Farrah, 40, freelance PR, Birmingham
“My relationship with the hijab hasn’t been a straight path, but then neither was my journey to Islam. I don’t wear a headscarf and I’m not easily identifiable as Muslim. People I work with only discover I’m Muslim when I mention I need to go and pray or when I am fasting. Most people are surprised and the first question I’m asked is ‘Why don’t you wear hijab?’
My first experience with the hijab was at 12 or 13 when I was instructed by my father to wear a headscarf. I rebelled because it was completely foreign to me. I went to a Catholic school, had boyband posters on my bedroom wall and had never even had a discussion about Islam or the hijab. Wearing it just didn’t feel right.
I discovered Islam myself in my 20s. Growth takes time and it is important to me to build solid foundations. The last thing I want to do is be quick to put the hijab on and then just as quick to take it off. After all, hijab has a broader meaning in Islam; it’s not only defined by modest attire, it encompasses behaviour for both men and women.”
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