Naima B. Robert – The Hijab Connection

Bismillah er salatu wa salam ala Rasulillah Assalamu alaykum

Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh. It gives me great pleasure to be here

making this video for you. For the hijab Expo.

I'ma be Robert, an author and the publisher of magazines for Muslim

women and children.

When I was asked by a nor sisterhood to prepare a little

video about the hijab, just say some words about the hijab and

about hair, I really wondered what I could contribute to this

discussion. I mean, what can I say about Hijab that hasn't been said

already 1000s of times before.

Those of you who've read my book, from my sister's lips will be

familiar with my own journey towards the hijab and towards

Islam.

The now sort of infamous words, you know, when I first met

somebody who wore hijab, and actually got up the courage to ask

them, why they wear hijab. And that simple, simple answer that

changed my life, which was

because I want to be judged for what I say and what I do, not what

I look like. That was the beginning of my journey towards

Islam, and the beginning of my journey towards hijab. But I'm not

here today to talk about how I became a hijab wearer, how I

became a Muslim.

I would like to share with you a few thoughts that I had on the

hijab, and I've entitled this talk the hijab connection. Okay, I want

to look at three basic areas. During my talk, I would like to

look at hijab as a better as an act of worship, I would look at

the hijab, I'd like to look at hijab as something

transformational. And I want to look at the hijab as a source of

unity. Okay, so just for the sake of clarity, I would like to make

it clear at this point that when I'm talking about with hijab, I'm

actually not talking about wearing a hijab or headscarf or clothing

or et cetera. I'm not talking about wearing hijab, I will be

talking about observing hijab. Because observing hijab, and hijab

in the context of this talk is not just a headscarf or a piece of

clothing, it is a code. It is a way of being that includes, but

it's not limited to covering according to the Quran and the

Sunnah. So it encompasses modesty, it encompasses humility, in

thought and deed, in the way that we carry ourselves and the way we

relate to ourselves and to those around us. Okay, this is this link

between the way we are on the inside, and the way we are on the

outside as individuals. And the way we then portray ourselves to

people around us and interact with people around us, is what I'm

calling that hijab connection. So first up, hijab as an act of

worship. All right, lots of people all around the world wear hijab

for a multitude of different reasons. It could be that that's

your culture, or that's your tradition in your family, or that

you were told to do it or asked to do it by members of your family.

It could be that you really like the way it looks. It could be that

you're hanging out with a group of girls who all wear hijab, and so

you decided to wear it too. It could be you're having a bad hair

day, hey, these things happen. Okay. So I'm not talking about

these various forms of wearing, observing hijab. I want us to

focus on the rather revolutionary idea of hijab as an act of a bed

as an act of worship, because we know in our deen that in nama

Armello vignette, that very actions are but by intention, so I

can cover as I'm covering now, but if I'm covering in this way, which

you know, looks correct, and looks very pious, masha Allah, if I

cover in this way, because I'm evading the police, for example,

or because I don't want my face to be seen on CCTV, do you see the

way that my intention completely changes my action, and this is the

way it is with everything that we do in our deen the way that we

differentiate for example, between the hair salon and the officer

Salah is by the intention, they're both for our cat, but before we

start praying, we make intention that this is the heart or this is

ASA. So when hijab, I would like us to look at the possibility of

observing hijab, as an act of worship, with everything that that

requires, when we pray, when we fast when we give sadaqa when we

smile at someone for the sake of giving sadaqa all of these acts

are done with a particular thing. Something very, very important.

And that thing is sincerity. Sincerity, a whole US meaning that

we are doing this thing as an act of worship in order to grow closer

to Allah subhanaw taala. Now flip the script

it and think of hijab in that way. We are observing hijab we're

covering, we're behaving in a way that is modest and humble, as an

act of worship, in order to grow closer to Allah subhanaw taala and

earn His pleasure.

What we need to understand here is that this way of understanding

hijab serves as a protection, it serves as a guide in lots of

different ways. I'm sure many of you have heard the whole, you

know, the hijab as a protection, it protects you from, you know, a

tension that you don't want, etcetera, when you're out and all

of that, I'm not really going to go into that, because I want to

dig a little bit deeper. And look at how hijab, when done sincerely

for the sake of Allah, can protect you and transform you and your

life. And one of the things that I'd like to look at is how when we

practice and we observe hijab, for the sake of our last panel

dialogue, it protects us not just from any particular dangers

outside in the society at large, but also from those things within

us that can cause us harm. To observe hijab correctly, is the

protected from vanity,

do we protect protected from obsessing about our appearance, to

be protected from self absorption, from self doubt, ambiguity, all of

these things, we can be protected from, if we observe hijab in the

correct way. Now, before I go into the transformational nature of the

hijab, there's one thing I want to make clear and inshallah I will

touch on it later on in the talk. And that is that hijab is not the

goal. Hijab is not the destination, hijab is a part of

our journey. Many, many sisters have talked about how they maybe

started not wearing hijab, or when they started practicing the

awareness, certain type of hijab, and how the hijab changed over

time. This is part of our journey as Muslims, and it's a journey

that we will continue to be on until we take our last breath, but

it Nilla so when I talk about hijab in this context is an act of

ibadah, I want you to know that I am not calling you to everybody

puts on a scarf. No.

Our covering for the sake of our last panel to Allah is part of our

a beta. And it's part of our journey. It's part of our growth

as Muslims. And it's something that we don't want ever to stop.

So hamdulillah if you're wearing hijab, make sure that your hijab

is as correct as you can make it, learn about it, become sincere

with it. Okay. And then once you've got that, you got to keep

growing, you have to keep improving. It doesn't just stop

once you're wearing the scarf or wearing our bio wearing niqab.

That's it, you're a perfect Muslim, you're done? No, this is

just part of the journey. So that's something that I really

want to make clear. We're not calling to the hijab as an end,

the hijab is a means to an end. And what is that end? That end is

the pleasure of Allah subhanaw taala. And at the end of the day,

at the end of the world, Paradise and sha Allah.

Okay, so we've talked a little bit about Hijab as our bio as a

burden, we've talked about how hijab can protect us. Now, I would

like to look at the transformational nature of the

hijab.

When we observe hijab for the sake of Allah as an act of a banner, it

should transform us, it should transform our thinking, our way of

life, it should transform the awareness that we have of our

Lord, Allah subhanaw taala and our purpose on this earth, it should

transform our actions, it should transform the way that we respond

to ourselves, the way we look upon ourselves, the way we treat

ourselves, and of course, the way that we interact with others, the

way we treat others, and the way that we are in society.

One of the things that is amazing about observing ninja for the sake

of Allah, is that not only to transform the way that we start to

see the world and the way that we behave, it also is one of the

things that can cure some of the ills that are plaguing our

society, in the especially in this day and age, and particularly with

regards to young women and girls. Okay, we're talking about things

like hyper sexualization, okay, if you've watched or seen pop star or

music video lately, you will see that this is a huge issue. And

people who are learning about and involved in work with young

people, especially young girls are noticing higher levels of

dissatisfaction with our bodies, higher levels of of angst of you

know, of a feeling that we're not good enough, okay? We're talking

about the idea that if you're not beautiful or hot, you're

worthless. We're talking about the idea that if you're that Your

looks are more important than your thoughts or your achievements.

We're talking about being defined by society's definition of beauty,

the hijab as

An act of a bad should cure us, cure us completely of these ills.

Because we are taking our guidance from the One who created us a

timeless law,

a law that came down with mercy and will permeate our lives with

mercy. So hamdulillah what we have here is, it's a weapon really, it

is, it's a weapon, it's like armor. Okay, when you are wearing

hijab, and you know that hamdulillah I'm wearing hijab,

Allah told me to do this as a command from my Lord. This is an

honor for me, that is part of my dignity. And this is a part of who

I am. And I am free to develop other parts of who I am. We should

never feel that we have to compare ourselves physically to the latest

cover of Cosmo or, or or magazine or any of these things. We

shouldn't be looking at our bodies and saying, Well, why don't I look

like Miley Cyrus? Or why don't I look like Nicki Minaj these are

not our role models. And the hijab reminds us of that in sha Allah.

So this is one of the things that I feel really the message needs to

get out there to all those young girls, that the hijab is

empowering.

What you see out there, the music videos and the supermodels and the

kind of women that they choose to put on magazine covers, etc, is

dis empowering women. It's disempowering girls, it is

damaging our self esteem, it is damaging our idea about ourselves.

The Hijab is armor against the onslaught. Okay, so I want you to

take that message out there when you go out there. Okay, people

need to free themselves from those shackles are girls are young women

need to free themselves from comparing themselves to an

unrealistic ideal that is being sold right now, as the ideal

woman? Ain't nobody got time for that. Okay. So what we're talking

about is

the hijab being transformational. And from what I've seen, and what

I experienced, I'll give you my own personal experience. Observing

hijab for the sake of Allah should make you bold, it should make you

confident, it should make you brave. It should make you

determined in all things that will lead you to the pleasure of Allah.

Now, I don't want you to get me wrong and think that I'm talking

about being brash, or being loud or offensive or this type of

behavior. That type of behavior is not befitting from any Muslim,

male or female. But what I'm talking about here is a quiet

confidence, a self assuredness, and it comes from knowing that

you're doing the right thing. And that you're standing for something

that is way bigger than yourself, way bigger than us. You're

standing for and you're upholding something that is honorable, and

that is true. And that is a command from the One who created

every one and everything. And that you are standing firm in the face

of a society that is calling you the opposite way that should make

you feel even stronger.

So what we're seeing right now is we're saying yes, to hijab, yes to

hire, yes to modesty, no. To flaunting our looks no to

flaunting our bodies, no to obsessing with our looks. No to

treating our bodies like commodities, no to dangerous

dieting, no to bulimia, no to anorexia, no to hating the bodies

that Allah Subhana Allah gave us take that message with you in sha

Allah.

Now, the next thing I want to address Charla before I finish up

is the issue of hijab and unity. Okay. I want to make it clear

right now, that wearing hijab does not make you a better Muslim on by

default. Okay. Yes, it is a command from Allah. Yes, it is

wajib in sha Allah. But just because you observe hijab does not

make you better necessarily than the sister who doesn't wear it.

And why do I say this? Because there is more to our Ibadah than

the outer, there is more to our worship, then just covering okay,

we know that Allah is the only one who knows the true state of any

person. So we cannot allow arrogance or pride or judgment to

enter our hearts. If a Lost Planet Allah has guided us and made it

easy for us to observe hijab because make no mistake, our

ability to wear hijab is a mercy from Allah subhanaw taala our

strength and our confidence and our conviction is a mercy from

Allah subhanaw taala we should never take that for granted. And

we should never look down on and judge people who don't have that

conviction yet, who who have Allah has guided has not yet guided to

this particular act of worship, okay. So that's one of the things

that we need to do is to stay humble. Okay, stay down to earth

and respect each other. The Hijab should not be a reason to divide.

It should not be something to create disunity amongst our

sisters. We should never use the hijab as a tool to judge people.

You see them from the outside and you say good Muslim, bad Muslim

based on their hijab. No, because while we want good for our Sisters

in Islam, we must be very careful not to judge

each other based on appearances. And it goes both ways. We know we

all know, those who don't observe hijab judge the ones who do those

who do we observe a job or judging the ones who don't. And in the

end, we don't get anywhere. We have to develop a mutual respect

based on love of Allah and love of Rasul, and that we're all trying,

and that this is a journey, and that none of us is guaranteed

paradise.

Sometimes you find that

things are not as black and white as you as you think, as you first

thought. Okay, so as we're calling to hijab, as we're encouraging

sisters, to, you know, to take on hijab as a lifestyle here as a

lifestyle, we must remember the most important thing, and that is

sincerity. And if there's only one thing that you take from this

talk, I need it to be that, that observing hijab is an act of a

Buddha. And like any other act of a Buddha, there are two conditions

for it to be accepted one that is in accordance with the Quran and

the Sunnah. And to that it is done sincerely for the sake of Allah,

Allah. I ask that Allah accepts our hijab, whatever level it's on,

and it helps us to increase and become closer to Him and to better

our hijab in whatever way we can. I asked that he gives us success

in our efforts to call to this Deen that he gives us success in

being able to actualize the beauty of this deen and to call people to

it through our tongues through our deeds through our interactions

with people in every way. And I ask that he accepts your

activities this weekend as an act of a Buddha and that many, many

people are guided through this and all the other talks and all the

other efforts that you're making. And my final call is I call it

Callie Heather or staford. Allah Assalamu alaykum Warahmatullahi

Wabarakatuh