When I made the decision of starting the hijab… I knew that I might have to face weird reactions from everyone around, for that matter even some people in family. But, Alhumdulillah, things were easier, by Allah’s will, than I assumed they would be.
Over the time, though, I have realised that in this journey of my life in hijab, not everyone is
going to be ‘normal’ with me. In this post 9/11 world today with the advent of Islamophobia, walking with the identity of being a muslim, is not going to be a cake walk. There will be times I will meet people who might turn to be extra sweet with me and be very happy with my decision, or the absolutely lovely times when people are just the way they used to be before, Alhumdulillah… but there will also be times when I will come across people who are not very sweet… and not necessary that it is because they are Anti-Islamist (Allah forbid) but it could also be because they are not comfortable talking to religious people or may be they just dont know how to be normal around you. I wouldn’t blame anyone for that though! 🙂
But at times like these I feel so out of place! There are a few people who I knew who used to talk to me but now I get the feeling that they feel somewhat uncomfortable in my presence .. and sometimes I get these strange stares from passers by too (and even though I know I shouldn’t care about what people think or how people act with me) ..at times like these I feel like a complete stranger. I feel like a stranger in a not so strange world. But it is then that I remind myself of the hadith about being a stranger in this world.
Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
“Islam began as something strange, and it shall return to being something strange. So, give glad tidings to the strangers.”
[Muslim]
An that restores my smile again, Alhumdulillah! 🙂
O Allah! Help us to be strangers in this temporary world and let not the Satan’s whispering and our nafs take over us. O Allah! make this easy on all of us! Ameen! 🙂
P.S. To listen to the entire “Strangers” lecture by Br.Khalid Yasin, that is present in the above video, Click here.
In Pursuit of Peace! 