World Hijab Day is a Success at HMSA!
Photo provided by Stephanie I.
Students helping each other putting on the hijab.
February 24, 2018
During lunch on Thursday, February 1, 2018, the Muslim Student Association (MSA) participated in World Hijab Day. World Hijab Day is a worldwide event. This is the second year that the MSA has participated in World Hijab Day.
A hijab is a headscarf associated with Islam. Women wear the hijab to conceal their hair from people around them, mainly men in their lives, such as fathers or brothers. Some women wear hijabs that cover their face, only showing their eyes. Muslim women cover themselves because they don’t want men to be attracted by their looks. Instead, they want men to be attracted by who they are and wish to gain more respect.
During lunch, the Muslim Student Association set up a table in front of the cafeteria with headscarves. Each headscarf had its own design, pattern, and color that the students were able to choose from. In Islam, wearing hijabs is only for women, so MSA only allowed girls to try this experience.
The board members helped students, who were interested in wearing the headscarf of their choice, to put on the hijab. Putting on the headscarf allowed female students to gain a new perspective of what female students that wear the headscarf go through each day. The female students were allowed to wear the headscarves during the last period of the day. This gave female students more insight into someone else’s way of life.
I asked Sophomore Berenice E. why she participated in the World Hijab Day. She had this to say: “I always wanted to try and wear a hijab. The hijab gave me a different perspective throughout the day and to try something new. This was the first time I wore a hijab.” She was also asked on her experience in wearing a hijab, “I tried playing volleyball, during lunch, with the hijab and realized how quickly I became hot. It was also hard to keep together, almost falling a few times.”
Berenice E. was not the only one to realize how difficult it may be to do activities, such as sports, in a hijab. Olympic fencer, Ibtihaj Muhammad, partnered with Nike to make, and release, Nike’s first sports hijab. Female Muslim athletes will no longer have to struggle when wearing their hijab and participating in sports.
Thanks to MSA, many students were able to try something new and have an experience they can remember! World Hijab Day was a success!
