February 1st is World Hijab Day, and I want to encourage everyone to participate, especially any non-Muslims!
What is World Hijab Day? Simply, it is one day for women who do not typically wear hijab (the traditional Muslim headscarf) to give it a try.
There are a number of reasons I think this is beneficial on a societal level:
- It’s healthy for people to get out of their comfort zone from time to time. Take a day to learn what it’s like to walk in someone else’s shoes.
- Many find it is liberating to to not have others view them in a sexual way. Even the most common clothing in our society can accentuate the female figure, sometimes causing men to pay more attention to our bodies than the words we are using.
- Afraid you’ll get a negative response? Learn what it’s like to have others treat you with their preconceived notions.
The single hardest part of wearing hijab for me over the past 5 years has been overcoming others’ existing opinions of who I am and what my life is like. The idea that I must hate Jews, or America in general, or my husband forces me to wear the hijab, is frustrating to battle each day. I see memes online that perpetuate the idea that Muslims are any one of these things. I don’t think people posting these types of memes think they are making life harder on anyone, but ask any Muslim how they feel in rural America – continuing these ideas that Muslims are inherently bad, or that the Qur’an teaches violence makes trips through rural America just a little bit harder on us.
Take a day to see what it’s like to be a foreigner in your own country, or what it’s like to draw the attention to your words because the rest of your body isn’t available to look at. It’s both invigorating, and eye opening.
While I am not Muslim, I find this post very fascinating. It is a great way to learn about another culture and get out of our comfort zone.
On a personal level (while not important), I did come to the realization that it helped keep me warm in all this cold weather! At one point, I actually covered a portion of my face as well. It was quite nice!
That reminds me of a Muslim woman who moved to the midwest from a warmer climate and was surprised how many people wore hijab! Then spring came and she realized it was just hats and scarves to keep people warm. 🙂
If you or anyone you know takes part in World Hijab Day, I’d love to hear about it!
If I know of anyone who does this, I will definitely make sure to pass it along.
Out of curiosity… Do any ladies where this for cultural reasons who are not Muslim or does this tend to be faith associated? I would be very interested in learning more!
I don’t know of cultures that cover without there being a religious reason backing up the cultural norm, but I could be wrong. I believe there’s still Catholic communities where women still cover their head, at least at church, plus some Orthodox Jews cover, along with the Amish.
I know some sects of Catholics still cover in church, as well as the Jewish community. I wasn’t sure about others though. Thanks!
Very interesting website. Per the question if any culture cover their heads besides religion purposes-well Hindu cultures (huge part of India) wear head scarf, which is more like dupatta for fashion and also to show respect to elders in the house.
Thanks for answering the question! I knew women in India wore a scarf of some sorts, but not any details beyond that. Thanks again!