shirien | 
05 21st, 2008| 
As a disclaimer before I write this post, I am not (yet) a niqaabi. However, recent events have widened my eyes and moved me to a point I decided that I should write about it.
In Baton Rouge, there are probably only three niqaabi sisters. One of them is a good friend of mine and the other two I’m just adding on for wishful thinking. My sister recently came down to visit for a week, and it was the first time she came down since she started wearing niqaab, mashaAllah.
I started wondering if my world as a girl who wears hijab and abaya is really much different than a girl who wears niqaab/khymar. I’m not talking in terms of shariah, I’m talking about society’s treatment of Muslim women; specifically the western society. I thought that people who dislike (or even hate) Muslims would hate us just the same amount whether we cover our faces or not. I figured we’d probably get an equal amount of dirty looks.
What I noticed was vastly different reaction from society as well as the effect of the niqaab on the sister wearing it. Now, I’m speaking directly in terms of the interaction and reaction of the people down here in Louisiana. It’s probably much different in other places like Philly and New York, because people are more used to seeing diversity in those areas.
In Louisiana I noticed 2 different reactions:
1. People gasping out of disbelief
2. People trying their best to be so friendly to you, because they know how prejudice the rest of society is toward you.
The people who gasped out of disbelief were the true southern hicks. Almost immediately when she arrived, there was a guy with a mullet sitting outside with his buddy staring at her like he was watching the most interesting thing he had ever seen on TV. My sister turned to me and was pretty ticked off and told me how obvious it was that they were staring at her. I turned around and they didn’t even pretend they weren’t looking straight at her. They pointed and whispered. My brother-in-law ended up giving them dawah and in the end they were actually pretty nice.
The guy asked my brother-in-law where he and my sister were from. And they were pretty shocked when he told them that my sister was born and raised in Baton Rouge, La.
“You got me!,” mullet guy responded with a hick accent. Then they inquired why I didn’t cover my face by my sister did.
That’s true Egyptian Gumbo right there.
The stares and whispers happened everywhere we went. It didn’t really bother me, because as Muslims you need to be strong and you need to not care what society says or thinks about you — especially if you are doing something for the sake of Allah.
I asked my sister if this was normal. She replied, “It’s gotten to a point that if they don’t stare, I think something is wrong with them; It’s like, ‘Why aren’t you staring?’”
Which brings me to a very important message that can’t be delayed:
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MESSAGE TO ALL NON-MUSLIMS:
Niqaabi Women can SEE. They are not blind. They can see you staring, they can see you praying for your life and they can see you trying to figure out how they eat. Thank you, that is all.
——-
The second type of people were the ones that were the nicest of people and just want to make you feel welcome no matter what. People would come up and tell my sister that (mashaAllah) her baby was really good on the plane, and other people would just be extra nice when talking. It’s treatment I never saw (or never noticed) as a sister who wears abaya.
Now, for the transformation within.
Subhanallah, I really admire anyone who wears niqaab — especially here in the States. You really have to be strong and you just have to put your trust in Allah.
I was pretty shocked with the strengthening of my sister’s personality, mashaAllah. When people would say something or stare at her for very long she’d basically go up to them and ask them “What’s your problem?” She told me how there was this one ghetto girl who basically was trying to mock my sister and her husband. My sister told the girl that surprise, surprise, “I speak better English than you.” The girl backed off. Alhamdulillah. 
—-
There are always sisters looking to take the next step, but are always afraid of the result. For that sister out there who plans to wear hijab “one day” make that day today. Most of the time our fears just come from shaytaan and not putting our priorities in the right place. Why should we fear society and fear the things they may (or may not) say?
Allah tell’s us in the Quran that the disbelievers will never be pleased with us. In fact, in surat Al-Maeda verse Allah ‘az wa jal says,
“This day, those who disbelieved have given up all hope of your religion, so fear them not, but fear Me. This day, I have perfected your religion for you, completed My Favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islâm as your religion.”
Allah ‘az wa jal has more right to be feared. And as long as you are doing something for His sake, He will protect you and give you strength.
If you’re a sister who “wants to wear abaya one day” then subhanallah even from my own experience, a sister who lives in Louisiana, you have nothing to be afraid of except for Allah. There is really nothing to it. Have I gotten hateful comments before? Yes but rarely. The guys that do say something to me, I follow them asking them to repeat what they said directly in my face… but they run away from me. (true story lol)
In general, I feel like people are truly shocked when you show them you are not weak like they think you are. If you stand up for yourself you gain that respect and they in turn are the weak ones.
If you shy away from taking the next step, then you shy away from a lot of ajr and a lot of dawah opportunities. Because as i’ve noticed the higher you go in the level in which you want to please Allah and go that extra mile to do something for His sake, the more opportunities for dawah you get.
I mean just in the week that my sister spent here there was not a day that went by that dawah wasn’t given to the people that interacted with her or even stared at her! Compare that to the sister who is afraid to even put on a hijab, subhanallah society looks at her and thinks she is just one of them, although she is not because she worships Allah and believes in His Oneness.
Think of the group of people you want to be with on the Day of Judgment — would you want to be with the society that you blended into in this world, or would you want to struggle a little to be with the society of the righteous Muslims from every generation? Wallahi I would chose to be with the salaf and those that follow the manhaj of the salaf any day.
Just some food for thought. And to the girls that attend our youth halaqa, think deeply about this and more importantly I know many of you have something that has held you back in the past. But really, now is the time to act. Take that next step to become closer to Allah and become the Muslim you’ve expressed you want to become. InshaAllah we’ll talk soon 
WAllahu ta’ala alem.
