't drink in public]. Also as Muslims we keep a polite distance from members of the opposite gender... if they are unrelated to us.
Thats really interesting! Are you going to be keeping a blog or something? Maybe it would be a good idea to record your experiences on the blog and we could read..
That sounds about right! :). Btw you could also try you-tubing Hijab styles etc and you will find tutorials there and lots of ideas. As long as whatever your wearing hides your curves and covers your skin - it should be okay. (as a general rule). ------------- "O Lord, forgive me, my parents and Muslims in the Hereafter. O Lord, show mercy on them as they showed mercy to me when I was young." |
Lalli36 wrote:Posted By: Ghazzali
Date Posted: 23 June 2011 at 8:38am
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Aassalamualaikum.carry on sister. May Allah guide you to the truth.
------------- The world is a dangerous place to live in, not because of the bad people, but because of the good people who does not do anything about it. |
Posted By: Matt Browne
Date Posted: 25 June 2011 at 5:13am
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Please share your experience with us after your experiment. I'd be very interested in that. Thanks. ------------- A religion that's intolerant of other religions can't be the world's best religion --Abdel Samad Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people--Eleanor Roosevelt |
Posted By: allah guide me
Date Posted: 10 July 2011 at 4:54pm
| may allah guide you to the straight way Lalli |
Posted By: Lalli36
Date Posted: 11 July 2011 at 4:02pm
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Hello!
First of all, I am sorry for going so long without an update and I apologize for the length! I do have a question to ask at the end so if you dont have enough time to read all of this, scroll down for the question.
 I have now completed 2 weeks in each country. Unfortunately I was not able to stay in Venezuela more than 2 weeks because of the political issues in my other country  but I had some very interesting experiences while there! I have found that in Venezuela, no one seemed to think anything of me wearing hijab and I was treated exactly like everyone else with perhaps even more respect. For the years I lived in Venezuela I was always the topic of controversy because I dress modestly anyway. I was always made fun of, etc. as many women there tend to be "over exposed." Interesting to note that I was treated better with what many of them might consider "extreme" modesty.
In the USA, I have encountered more reactions by far. I live in an arts district where the people are supposedly open minded. Almost all know me. When I went to the store near my house I felt like I was being interrogated by people who, while I wouldn't consider them friends, know me. "Why are you doing this?" "What's the point?" "Aren't you embarrassed?" and of course the most common question "Did you convert?" I suppose it was a bit of a shock for them.
Aside from that, I've had some not-too-pleasant things shouted at me, bad looks and the like. I was surprised by my own reaction to those. I expected some negative reactions, but I took them so completely personally that at times I wanted to cry. Perhaps I'm weak, who know. I know many people are exposed to these things every day.
What also surprised me was how I felt wearing hijab. It felt absolutely wonderful! Some of the reasons are rather vain like not having to obsess in the mirror for hours trying to get my hair to cooperate.
 But for me, the best thing about it was that I didn't feel exposed. I truly, 100% felt free. Free from having to feel embarrassed by what a man might be thinking when I walked by. Free from catcalls, and most importantly, free from wondering always if I was being "tolerated" in a conversation or at work simply for my looks or proportionate to the amount of skin I was showing which, let's face it, is the case for many women unfortunately in this day and age. I felt that I was taken more seriously when I spoke. It's been an emotional roller coaster and there are many more things I would like to share with you all. I do have a blog and I will be posting the full story there. I will post a link when the time comes.
Ok... so here is my question. My school wants pictures of me during this process which I have taken for posterity for myself. Is it appropriate for me to post these pictures on my blog when I am finished? I wouldn't want to do anything disrespectful at the last minute but I've found mixed opinions on this. I know many Muslim women who post pictures on facebook accounts, etc. But I also know some who have said that they don't consider it appropriate.
As always, I look forward to hearing from you all!
Thanks again! Your words mean a lot to me!
Lalli
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Posted By: aminanima
Date Posted: 13 July 2011 at 2:14am
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Lalli, I dont understand why it would be a problem that you put photos up where you show your experience with the hijab.
I really want to contact you and that's because I got member here, but im not allowed to PM you, dont know why maybe im too new? I'm interested in your story and experience with the hijab and I would like to, with your permission of course, to make it in my language so that others also can read it.
email me: mailto:[email protected] - [email protected]
Thank you and may Allah guide you on the right path, amin!
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Posted By: Lalli36
Date Posted: 31 August 2011 at 1:26pm
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Hello all, I am still participating in this experiment as haven't gone a full 30 days yet. I have decided to continue to track my progress on my website which is lexistlaurent .com Please feel free to visit and comment. I've posted some pics there as well *cringe* but take it easy on me as I really am trying hard to wrap the headscarf as best I can, although it's occasionally unsuccessful. I have relied heavily on youtube.  Lalli |