When someone starts a conversation with “Can I ask you a question?” I know EXACTLY what direction it’s going in. Nope, they’re not asking me out on a romantic date, they’re not going to ask me where I bought my hella-cute outfit from, but rather, a hijab question.
My policy is ‘better to know than to wonder.’ Go ahead; ask away! It’s not offensive to ask. There’s no shame in curiosity for learning new things. I bet someone else has already asked the same question you’re thinking of anyway. Here are my personal favourite misconceptions and commonly asked hijab questions.
1- “Sorry, I don’t know what it’s called…”
Hijab. Not high-jab, but rather he-jab. Head scarf works just as well, too.
2- “Do you shower with it on?”
Yeah, I love my Herbal Essences Hijab Shampoo & Conditioner combo! It comes out super soft! (This is sarcasm. I don’t shower with my hijab on, dude.)
3- “Do you have more than one?”
Yup, because like every other article of clothing, it needs to be washed eventually.
4- “So, like, do you sleep with it on?”
Good Lord; that would be difficult. No, I don’t wear my hijab in my house unless we have guests over. You only wear your hijab in front of men who aren’t your father, brothers, grandfathers and uncles.
5- “What happens if someone accidentally sees you without your hijab on?”
It’s as if you’ve just seen me naked and so we have to get married. On the spot. Like, right away (again, this is sarcasm). My answer to this question is always the same: “Sh*t happens man”. It sucks, the hijab wearer feels embarrassed, the non hijab wearer feels embarrassed, and then we all move on with our lives. That’s it, that’s all. No, God isn’t going to smite me. Accidents happen.
6- “Are you bald?” or “What does your hair look like?”
If a girl asks this, I promptly take a trip to the bathroom with her and show her my hair (insert “OMG! IT’S SO PRETTY!!” here). If a boy asks me, I answer yes to the bald question, because I’m a jerk. That huge lump at the back of my hijab? It’s my second brain… Yes I have hair, and no I’m not telling you what it looks like! That totally defeats the purpose of wearing a hijab.
7- “Did someone force you to?”
I spent the entire sixth grade fighting my mom about this. An entire year! She kept saying no because she felt I was too young to be wearing it. My mother didn’t start wearing hijab until she was pregnant with me, her third child. She was somewhere in her thirties. Though some families can be stricter (like any other family on the planet) I don’t know a single girl who was forced into the hijab. It tends to be a choice. Technically speaking you start wearing a hijab once you hit puberty, but very few and far between is that the case. It’s always better to wait until you’re personally ready, just like a lot of other big life decisions.
8- “Can I try it on?”
Surprisingly enough, men tend to ask this more than women do. Like trying new foods, you’re welcome to do whatever you want. Here’s my mom and her colleagues at work on Twin Day.
Have any more questions? Comment below and I’d love to answer them!
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