February 1st is World Hijab Day.

On this day, we want to share the happy news of one incarcerated sister's struggle in obtaining her religious freedom to wear hijab.

Sister Shajiyah embraced Islam with her whole heart. She learned about ḥijāb and wanted to wear it to please Allah. She loved wearing it and wanted to wear it everywhere. But her facility had rules that prevented her from doing so. There, she was only permitted to wear it when inside her cell and while performing prayer. But she wanted more.

One day she attempted to wear it outside of her cell. She figured that since some of the other women were wearing head coverings, such as beanies, cowboy hats, baseball hats, floppy hats, etc. it should not be a problem. This was an erroneous rational conclusion. One might conclude from this story that because her head covering was religious in nature, it was considered as violating policy.

In a sad moment, one day, she was instructed to remove her head covering. She had prepared herself for this moment and knew that the appropriate reply to this request would be to ask if there is any other way, by policy, that she can cover herself in accordance to Islam. In a frustrating exchange, she was told “no”. So Sister Shajiyah complied with the request to remove it, so she would not get in trouble with the Administration, but she knew that it was wrong of them to ask her to do that.

So she sought advice. She informed herself. She completed all of the paperwork and jumped through all the required hoops to file a grievance and start the lengthy battle of getting her religious right at her facility.

After some time, the policy was changed and she was then able to wear her religious head covering full time. With this brave move, she has made it possible for other ḥijābi Muslimat at the same facility to also cover. We are sharing this story with you to recognize Sister Shajiyah’s bravery, as well as to inspire other sisters struggling with hijab; whether internally or externally.

May Allah beautify our states in a way that is most pleasing to Him.