Yesterday was a really awesome experience, alhamdulillah. A couple of weeks ago I challenged the women on LSU’s campus to wear hijab for a day. If you want to know how this deals with viral marketing, read on.
I wrote a column called surprise, surprise: “Columnist challenges women to wear hijab for a day.” And that day was April 25th. Writing my columns I really had no idea how many people read them. I know I get a lot of hate mail, and a lot of hate comments, and I knew at least a couple of thousand people read them every week, but this hijab challenge took it to a whole new level.
Melissa and Sarah B. sitting in front a fountain in the Quad at LSU
I got several emails from girls saying they wanted to participate. So I helped them out; I met with some of them and showed them how to wear the hijab. and I even ate lunch with a couple of them yesterday while they sported their hijabs. They were all some of the sweetest girls I’ve met so far at LSU.
Soon after lunch, I got a call from my friend Sarah M. who reverted to Islam about two years ago and she’s telling me that even someone at a coffee shop on campus asked her if she was wearing the hijab because of the challenge. There was a buzz already going around campus. I go the masjid later that night and some of my friends are telling me that so and so was talking about how they read my column and so on and so forth.
My plan worked.
I was able to start dialog all over campus about the hijab. Afterward I got a various people emailing me wanting interviews, I gave a talk about women in Islam to a Women and Gender Studies class; It’s definitely the type of dawah opportunity no one could turn down. That was a lot of potential ajr to pass up. People would ask the girls why they are wearing it, and they would tell them and explain to them why Muslim Women wear the hijab and how we are not oppressed. It was a mass dawah effort. A lot like viral marketing/PR. It’s no wonder why people are all about getting more Muslims in the media. The potential is HUGE for dawah. Imagine, A hijab day on campus could turn into a nation-wide awareness day, which is very possible once we get more Muslims to be trained in media and marketing work.
That’s why I’m starting my own PR company soon. Business proposal should be done tonight and my company should be legally registered soon. There is so much potential out there and so many ideas on how to tap into this field. I’ve seen It work and have felt the sweetness of Allah ‘az wa jal making my efforts successful. Wallahi it’s only by the Will of Allah. And I realize as well, that this is all a test from Allah.
Melissa, Michelle, and Maggie posing for a picture at Atcha Bakery (mmm’ Atcha.)
The Fruits And Veggies of your Efforts:
Melissa was perhaps the sweetest of them all. She was very enthusiastic and excited to take on the hijab challenge, and told everyone she knew about it. We ate lunch and at night she came to our masjid. I stole about 10 girls (unintentionally) away from the youth halaqa to join in our discussion about the hijab. Subhanallah, although I’ve taught these girls before *shout out to you girls :P* and I see them all the time at the masjid, I learned so much about them just from that discussion.
One of the girls came out with the news that she had just started wearing hijab officially last Sunday. Another told of how she started wearing the hijab a couple of months ago, and came with the new news that she had given up listening to music. MashaAllah, la qowwita illa billah. I couldn’t have been happier.
Alhamdulillah, Allah ‘az wa jal gave me such a blessing to be able to change people’s lives. They jokingly (but truthfully) told Melissa how I used to chase after them like herds of sheep and how I wouldn’t start the halaqah until I swung my lasso and reeled them all into the room (that’s southern talk, y’all). They said how at first they ran away from lectures. Then When I would gather them they would come for half the time then leave, then they said that the more they listened to the words of the lectures, the more they wanted to stay on their own, until it lead them to change.
Conclusion?
Don’t give up on what you are doing even if you don’t see immediate results. Never give back or refuse to accept a gift Allah is offering you (i.e. opportunities for dawah). It could be that if we turn down these opporunities and freebies that Allah gives us, that He ‘az wa jal will in turn never give you that opportunity again and give it to someone more greatful.
It is an amazing feeling seeing the fruits of your actions and the potential that is to come, but only if you remember that it was all done by the Will of Allah. and Allah is truly the one that guides the hearts.
Stay tuned for my follow up column in The Daily Reveille next Friday about the results of the Hijab Challenge, inshaAllah. It will inshaAllah be the last column I write for the paper. It’s been a good 1.5 years, alhamdulillah and an awesome way to end that chapter of my life. Wallahu ta’ala alem. So, what are YOU going to do to spread the deen of Allah? (And, do you need a PR person? :P)
Stumble it!
April 26th, 2008 at 11:16 pm
salam shirenn ,.,.,.
ur soooo awesome mashallah and i adore ur lectues ,,,, they taught me sooooooooo much and me and u hang out all time and u help me sooooo much and u always guide me to do the right thing ..
i just wanted to thank you for everything you have done for me and all the girls at the lectures …
jazakey allah khair …..
April 26th, 2008 at 11:18 pm
WOOOOWW!!
I am very impressed with this column shirien! way to go girl! =P
ummm i jus wanted to say that i was one of those girls who didn’t really enjoy listening to the lectures in the beginning but i somehow changed with every lecture. i’ve learned to become more patient and humble and inshallah i even began practicing wearing the abaya.
i didn’t mean to go on and on but heyyyy i do talk alot!
anyways great column
take care and salam,
Nazira
April 26th, 2008 at 11:57 pm
Mashallah, this is great subhanallah, those ladies look (i wanna say beautiful but i’m afraid it can be misinterpreted) with hijab. May ALLAH guide them inshallah and aid you and reward you for your efforts.
This one is going on Islamify.com for sure.
April 27th, 2008 at 1:20 am
HAHAHAAH! Maaaannn that is super uber-awesome!
The crazy Egyptian Rogambo does it again! Allahu Akbar!
I hope everything goes well with the PR company. May Allah bless your efforts, Ameen.
April 27th, 2008 at 3:07 am
Those girls look absolutely darling in hijab, mashaAllah <3 Looking forward to reading about their experiences in your final column, inshaAllah - which in itself is, yet again, another da’wah opportunity
Have i ever told you how amazing you are?
May Allah bless youuuuuu in everything, ameen 
April 27th, 2008 at 3:40 am
There is certainly a glow that comes from the hijab. And the glow that comes from such an initiative warms my heart:)
A national hijab day? With your new PR company at the helm, I can see it
May Allah SWT make all your endevors result in massive, massive glow.
April 27th, 2008 at 11:49 am
Ma Sha Allah, I love it!
I seriously think this could be a Nationwide event with MSAs everywhere participating.
A great initiative to continue next year, insha Allah!
You’ve got my full support
May Allah bless your efforts!
April 27th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Salamu Alaykum
I am soooo happy for you (and for the rest of us too!). I’m happy for you because Allah (SWT - Almighty God, in English) continues to bless your life and you are recognizing it more and more. Keep on keeping on! Remember that there is Joy in the Lord! I’m happy for others as well because they come to understand more about the world around them and (en sha Allah - God willing) more about the world to come. Keep up the good work. May Allah (SWT) continue to bless it. May the effects of your actions always be good ones, en sha Allah. See you Friday night, en sha Allah!
April 27th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
wow subhaaaanAllah. I really wasnt the results to this post. barak Allahu feekom. I’m waiting for someone to set the record straight and to say something bad about me lol this seems so bias! may Allah forgive me for what you don’t know of me and make be better than you think of me, ameen.
Rahma, Subhanallah you know how much I love being around you. you’re awesome mashaAllah.
Nazira, lol you talk a lot but it comes in handy sometimes! hehe. Thanks for all your nice comments. you’re my tough love girl. I’m always toughest on you because I know you can take it and I always have and still do see great potential in you! I had no idea that you started wearing the abaya! that makes me even more happy! mashaAllah!
HK or Haf-a-shank, Jazaki Allahu khairan you’re so sweet! except trust me, that’s why im waiting for someone to show the other side of me lol you only have a biased view of me.. Really it’s just from the tawfeeq of Allah that I’m able to dothe things I do.
Manoffewwords, thanks for posting it on islamify.com
Br. Dawud, thanks for the support, although I’m not quite sure what a rogambo is :I
Sr. Heba! ameeeeeen. I’m really so happy to see a comment from you! may Allah ‘az wa jal grant you jannat al-firdous.
Br. Safi, I think if more people show me that this is something they’d like tosee executed i’ll definitely take up the challenge and start writing press releases.
Sr. Jane! Wallahi you have no idea how happy I am to see you come to my site. You have definitely been a mentor for not only me but many of these girls. I can’t tell you how much value you add to our community, mashaAllah, la qowwita illa billah. When things would get stressful you always know the right things to say to me.
keep the thoughts coming… my new company is coming soonnnnnnn inshaAllah.
April 27th, 2008 at 8:04 pm
The pictures work in this post:
May Allah reward you Sr. Shiriene…excellent work wallahi
Weve been doing the “Hijabathon” as an MSA for 3 years now, and alhamdulillah, weve been getting good results, but barely any PR …so the event happens, but the word really doesn’t really get out through the paper/etc…
What I learned from reading your article was the power of marketing.
Heres another idea that we came up with
This year, we did a “Jesus Awareness Week”…
We had everyone in the MSA buy an “I Love Jesus Shirt”
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x96/Supereid86/Random%20car%20shows/P1010367.jpg
believe it or not, the MSA guys got a LOT of looks…when they see a guy with a beard, rockin an I LOVE JESUS shirt, they go…wait, what? your, um…Christian? lol
But on the back, it says
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x96/Supereid86/Random%20car%20shows/P1010363.jpg
HAHA…I AM MUSLIM…you don’t know how many dawah opportunities we had during this past Jesus Awareness Week…
If this is something you guys might want to do, contact me inshaallah, Ill send you the template for the t shirts and tell you what our program consisted of
But again…it would have been 700x more effective had we had a good PR person spreading the word you know
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x96/Supereid86/Random%20car%20shows/P1010377.jpg
Jazakyllahu Khayran
By the way, I need a PR person for a program were doing with Mas Youth…I’m going to email you very soon inshaallah with what I need, and well see what we can do together
Sallamualaykum
April 27th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
Salam Br. Ahmed,
I went ahead and deleted the first comment one where the links weren’t working
I really like the shirt idea. It reminds me of an Islamic Awareness week event we had in which we had to carry these posters about “Jesus In Islam” to the hall in which we were holding the event. I can’t tell you the looks we got and the number of people asking us if there was an event going on.
But yeah inshaAllah let me know what the event is about, I typically would like to know more about the event and everything involved before I take on a project.
I’ve actually officially just registered my company Minbar Media Inc. And so It’ll launch publicly soon… inshaAllah.
April 28th, 2008 at 3:43 am
awesome idea, Shirien.
April 28th, 2008 at 7:53 pm
asalamu alaykum,
awww this column is sweet, but very true. the girls look wonderful in hejab, and u helping them is such a great thing. u not only have helped out the muslim girls get closer to their faith, you have also changed the others outlook on islam. masha allah, may allah reward u big tyme!! lol
April 28th, 2008 at 10:31 pm
Jazak Allah khair genieyclo.
Alicia, no wallahi you have no idea how happy I was after you told me you started wearing hijab. MashaAllah, you are definitely a pearl. And I hope that Allah ‘az wa jal continues to strengthen your iman inshaAllah.
And thanks for the sweet words, wallahi they mean a lot to me.
May 2nd, 2008 at 1:46 pm
I will wear the hijab for a day if you take yours off for a day as well. Deal?!?
May 2nd, 2008 at 2:11 pm
Andrea, thanks for demonstrating the type of comments I would get all semester.
Threatened by a piece of cloth are we? C’mon now Andrea, I heard that one before. You can do better than that.
Goodbye Daily Reveille!
May 8th, 2008 at 3:32 am
You go girl! May Allah reward you! Wonderful idea.
I did PR as an undergrad, and then Middle East Studies as MA. I always thought that PR could be very useful to the Muslims, but they are slow to take it up. Alhamdulillah. Take care.
May 8th, 2008 at 11:05 pm
Barak Allahu feeki Um Omar!
MashaAllah that’s great that you have a background in PR work as well! we definitely need more Muslims to take up the field. Have you used any of your PR background after getting your masters in Middle-East Studies?
InshaAllah I intend in the future when my business takes off inshaAllah that in a couple of years I can start a scholarship fund to help Muslims who have the correct understanding of the deen to major in Media related fields (mass comm.
There’s no doubt that PR is a POWERFUL tool that Muslims need to be aware of and help the benefit of Islam.
May 9th, 2008 at 2:20 am
Ma sha Allah, may Allah reward you and guide all humanity
May 10th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Threatened by a piece of cloth?!?! You’ve got to be kidding me!
First of all, you’re the one that’s lacking confidence and the one that needs people’s approval. Otherwise, you wouldn’t care about doing such a “challenge” and you’d wear it for your own sake (and Allah’s).
Second of all, I find it very offensive that you, a Muslim, would insist that other girls from different religions (e.g. Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc…) adopt a Muslim symbol, be it even for a day. Imagine how you’d feel if a Christian would ask you to wear the Holy Cross for a day.
Third of all, isn’t hijab to be a personal choice, not coerced or talked into?
May 10th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Andrea,
Although you are coming with a defensive attitude which often doesn’t result to any understanding I’ve decided to respond to your comment.
First, I think that’s a rather weighty claim you’ve made indicating that I did this challenge for people’s approval. Who’s approval exactly was I seeking? Muslims, Non-Muslims, the bigots? If I wanted to seek people’s approval I would assimilate into the society both by action and by dress. And we both know that hasn’t happened and, God-Willing, will never happen.
Second, it was the girls DECISION to participate in my challenge. I did not coerce anyone to wear it. I did not insist, I merely challenged. And it seems to me Andrea, that you are indeed threatened by a piece of cloth.
Let me explain to you the difference between asking someone to wear a piece of cloth and wearing a cross. (which if someone asked me to do I would not be outraged, I would simply reject the request and move on with myself.. I wouldn’t feel “coerced”
The hijab, is something that was worn in just about every society at one point in history. The Followers of Jesus wore it, and Nuns wear it even today. And even in societies where it wasnt necessarily religious, it is worn as a form of modesty. Look up “Dupatta” and see for yourself.
A cross on the other hand represents the Crucifixion of Christ. This tenet is exclusively a belief of Christianity. As Muslim, although believing in Christ as a Prophet of God, Neither believe he was the son of God, nor was he crucified on the cross.
Allah tells us what really happened to Jesus (peace be upon him) in the 4th chapter of the Quran called An-Nisa’
Allah States, ” …They said, ‘We killed the Messiah Jesus, son of Mary, the messenger of God.’ They did not kill him, nor did they crucify him, but the likeness of him was put on another man (and they killed that man)(4:157)
Therefore, wearing the Cross would be affirming the belief that Jesus was crucified on the cross, which was just negated by Allah(God) Himself.
and THAT, Mrs. Andrea, is what it is.
May 16th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
salam shiren
i just wanted to say that i was the 1st one to comment ..YAY ME ,,
LOLZ
oh by they way
great job
May 17th, 2008 at 4:07 am
lol thanks rahma
very big accomplishment indeed. haha. yallah see you at sheikh majdy’s lecture tomorrow inshaAllah. you better be there after maghrib!
May 17th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
Wow, mashAllah!!!
I am so impressed with everything you did, it’s wonderful that put yourself out there with this challenge, I wish there was more people like you out there, keep up the wonderful work
May Allah SWT reward you
May 18th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
Barak Allahu feeki Jana, that’s very sweet! I didn’t really do much, subhanallah the credit goes to Allah ‘az wa jal first then to the girls who actually participated. they were very sweet, mashaAllah. may Allah guide them, ameen.
I can definitely see a national “wear hijab for day” day. When I clear out some of my projects i’m currently working on.. i’ll definitely take that up bi’ithnillahi ta’ala.
August 26th, 2008 at 6:35 pm
hi!
with all my respect I cannot disagree more with you.
Modesty and self respect is something you feel and wear inside you. This hijab’s bussiness is just something invented and some old reminiscent from countries where clima makes necessary to be covered. I cannot see any point in being prisioned inside yards of fabric when it’s not necessary.
I love countries like France!!!