Too young for hijab?

[Kool_Kat]

Yesterday we went to a Somali restaurant for lunch...There was a family there with about four young boys and one girl...The mother and another lady were dressed in the typical Somali lady dhar: Goono dheer, shaati gacmo dheer, safaleeti iyo shaalna garbaha iyo madaxa u saarnaa...

 

What really caught my attention was the girl...She couldn't be more then 10 or 11 years of age...She wore: capris, purple short (covered may be an inch or two off the shoulders) sleeve shirt, nice little sandals, and her hijab!!!

 

So it got me thinking, what message is this girl getting...Hadiiba loo galiyay surwaal gaaban, iyo funaanad gacmeheedoo dhan loojeedo, what is the point of the xijaab? :confused:

 

The very same question I ask myself when I see young adult girls (mid-late teens and early 20s) who wear body-hugging long-sleeve shirts and skirts (aad u moodo in korkooda lagu tolay, to the point eysan goonada talaabo dheer qaadi karin), yet wear their hijab...What's up with that? Mafahmin anigu... :confused:

[Abaay Heylay]

Kool-kat you have no right to judge others especially a young child such that age (isku xishow) . It is between them and Allah what they wear, because only Allah knows their heart. There are people who cover from head to toe yet might not pray and someone who does not cover but will never miss their farad salats. Its all about the heart and your actions.

[Buuxo]

lool Koolkat, that little girl reminds me of myself,I must been at most 8 yrs old. I loved wearing the hijab and being like my older sisters and to be honest i didnt understand the complete reasons , but when it was PE class or saturday Netball out came the shorts or netbal skirt, with my hijab on .I laugh now , why baan iskaga bixin waayey khimaarkeyga markey dabada ii qaawneed :confused: but i think the hijab was part of my identity and didn't want to let go.

[Blessed]

Hmmm. Interesting. I think some here have a very narrow view of the hijab as a symbol which sexualises the female form rather than a symbol of worship and identity and hence their disgust with the notion of a child in hijab. At least that's how I understand JBs first post.

 

 

Children learn what they live, if their parents pray, wear hijab, read Quraan and teach them the purpose and intent of these practices they will insha Allah, follow in their footsteps. Having said that, your expectations have to be age appropriate. To a two year old, a hijab is no different to shorts. It has no significance what's so ever. My two year old likes to ‘allahu akbak’ (pray) with me and mimics all my movements, not because she understands it but because it’s a fun game to play with mummy. I encourage it, because I know this will insha Allah make the task of introducing the salah when she’s 7 and enforcing it when she’s 10, easier.

 

As far as the debate is concerned, the prayer is a harder concept to teach and maintain, and yet we know through the sunnah that it is possible. The hijab, time keeping, cleanliness are all an extension of those lessons and for me would be an easier concepts to teach and explain than the salah.

 

For me, the ages between 7-10 would be ideal time to start thinking about introducing it but we have to remember that a girl is free to not wear hijab until the age of puberty. This does not make them any different to other kids of that age, they are simply blessed with a unique and beautiful way of life and deserve to understand this gift from a young age.

 

My nieces who are 10 and 11 wear hijab without any coercion from us because they love it and want to look like the older girls in the family. I had to explain to my younger niece that she didn’t have to wear it all the time and that her time hasn’t come recently because I’ve noticed that she had her hijaab on all day, everyday.. She was like, ’I know, I just like wearing it’. I hope she keeps with her love for Allah and his deen.. Insha Allah, Ameen.

 

I know, girls who loved hijab as kids and have discarded it when they needed to be in hijaab and many others who never considered it and are still struggling with it as adults.. or those like me who struggled with it.. because it became an expectation when I reached a certain age. It amazes me how such a simple action can create so much emotion and debate.

 

The best lesson you can give your child is to practice the deen and understand it yourself, which will make as normal as sleeping and eating.

[Ms DD]

Hear hear Blessed. Whilst we shouldnt force the kids, but we need to normalise the practising of our deen in our everyday lives where we are constantly fed propogandas against Islam. Most importanly we need to teach the deen properly and make them understand before forcing anything on them. My younger sister wore her hijab from primary school whilst I have only put on 7yrs ago. No matter what my dad said, she used to refuse to take it off in public. We need to train the kids the way we would like them to be before they are trained elsewhere.

[Kool_Kat]

Originally posted by BlessedMuslimah:

Kool-kat you have no right to judge others especially a young child such that age (isku xishow)

.

Wax iga xishood badanba hooyo ma dhalin aan u maleynaa... Abaayo, I am not judging, just asking? Nothing wrong with asking now is there?

 

LOL@Buuxo...How cute!

[Rahima]

Spot on Blessed.

 

I wore the hijab at the age of 5, never coerced in anyway but just that i wanted to be like my mother.

 

Once i started to get picked on at school for it, I started to comprehend it as worship to Allah. I remember that once I was with my mother and maghrib had come upon us. We were walking by a main road and wouldn’t reach anywhere appropriate whilst it was still the time of maghrib. My mother stood by a corner and proceeded to pray. She could see that I was embarrassed by it, turned to me and gave me perhaps the best lesson of my life. She told me that I was a Muslim, chosen by Allah to be a Muslim- the best of mankind and that I shouldn’t be embarrassed of it, instead it should be a mark of pride/privilege. Ever since then, I’ve applied this to everything about Islam, including the hijab.

 

I don’t plan to force any future children that I may have, but I will be extremely proud if my children choose to worship Allah, even if a daughter of mine chooses to wear a hijab at the age of 3. We allow 2 year olds to wear their favourite T-shirts, so I wonder why it bothers us that they wear a hijab?

[NGONGE]

^^ If there was such a thing as group private messages I'd tell you and ayeeyo to corner that Ibtisam and talk some sense into her.

[Rahima]

NGONGE,

 

Jokes aside, some of the comments here just make me sad. Not only do you have to fight non-Muslims, you can't even get peace from Muslims. God only knows what I went through, I’ve even had a teacher pull off my hijab- expected from an ignorant non-Muslim, but we as Muslims should all support young Muslimahs.

 

Why does it bother people so much that a young Muslimah chooses to worship her lord? It is one thing to address the issue of force and hypocrisy, a totally different matter to argue that it ruins her childhood.

 

Alhamdullilah i had a great childhood, i played and laughed at the playground; i had friends from various races and religions; i ran; i rode a bike; i roller bladed; i learnt how to swim; i learnt how to horse ride; i went to school and graduated from university and i now hold a professional job. I've done all this in a hijab.

 

I'm beyond sick and tired of people viewing the hijab as an impediment!

[N.O.R.F]

Alhamdullilah i had a great childhood, i played and laughed at the playground; i had friends from various races and religions; i ran; i rode a bike; i roller bladed; i learnt how to swim; i learnt how to horse ride; i went to school and graduated from university and i now hold a professional job. I've done all this in a hijab.

:cool:

 

You have just enlightened a few people.

[NGONGE]

^^ I agree. Shame you were not one of them.

 

Rahima,

I agree with almost all you wrote there regarding the hijab and the way you did it or think others should do it. My daughters wear it when they go to their Islamic classes in the evenings but they also frequently demand that they wear one when they go to school in the mornings. I don't force them into it nor do I encourage them (I still believe they're too young for the whole thing). Still, the first time they both demanded that they wore one to school, I bore them with questions just like I did on this thread (I can't help myself). I am happy that they do it and not really too bothered if they don't.

 

I just find the tone of some of the replies where people talk about ensuring that children start practicing at a young age a bit uncomfortable. There is a hint of coercion (or at least oppressive encouragement) coming across in some of those replies. If their creator did not oblige them to wear it at such a young age, I really don't see why reasons of familiarity, practice and the like should.

 

Ps

I said I agree with almost all you wrote because the only thing I did not agree with was the part about not getting peace from Muslims. On trivial issues such as this one I'm sure there is no harm in having a disagreement. The bottom line after all is that it is not a religious obligation.

[AYOUB]

^^ Shaydaanka iska naar.

[NGONGE]

^^ Maxa dhacay dee?

[Jacaylbaro]

Intaa yaa kuu qoray ??

[NGONGE]

^^ Warya, ma sida A&T bad doonaysa en aan PM ser ku qoro oo kugo tuso xariifnimatidi xaga af somaliga heerkay gaadhay? Ok, bal i yara sug..wallahi wan ku gabyi doona (but it's not suitable for public consumption).