WHAT'S THAT THING ON YOUR HEAD?!

So I came across this scene from Jesus of Nazareth:

Look at the women...and how they're dressed.

OH MY GOD! THEY LOOK LIKE MUSLIM WOMEN!!!! WHAT IS GOING ON?!

Please, have a seat. Have a cup of tea and allow me to enlighten you. Be honest with yourself. Do those women from the film look any different from these women?: 

Admit it. You know they don't. Yet...the hijaab is such a strange concept for many non-Muslims when it shouldn't be - especially for Christians and Jews. 

Sometimes when I walk down the street people stare at me. Sometimes people will ask me why I wear it and it's just so foreign and alien to them. 

When I was 10 years old, my family moved to a small city that wasn't very multicultural. Forget the fact that there were very few Black students in the school. My sisters and I were the ONLY students in the ENTIRE school who wore the hijaab. I remember my first day of school like it was yesterday. My classmates kept turning around to look at me. I felt very uncomfortable. Recess was even worse. I was surrounded by a horde of younger and older students. They were all asking the same question, "What's that thing on your head?!" Luckily, there weren't any serious teasing about my hijaab during my time there and I did make lots of friends. Alhamdulilah.

Now, we were all just kids. What the heck do kids know about religion? If you look different, you'll get teased. That's the way it is. This post is for the adults who should know better. Who SHOULDN'T be so surprised by the hijaab. There are adults who will harass a Muslim woman for covering her hair. There are also people who will say things like "Get out of my country if you're going to dress like that!" Check out an example of this in a social experiment by ABC's What Would You Do?:

It's as if the hijaab is something only Muslims wear. The Christians (who are the main group of people who make these comments at least in my experience) of all people shouldn't be saying things like this. Have they forgotten what women dressed like in the time of Jesus Christ? Look again at how the women in Jesus of Nazareth were dressed. They're dressed like Muslim women. Which means that hijaab is also in Christianity!  

It seems as if they'd forgotten what the Bible says:

"For if a woman does not cover her head, she might as well have her hair cut off; but if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, then she should cover her head" (1 Corinthians 11:6).

Even more similar to Muslims, the verse before the one above says:

"But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head - it is the same as having her head shaved" (1 Corinthians 11:5). 

Similarly in Islam, Christian women must cover their hair (wear hijaab) while praying. Not so different is it? 

Anyways! In pictures of Mary, how is she dressed? Hmm? She is praised and loved - I don't have an issue with this, the Quran speaks highly of her! There's a whole chapter devoted to her in the Quran, read it here - and yet, a Muslim woman who is dressed like her is insulted. Does that make any sense? 

I'll end this post with photos of women from different religious backgrounds covering their heads. One love y'all!

Ethiopian Orthodox Christian women

Nuns

Sabian women

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish women. They wear niqab! 

Amish women

Orthodox Jewish woman

Sikh women

Last but not least, Muslim girls!