To be or not to be a Hijabista!

By Naima A. A.
Fashionista! It is what every teenage girl wants to be in high school. We often see on TV the popular girl at school with the perfect skin and beautiful smile strutting around in the coolest and most eye-cathing clothes making everyone turn around after her. Not so long ago this was my dream. I wanted to be that person but with a little twist, since I had the hijab on, I wanted to be a hijabista. It’s practically the same thing, the difference is that I cover my hair, I have the hijab on. But I didn’t want the hijab to stop me. Hey! I could still be a drop dead gorgeous it girl. Now looking back on that I realize that I have watched too many Gossip Girl episodes. I really wanted to be the Serena van Der Woodsen of my school. But doesn’t that contradict the hijab? You might ask yourself this, but I never really gave it that much thought. I just went along for the ride Shaytaan had deviantly paved for me.

Being a teenage girl in an environment where this is an ideal is obviously very hard. Being a Muslim teenage girl makes it even a bit harder. You have to have the perfect skin and a beautiful smile, your body has to be skinny and your clothes have to be amazing. How do you cope with this and the hijab? Can you have the cake and eat it too?
Can these to concepts be intertwined into one? Can you really be a hijabista and still please Allah swt?

Judging from my experience I would have to say no. If you don’t agree with me I advise you to break down the two concepts of being a hijabi and a hijabista.

The concept of being a hijabi is to be modest. Modest in the way you dress, speak and conduct yourself. This doesn’t mean that you just sit down quiet and nod your head when someone speaks to you or that you can’t express yourself. Being modest is just a manner of expression, speak up your mind be strong but not hard, and be softhearted but not weak.

Being a hijabista is the more or less the opposite of modest. All eyes on you is what this concept is all about. If you follow the ”fashion” you would probably not wear the loosest fitting clothes. It is more likely that you will wear those hip-hugging, tight skinny jeans. The idea of your clothing is to turn heads around, to make you pop out and this is the complete opposite of being modest, of being a hijabi. This is the reason you can’t combine them. You might think that you are special and different when you are a hijabista but the truth is that you are exactly like everyone else. There is nothing special or different about you. Think about it, how many girls in high school want to be seen for all the wrong reasons? How many of the girls are craving attention? This is the way they go about it. But when you are modest people notice that, especially those who are not familiar with it. By this I don’t mean that you should be modest to be noticed. But I mean that you should be modest for Allah swt. And modesty, haya, is something that should also be in your heart.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: ‘Faith consists of more than seventy branches. And haya (modesty) is a part of faith. (al-Bukhari)

And as far as clothing goes, who would you rather obey? Allah, The Most Merciful, that created you and the entire world and everything in it or an old, overly tanned, Italian man whose concept when it comes to women’s clothing is “less is more” ?

May Allah make it easier for us to obey Him.

Naima A. A is 16 years (soon 17) old and born and raised  in the capital city of Sweden which is Stockholm. She is starting her junior year in high school this fall inshallah. She is very interested in issues that are relevant to the youth.

Photo courtesy: Muiz Anwar