Of Hijab and Cheerleading.

Assalamualaikum and warm greetings,

It is the start of a new semester here in South Korea. Spring is slowly coming out of her shell (it's still cold but we were blessed with rain today) and Konkuk University is already buzzing with activities.

This week has been funny and hectic. I now live with two juniors who are one year younger than me. It's their first semester at Konkuk University and sometimes they would come home and tell me stories about their day, how hard it is to attend a class where the professor speaks in Korean and the class material is also in Korean, how Koreans won't even smile at them or how they feel totally left out and ignored.



The difference is, one of them is totally welcomed by her classmates and her seniors in her major. Everyone knows her name and wants to get to know her, asks her to hang out.

Of course, when you hang out with Koreans, the obvious question that they will ask you is

"What is that thing on your head?"

I've talked about this here but the funny thing is that she already explained why she wears a hijab. You see, in May, we have an annual university festival. All universities have it, and during this time, there will be a cheerleading competition. So, these korean friends of my junior started asking her to participate in the cheerleading practices that they have in the evenings. It is almost compulsory for first year students to be involved in cheerleading and some seniors also take part. So before she started explaining why she couldn't take part in the cheerleading practices and enter the competition, they said, "Don't tell me because of your religion?"

Okay, maybe this might not be clear. But there's several things that they initiate/invite/instigate that we have to decline and tell them it's because of our religion.

1. They invite us to have beers
2. They invite us to eat at a pork/chicken/beef restaurant.
3. They invite us to go to clubs.
4. They want to high five us (the guys)
5. They want to shake our hands.
6. They want to put their arms around our shoulders in a friendly manner.

The list goes on. So when she tried to explain, she asked them, "Isn't it weird that I'm wearing this but I'm dancing and jumping around?" so they asked her "So does that me we look weird?"

Hijab is Modesty.

So when they asked her why, she told them about modesty.  Trust me, explaining about Islam in Korean, especially when they ask you why, is really hard. Since she didn't know what the word modesty is in Korean, so she just wrote modesty.

The fact of the matter is, a lot of us don't realize or forget that hijab is more than just to cover our hair. It is weird when a fully covered muslimah dances and jumps around with a pom-pom in her hand, with guys lifting her up. Most people think that hijab inhibits and limits you but the biggest thing that it does, is it protects you. Modesty is protection. A muslimah who covers her aurat is protected, and she herself will try to be modest. In her clothing, in her speech, in her actions. The way she walks, talks, eats, drinks, sits, almost all of her actions are mannered, modest, and proper, if she knows what hijab is for.

Wearing a hijab though, doesn't give you the permission to look messy, untidy, dirty. That is not modesty. Modesty also isn't wearing a hijab but wearing tons and tons of make up with over the top hijab-do (it's like hairdo but for hijabs) and an overwhelming outfit. Modesty is little packages of pretty. Being pretty but not overdoing it. Being tidy and clean and sharp. We muslim women, we mean business. That sort of look.

After my junior explained it to her senior in her department, he understood.

And the beauty of living in a place full of people who don't know what Islam is, is that we get to tell them, whilst reminding ourselves. Sometimes, they ask, why do you pray? Or they ask why do you wear hijab or why do you do this and that, and we stop in our tracks and think...

Why do we do it? Is it because we were programmed to do it since we were born? Or because we're afraid to go to hell? Or because we do it because it has become a habit? Or because we love Allah?

That's what we have to ask ourselves everyday. So when we wear a hijab, we get to reap the benefits that Allah promised, so when we pray, it is accepted by Allah, so when we do anything, Allah will love us.

Wallahualam,

p/s. Really sick these past 2 weeks. Your prayers are appreciated!

Assalamualaikum.