The Truth About the Hijab
By
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I am a Muslim-American teenager who wears the hijab on a daily basis. Personally, I have never faced any sort of discrimination because of my choice to wear the hijab. Yet, I have definitely seen and heard of it happening throughout the country.The hijab is a scarf worn on a woman’s head that covers her hair, her neck and her chest. Some women also choose to wear the veil, which covers their entire face except their eyes, and the burqah, which is a long piece of loose clothing that covers their body from head to toe. Most American Non-Muslims misunderstand why Muslim American women wear the hijab. It is not by any means a form of oppression or a limit upon our freedom as women. Instead, the hijab is a way for a woman to be modest. I interviewed several Non-Muslim American women and one question I asked them was what their definition of modesty is. I noticed that many of my interviewees had a similar outlook on what this meant. “Modesty is a way to respect oneself and show humility. It is a way to set a limit to expose oneself physically and personality-wise.” This is the reason we, Muslim women, wear the hijab.
Another one of my interviewees had the misconception that Muslims wear the hijab due to tradition, instead of religion. This is incorrect. Tradition is part of culture, as opposed to religion, which is a belief. For example, if I follow Pakistani culture, that is not the reason I wear the hijab because there are also many Christians who follow Pakistani culture, and they obviously do not wear the hijab.
By: Manahil Sami