Hijab When you change your appearance, you change the way that society looks at you. From hair-cuts, to wardrobe changes to the addition of glasses, society judges you and sometimes it’s not for the better. In middle school, I was peer pressured into wearing the hijab, a piece of clothing that in Islam shows how devout you are to your religion. Being the age that I was at that time, I didn’t fully understand the concept of the hijab, but over time it gave me the strength to defend me and my beliefs. Ramlah Khan. One of the best and worst decisions of my life. Ramlah Khan. The girl who peer pressured me into wearing hijab. Ramlah Khan. Who without her I wouldn’t have been able to understand me and my religion like I do today, and for that I am eternally grateful. She begged me to wear hijab so she wouldn’t be the only student in our middle school to wear one. At first I was hesitant and confided in my mother as of what to do. She advised me that at such a young age, I wouldn’t fully understand the concept of the hijab, or the duties it comes with. That was enough to make me content, and I went on with my life. The next year, that same girl came up to me, and again, just like last year begged for me to wear the head scarf like her. This time I submitted to her pitiful pleading and I agreed, I went to school the next day wearing the hijab. I gathered attention from everywhere. Students would gape, and laugh in the hallway, snickering behind me as they would whisper jokes about bombs and terrorists and eventually I yielded to their bullying and constant teasing. Ramlah unlike me had had years with people like this, and knew how to deal with their ignorance, unlucky for me, she decided not to share that information and left me to deal with the mess I made. In Islam, it is mandatory for a Muslim to pray five times a day, especially a hijabi (one who where’s hijab) who publically declares her devotion to Islam. I on the other hand didn’t, Islam still hadn’t taken effect on me like it had done to millions of other Muslims around the world. I was frustrated and depressed, and the only way I thought of coping was to act, dress, and behave like a typical American girl. I wanted to be (what my middle school year old self thought to be) normal. A hijabi’s demeanor should
