WORLD HIJAB DAY. | Hari JILBAB SeDunia. | | February 1, 2014. | New York, - USA. | . Ms KAYLA HANECKOW - USA. I want to understand it (Quran) without translation, in its original form. For me, when I was small and my aunt would take us to church we would go in a class and the teacher said whoever can memorize the most by the summer will receive a reward. Each week she gave a new verse, I would memorize it only minutes before we would leave for the next class. I only really was motivated by the reward. I suppose thats how you get young children involved. I had some connection and felt God meant something for me. I felt more connected when I was younger. I thought it was really weird that I had considered God was 3 but one at the same time. Its a concept I tried to grasp. For a while I sort of forced myself to believe in the Christian theory that says God fathered a child. And there was a holy spirit. In the same time that all of them were God. It was confusing for me but I worked to grasp it because I was taught Christianity was the truth. I became and was interested always in different cultures and Religions. I still am. But once I had known about Islam, I was intrigued..its not something I had been interested in for a few minutes and set down and walked away. I found it re-ocurring. I hadnt felt any animosity towards foreign women whom had worn hijab or towards Arabs. I only thought that Muslims in other countries or Arabs hadnt liked America. Or me for that matter, so I had some preconceived thoughts about Muslims that were wrong. I liked and believed as well as understood the concepts of Islam. But I was scared. That was around 2007 or so… So I left it alone for a while. I just felt overwhelmed and wasnt entirely convinced. In maybe my second year of high school (2011-2012 or so) I became more so. My best friend was Muslim. I just began researching it more. All the while I just began to figure who I am as a person and what I believe in for myself. I loved hijab once for simply how it looked. But I didnt know the meaning and over time I found out about it. That it wasnt really to look beautiful and is not meant for that reason but to cover. I learned more and more about Islam. In my history class we had studied religions. I learned that Muslims, Christians and Jews believe in the same God. He is one and they had similar concepts. Although one preceded another. I considered myself a Muslim from that time, and I tried to pray and fast during Ramadan of last year but I was not successful. I hadnt felt fully connected either. I read some Quran in English. I knew by this time of course that Islam was peaceful and meaningful. It put women with higher standards than was rumored about Islam in the Media and expected a Muslim to set themselves to higher standards. In all this time and my journey to Islam I found no evidence or proof or anything that stated terrorism was okay. ( By higher standards I mean such as being kind and courteous, giving charity and caring for people even if they are not Muslim.) This Ramadan I had fasted when I could. I Prayed or at least tried. The weeks before it started, I officially said the shahada. People assume, that I as a Muslim carry animosity or bad feelings about Christians and Jews. I would say that is simply the opposite. I love Christians, ( I was one… My family still continue to be..) it does not bother me. They are still very dear to me. I actually love and became closer to my mom because of Islam. If I acted towards her as before when I was younger, I would not even care if she hated my decision or did not like it… Plus Islam teaches us our mothers are the most important people in our lives. I grew more respect towards her because of Islam. Alhamdulillah. It was a long but simple journey. I know other girls like me had it harder. Or still deal with the problems I face/continue to face. Whether its small or big. It still hurts. In the summer I stayed with my friend. Alhamdulillah… I had worn hijab except to school and in front of my family, I was shy to do this and I wanted to spare my own feelings because I was afraid of what people will say. But one day I decided I will wear it in front of my family(school was already out) so I did. I was scared of my moms reaction wallah. I overcame that because I told myself theres no sense in becoming a part hijabi. Thats not how hijab works… & I always told people a really short version of how I became Muslim. I didnt always know how to word it. Also because I was and am still going through this journey of Islam. Every Muslim is. Alhamdulillah Im a Muslim…. But you see, although the people had told me about Islam. It was my choice to come to it and stay. It wasnt anybody elses decision but mine. Some people arent strong enough to think for themselves. And require the opinions and thoughts of others. (I used to be this way but Im changed alhamdulillah.)-Kayla (USA) Please Share your hijab experience with us using the following link: worldhijabday/submit-story/ #WorldHijabDay — with Hillary Lenggo-Geni, Johanna Garcias Echavarria, Tashi Tshering, Irish Bolo, Naika Anne Joseph, Alexandru Popescu, Kayla Haneckow and Aimal Aasi. . ____________________________________________________/* . |||///\\\|||| .. .
Posted on: Mon, 08 Sep 2014 00:18:06 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015