Tell me why...

i just woke up the other day like usual, it was in the morning. grabbed my towel and dragged myself (still sleepy) towards the bathroom. and i was like so shocked when i saw a really rare human being in my pod's bathroom. it was terry (not real name), my floormate, a guy was in the bathroom, washing his hands. Saw me at the mirror he was like, "Morning, baz! Hey you look different without that cloth on your head,"

i was like, still in shock because i wasnt expecting a guy in my pod, because it's an all-girls pod! so, i made a dash back to my room without saying anything, and i know he was like, really confused. but he just left anyway.

so that day during lunch i sat with terry, cat, and kaj. need some explanation done.

"hi guys,"

"oh hey baz," cat said. and then talked abt studies, bla2x and then i pop up that incident lol.

"um, terry, you know this morning when i saw you in the toilet and i just dashed away without saying anything?"

"owh...that. yeah, yeah.. were you alright? thought you were sick or sth,"

"oh i'm fine. it's because i wasnt having my scarf on at that time, it's because guys are not suppose to see my hair, urm so, that's why i ran away. haha..,"

"i see, guys can't see your hair..is it sinful in your religion or sth? what about the girls? are they allowed to see you without scarf?"

"girls, yes, they are allowed, and yup it's sinful if i let the guys see my hair, but if it's an accident then it is fine. it just happens," i explained.

"how many minutes do you need to put that thing on everyday?" kaj asked.

"er, like 10 minutes, i think. (well 15 actually, hahha!!)"

"10 minutes...that's long!" cat exclaimed, "must be really fussy putting it on!,"

"hey, i do my hair 20 minutes everyday!" kaj said matter-of-factly "10 minutes is quite okay,"

"well it's not that hard, just put it on, it's kinda helpful coz i don't have to think about my hair all the time," i added.

"why do you wear that thing( hijab)? i mean, yeah, it's sinful and all if you don't wear it...but why?" cat asked.

"owh.." i paused for two seconds. "it's because in Islam, we value women as something beautiful. like hair is something lushful, you know. we don't show it for everyone to see. and same thing with the body. Muslim women do not wear tight clothes that can show the shape of their body and in fact, the only parts we can show is the hands and face. it's something good actually, because we tend to value our beauty more," i said.

"hm..ok. make sense. why do YOU wear it? i mean, what does wearing a scarf mean to you...don't you wanna feel beautiful, like showing your hair to everyone..wearing all the latest clothes and stuff, you know," kaj asked.

er... (haha, apa kau nak jawab baz...)

munching the food in my mouth slowly, swallowed i said,"well, if you ask me... i feel wearing scarf is like a privilege to me. because wherever i go, it's like i carry an image of my religion with me. and, it's a real pride that wherever you go, people who don't know you, can tell that you are a Muslim, just by seeing you in scarf. so, it feels great," i said.

all three of them just stared at me, and seriously i didn't know what they were thinking. but after that we talked abt sth else...

after the conversation, i was questioning myself why exactly that we do what we do. the intentions of doing the things that Muslims are meant to do. well, there may be different answers to that, but the main stream is for the worship of Allah. in the case of wearing hijab, it is in respecting His gift of beauty and in intention of obeying His orders. we understand that and that is why we have no qualms at all in executing it. and when others see it as something that is troublesome, we see beyond the trouble and we picture a more meaningful purpose of waht we do. so don't give up in trying to 'show that beauty of Islam', hidden...