From the Editor's Desk – Centering Our (Hijab) Intentions with #LikeYouMeanItHH
Community
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Jan 3, 2023
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3 MIN READ
Dilshad Ali
editor
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We went out to dinner on the last day of 2022, my kids, husband and I, at which my 19-year-old daughter declared to us – “Guys, it’s nearly my one-year hijab-anniversary!” – as we all talked about our good moments from last year.
One year. Wow. In some aspects of my life and my parenting life, I’m terribly sentimental. In other aspects, I’m just not, and admittedly with my daughter wearing hijab, I played it cool. She went on to tell us how many of her cousins, who began wearing hijab much earlier than her, had been asking her what motivated her to start wearing it last year and so on. To which I remarked, “You know, I never asked you about it.”
“That’s because you knew the why and the journey of it,” she said to me, which was true. But also knowing how wearing hijab can be such a pressure-filled decision, or how wearing it can be fraught with challenges for some women, knowing how we had our own diverse family thoughts about it (that I’ll keep private unto my own family), I chose the path of “not making it a big deal” publicly with my kid. Privately though, I made sure she was centering her intentions, doing it for the sake of Allah (S) and of course stocking her with all the Haute hijabs and foundational pieces she needed to have to feel confident and comfortable in her wearing of it.
I mean if you can’t hook your daughter up with everything she needs hijab-wise, then what’s the point, amirite? 🙂

But aside from the mechanics of wearing hijab – making sure you have a good collection of high-quality hijabs, underscarves, magnets, scrunchies and whatever else you need to, Insha’Allah, have consistently good hijab days – feeling strong in wearing hijab comes from understanding your why behind it. And that means taking time to reflect upon your intentions.
This is our fourth year of our #LikeYouMeanIt campaign, where we take time to explore our intentions around wearing hijab and in other aspects of our lives. Intentions, or niyyah, plays such an important role in how we live our lives as Muslims: “This is because the value of a person’s actions is based upon his intention, motive or objective. The phrase Fi Sabillilah is mentioned repeatedly in the Quran, which translates as "in the way of Allah (S)." This is used to serve as a warning for Muslims to ensure that whatever they intend to do should be in the way of God and not for the sake of anyone else, including their personal desires. Deviations from the straight path should be avoided at any cost, as they do not bring benefit in any shape or form.”
In the lifespan of a hijab-wearing woman, at some point many of us lose sight of the why. We may feel disconnected with our faith and our hijab, or we may feel it’s just become unnecessary. Maybe we’re just “not feeling it” at some point in our life, which is why reflecting upon our intentions, renewing our intentions, is so crucial to this journey.
As 2023 gets underway, we want to encourage you to join us in examining and resetting our intentions towards our hijab, to Insha’Allah "wear it like you mean it." Be sure to visit the blog this month as we carry on the discussion here with our writers. We will be bringing you an FAQ to answer questions you probably receive over and over regarding hijab as well as stories exploring if it’s good for us to “fake it until you make it” and questions we can self-explore to help us re-center ourselves.
Make sure you check our social media pages as well for Melanie’s thoughts about #likeyoumeanit as well as other exciting things we have coming your way! We look forward to getting into the thick of it with you, which Insha’Allah will help us be strong in our conviction and intentions throughout the year! So, Bismillah!
Editorially yours,
Dilshad
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