I Keep It Covered

I never thought that ONE day, in my 32 years of life, I would actually be looking through my wardrobe and decide on which headscarf to wear for the day. I used to love showing off my hair. Well, not that I have super gorgeous hair but my hair was my crown and I was proud to wear it in public. I'd do stuff to my hair. Splashed it with colours, straightened every strand (well almost) with a hot iron, curled it with the curling iron, got it treated at the hairdresser's. Oh I gave my hair the works yes I did. And believe you me, I was one of those who would always look at hijabis with a dirty look and comment,"What a pity to be hidin' hair under that scarf!" or "How CAN these girls stand the heat all wrapped up in their layers of cloth on their head!" OR "These girls...all covered up...plain boring!"
Astaghfirullah! Satan had got to  me then. He really did! But thank God, things changed. Well, I changed. Took me 31 years till I woke up to my senses but yah, better late than never I suppose? I started to keep it covered after I gave birth to my son, Lil' Muhammad. Most of my friends were shocked of course. Me? A hijabi? Really?! Well yeah. I put on the headscarf, long sleeves, long pants, skirts. I started to fill in the shoes of those 'boring girls' I used to talk about before. My friends asked me, why, how, for what reason did I become one of those I used to sneer at and past nasty remarks at!
I only had one answer, I was ready. I was ready to do what I was actually required to do the moment I reached puberty. It is a must for all Muslimahs to cover up once we hit puberty. Many think that putting on the headscarf is a choice for us. No. It was never a choice. Never!
So I became a hijabi at 32. Old. Much too old. Too much had already been exposed but I pray Allah forgive me for my ignorance and pride. I felt good when I first put it on. For the first time in my life as a Muslim, I felt like I had only begun to really feel proud being a Muslim all covered up. The magical feeling of being protected under my 'cover', the feeling of representing the ideal Muslim woman in my religion, the feeling of receiving respectful glances wherever I go...feels AWESOME.
Today, I simply cannot imagine going out in shorts, spaghetti straps, short skirts and scarfless! I would feel naked that I'm sure. Cheap! And much much too exposed!
Today, I'm a proud Muslimah, a happy hijabi 'cos I keep it covered.