May Sellami, Tunisia

Assalamu Alaikum, I'm May from the beautiful Tunisia. I started wearing Hijab in prep school as a 14 year girl. In my country it's unusual for a 14 year to wear Hijab in such a young age as they say; because Hijab was prohibited by the law. My parents didn't prevent me from wearing Hijab though there are no women wearing hijab in my family, I had a group of good friends before who encouraged me to take such a decision, I always knew that one day I was going to wear Hijab to fulfill Allah's demand I just didn't know when, Alhamdulillah I was led to the right path.

I'm convinced with my decision. Still , I had my ups and downs as a teenager , I would always hear from my female friends and even old mature women "Oh you're prettier without Hijab, your still young, enjoy your life "also it wasn't easy to be the only girl wearing hijab in my class and being mistaken for a married old women almost all the time. (In my country usually married women wear hijab) I spent nights and days questioning whether I've made good decision, reading other sisters stories, reading fatwa, watching videos. I didn't want to take a hasty wrong decision.

At the end, I came into a video online of a newly converted women online who said that, "I always ask girls why you wear Hijab? But I have no answer" she then said :" Hijab is a sign of modesty , a factor that made a women more than just an object , more than a facade , I think , I'm smart , I'm not just a body"

Then I knew , I made the right decision because that's what I wanted from the society , to be looked at not as a pretty women but as a beautiful , smart women, the beauty of a women is a valuable gift from Allah we need to preserve it with hijab and only show it to the one who is worthy .

Though, I'm still having problems in being accepted and looked at like a normal person, I learned to ignore the remarks. - May Sellami, Tunisia