RAPHAEL NYARWE

bismillah,

living among the Malays for 2 years of high school was pretty comfy. the common in language. the common in lifestyle. especially when we live in hostel. or boarding school in general. the common in religion. so on and so forth.

when i enrolled in INTI IU, i was culture shocked. not that much, just a bit. the people, the absence of rules and regulations, the food, the ways to dress up, etc. most of em are Chinese. and international students. they don't speak Malay, obviously. so i had to converse in English no matter how reluctant i were.

well, that don't matter much.

i met this guy from Uganda. i was doing calculus in the library, alone. then he came and sit in front of me. he said hye, and asked my name. we had a bit of chit chat. (and yes, he was a complete stranger).

then he asked me, why do you wear a hijab ? 

i said, because i'm a muslim.

he asked, then why do i see some other muslim who dont wear hijab ?

i was speechless. and the rest is history.

extracting some of my conversation with this Christian, i remembered saying ; Islam is not just about wearing a hijab. its about how you practice what the Prophet had taught us.

AS A WHOLE.

(i wish i had my mirror in front of me while saying that !)

for example. we do wear 'hijab'. but the breast shape can still be seen by the others. and the neck , not forgotten. well, that's not hijab. the word 'hijab' itself means cover. completely. so that there's no one can see what's underneath. if you wear a hijab, but the shadow of your ponytail and neck can still be seen, why don't you just show off your hair, instead of wearing hijab for nothing ?

there's no such thing as DOSA BANYAK and DOSA SIKIT. it's either DOSA or PAHALA. 

there's no difference between wearing a hijab with your breasts popped out , and the shadow of your ponytail or your long neck can still be seen, and not wearing hijab at all. 

*bear that in your mind, zara*

if you love to wear shawls, please do. but, wear it properly. cover your assets. it's not free !

tips: if you wanna know whether your are wearing it right or not, ask yourself ; 'is it possible for me to just wear this and perform my prayer ?' the honesty in you will answer it InsyaAllah.

p/s: im not PERFECT. im trying hard to CHANGE. to be BETTER. let's do it TOGETHER :)

may Allah bless us all. assalam :)