Hijab Sign Of Modesty, Pride For USF Wearers
By GARY HABER ghaber@...
Published: Sep 26, 2004

http://tampatrib.com/floridametronews/MGBUITFIKZD.html

TAMPA - On a college campus where hot weather and MTV
make shoulder-baring tank tops and above-the-knee
skirts the norm for many women, Rehana Hakeem's modest
attire makes her stand out.

The 18-year-old University of South Florida freshman,
who is Muslim, scribbles notes like the rest of her
Introduction to Philosophy class.

Unlike them, Hakeem is dressed in khaki pants, a long-
sleeved black T-shirt and a traditional Muslim head
scarf, known as a hijab.

Her light green hijab matches her Kate Spade handbag.
Her T-shirt reads ``Hijab: Oppression or Liberation.
I'll decide.''

Hakeem, born and raised in Plant City, is a bubbly,
thoroughly modern young woman. The daughter of a
surgeon father, and a mother who manages an apartment
complex, Hakeem plans on becoming a dentist.

She also is among a growing number of female Muslim
students at USF who follow the dictates of the Koran
by wearing a hijab and loose-fitting clothing.
According to the Koran, Muslim women should dress in
clothes that do not accentuate the shape of their
bodies and cover all but their hands and faces.

Garment A Sign Of Modesty

Wearing a hijab is something many, but not all, Muslim
women choose after the age of puberty as a sign of
modesty and religious devotion.

About half of the roughly 250 to 400 female Muslin
students on campus wear hijabs, said Hassan Sultan,
president of USF's Muslim Student Association.

The practice has received more attention on campus
after the school said on Sept. 10 it would petition
the National Collegiate Athletic Association to allow
a Muslim basketball player to wear a head scarf,
long-sleeve jersey and long pants on the court.

The player, Andrea Armstrong, later quit the team,
saying she did not want to become a distraction to her
teammates.

USF students who wear the scarfs call it a liberating
experience, a declaration of faith that has brought
them closer to their religion. They say have
experienced few problems on campus.

It has also become a bond at a school where Muslims
number fewer than 1,000 out of a student body of
nearly 42,000.

Groups of friends exchange them. They hold ``hijab
parties'' to encourage women who have started to wear
them.

Choosing to wear a hijab is a decision made after much
introspection, students such as Hakeem say.

``It's not a phase you're going to grow out of,'' she
said. ``It's a serious decision you don't take
lightly.''

Hakeem began wearing a hijab at age 15, while in high
school, the only Muslim student at Tampa's Academy of
the Holy Names, a Catholic girl's school.

Hoping To Dispel Stereotypes

She had been thinking of wearing a hijab for some
time, but decided to do so after the Sept. 11 attacks.
She wanted to identify herself publicly as a Muslim.

``I'm not a bold person,'' Hakeem said. ``But I
thought it would be a good thing for people to see
there are good Muslims out there.''

That was the experience of many other young Muslims,
who felt if they were more apparent about their faith
it could dispel anti-Muslim sentiment, said Ahmed
Bedier, Florida communications director for the
Council on American-Islamic Relations.

``People would recognize that my neighbor is Muslim,
my co-worker is Muslim, and they're not bad people,''
Bedier said.

Danya Shakfeh, 18, Hakeem's cousin and an
international studies major from Spring Hill, began
wearing a hijab when she was 10.

``It's a statement that says I am who I am,'' Shakfeh
said. ``I want you to look at me for what I am, not
what I look like.''

Many non-Muslims have the wrong impression of the
hijab, said Shakfeh, whose mother, also a student at
USF, wears one.

``They assume that because we cover, we're back 200
years ago,'' Shakfeh said. ``They think it's
oppression. We don't see it that way.''

Mehnaz Ismail is one of a group of Muslim students
seated at a table outside the USF library discussing
what the hijab means to them.

``It's like this indescribable feeling,'' said Ismail,
21, an English education major from Tampa. ``Once I
started wearing it, I felt so complete inside, so much
closer to God. I regretted not wearing it before.''

Both Ismail and her sister Mahwish, a 19-year-old
sophomore, wear a hijab. Mehnaz Ismail remembers the
day in January 2001, when at 17, she took the step
shortly before starting at USF.

Their younger sister, who was 14 at the time, wore a
hijab, but Ismail was hesitant because of what some
people might think.

``That's such a silly thing to not follow your
religion because you're afraid people are going to
stare at you,'' she says.

Four years later, Ismail said, ``I feel weird without
it. It's such a large part of my life.''

Ismail said wearing a hijab makes her feel she must be
a role model because non-Muslims will form impressions
about all Muslims based on her behavior.

``I just have to be a better person, because I'm
carrying this flag with me wherever I go,'' she said.

Mahwish Ismail started wearing a hijab just after her
16th birthday, when she was a student at Wharton High
School. She returned from winter break wearing it.

``I got a lot of surprised looks from a lot of
people,'' says Ismail, whose book bag sports a button
reading ``I am a Muslim. Ask me about Islam.''

``You find out who your friends are,'' she said.
``Some people avoid you, and some people want to get
to know you better.''

These young women say wearing a hijab hasn't slowed
them down on the athletic field.

Last March, 2,500 Muslim students from across Florida,
and as far away as North Carolina and Alabama, came to
USF for the Muslim-American Society Olympics. The day
included volleyball and soccer tournaments for the
women, who played dressed in hijabs, long-sleeve
shirts and long track pants.

The Tampa team, on which Hakeem, then a high school
student, played, won both events.

``We had no problems,'' she said. ``We kicked
everyone's butt.''

Reporter Gary Haber can be reached at (813) 259-8285.






___________________________________________________________ALL-NEW Yahoo!
Messenger - all new features - even more fun! http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com