Don't judge a book by its cover: Don't judge a muslimah by her hijab!

What I've learned is, you simply cannot judge a Muslimah by whether or not she covers her hair, or whether or not she wears pants that show the shape between her legs, or whether or not the sleeves of her shirt go 100% below her wrists.
What I've also learned is, you can't expect every single girl that simply pins a silky scarf around her head is religiously superior to one who doesn't.

There are all sorts of Muslimahs, here's a list of categories I've come up with:

1) Arrogant Hijabi- Sounds like an oxymoron, doesn't it? But yes, they exist!!! These Muslimahs believe just because they are full-time hijabis/niqabis--(by the way, the good thing is they do observe it as perfectly as possible) that they are more superior. They give the non-hijabis the 'up-down' a head-to-toe look that can make the poor sister who has a shawl draped over her head melt to the ground with humiliation and guilt. Subhanallah, I don't even think Allah (swt) looks at these poor sisters as harshly as some of these women do!

2)Traditional Hijabi- There are Muslimahs who find absolutely no trouble from transitioning from non-hijabi to hijabi, simply because they live in a family--or country--in which that is the norm. The mother, the sisters, the cousins all observe it and expect the same of every woman in their household to take up on it once it is time. There are also countries, such as Saudi Arabia where you're not even ALLOWED to be hijab-less. I'm not saying all--but some of these woman are basically 'forced' to start hijab. This is wrong, and sometimes these kinds of girls become a kind of rebel--they are forced to cover their hair so they decide they'll do anything and everything that clashes with the meaning of being a Hijabi. Yes, I've seen and heard of girls who drive with their parents to school with a tight scarf, and once the car turns away--off comes the head piece, the hoodie, and the hair is quickly tousled by the hands. Wow.

2)Head-strong Hijabi- SubhanAllah, I applaud these Muslimahs, these are the unbelievably head-strong and willing--usually converts. They've studied Islam from A-Z, and tend to turn out even better than the Muslimah who has been Muslim all her life, simply because they have been proactive of obtaining knowledge, of finding answers of any questions they may have. I find these Muslimahs extremely lucky because Allah (swt) has truly guided them to Islam before he has guided them to the ummah (which, by the way, these days can use a lot of improvement in all sorts of ways, blah, so...imperfect?)

3) Confused- This Muslimah has a dust-catching bag hiding deep within the bottom of her closet, full of scarves, pins and of the like. This Muslimah is constantly googling articles about the obligation of hijab--deep within her heart she knows it is an obligation and reads these articles over and over again until one day, Allah willing, she would pull that bag out and find the strength and courage to put it on!

4) Culturally Bombed- This is the Muslimah I think--has the hardest. She's raised into a family where hijab is just...not there. Even if she does want to take the leap and be the first: Her friends don't do it, her mother doesn't observe it, nor do her three older sisters. Culturally bombed Muslimahs inhabit an environment where not covering your hair, not wearing full-sleeve loose clothing is basically okay--it's a part of following culture, and it's a pretty innocent thing to do. No one in her circle of friends and family will point at her for not observing hijab, because none of the women around her do anyways. She fasts, she prays, and she dresses up for Eid--and is generally a good person at heart, but just isn't ready to shout to the world every morning that she is a Muslim woman, but before that, she is a...(Insert Country Name) Woman.

So if a #3, or a #4 comes to you, #1, please have some mercy on these girls! Open up your mind. Get out of your little boxed-in thinking that just pushes the potential hijabis even further away from you. Because for all you know, these girls may go home every night and pull out their own dusty bags and try on their scarves with pure intention to please Allah (swt) one day. SubhanAllah, there is a good reason to why only Allah (swt) can judge us and what is in our hearts and what lies in our intentions.

I've also heard of, "No ifs or buts...you have to pull it on as soon as you reach puberty,"

Yes, it's true, delaying it would be wrong, but even just a recurring thought or intention to do it one day is not wrong--in fact--it is rewarding!

Like everything, it is simply a form of jihad, a personal struggle, a struggle between man (in this case, woman) and God. So please stop trying to interfere with other people's struggles, because I'm sure we all have our own to worry about.

Tons of love,

*MuslimChica*