An Ode to My Hijab
by Aryanna Alikhan
AN ODE TO MY HIJAB
At the age of 7, I took my aunt’s cashmere scarf and continued to wrap it around the world of my head,
Day One: All the baby hairs showing
Day two: transformed into a tighter tangle of the hair, the ringlets flattened as the pressure continued.
Day Three: I gave up the effort
Day Three-Sixty-Five: was me going to the market to buy a hundred types of cashmere colourful scarves,
I continue the ritual of the daily namaz as I gently kneel and place my forehead onto the ground of the mat painted with an antique gold of the Kabah in Mecca.
The cashmere became a symbol of heaven,
daily routine,
and a devoted faith to whomever the One I prayed towards.
A simple, delicate, warm and light scarf managed to transform the way my movement and momentum of life flowed towards.
7759 days later, and the gratitude has become a multitude of daily confidence, daily reminders and daily serenity from my body to my mind to my soul.
The world looks at this beautiful act of Hijab as a terror,
but they have carved a mind through the social world that media portrays,
without seeing the way that we actually practice it.
The true meaning and purpose of a scarf covering every ringlet on our head is devotion.
It is empowerment. It is trust. It is faith. It is a unity of women.
This poem was written by Aryanna Alikhan