How will everyone that I know react? Am I qualified enough to answer the questions that may come along with it? Someone had once said that we are Islam walking. Will I be able to handle that? Am I even ready? Hesitance and uncertainty raced through my mind whenever the subject of hijab was brought up, whether by other people or myself. I was aware of the fact that I was going to begin in the near future, or at least, that was what I repeatedly told myself. Every single day, I would brush away thoughts concerning hijab for another time, a time when I wouldn't be so doubtful. A time when I would have a better understanding of what Allah (swt) requires of me. This continued for years.

One evening in the summer of last year, after I had completed my Isha prayers, my mind somehow drifted into thoughts of hijab once again. However, this time, for some odd reason, my incoherent thoughts did not travel in endless circles that avoided the issue altogether. I was a fifteen year old who should have embraced hijab exactly six long years ago. Why had I not done this? Was it really as complicated as my mind made it out to appear? I reflected on this for a long time during that one sitting. I asked Allah (swt) to give me an encouraging push. Not a long while after that, a strange motivation mustered within me and I finally decided that I had shoved this crucial responsibility away for too long and I was not about to do it again. I was going to start.

I walked over to where my mother was and proudly told her about my decision and asked her for her views. I noticed how her face lit up and beamed as she started explaining to me that once I decide to do something unusually positive, I should start on it immediately without the slightest delay. That actually deterred the edginess that had previously began to settle in.

I am now sixteen years of age and it has been a little over a half a year since I started observing hijab. I have to admit that it is the most important choice that I have ever made in my life and things have definitely been for the better. I have the opportunity to clear misconceptions and misunderstandings whenever the need arises, which is an excellent way to give dawah. My friends never knew about the true meaning of the headscarf until now and they completely respect me for it. A few of them are even beginning to show an interest in Islam.

To me, it is not simply a "piece of cloth" as many like to conveniently call it, but rather, it gives me a sense of identity and guards my modesty so that I am not a slave to society and the endless vanity that surrounds us. While most girls my age are conforming to what society expects of them, regardless of whether or not it’s healthy for them, I can be free of that through my self-worth and closeness to Allah (swt). At least now I can determine easily who my true friends are, and those are the ones that accept me regardless of whether or not I cover.

My only regret now is the fact that I did not start to cover sooner. Nevertheless, hijab has become a part of me, a part of me that I can never imagine myself without. Allah (swt) has answered my prayer.