Why I decided to not wear Hijab

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Uploaded: 10 Apr 2025 (1 year ago) · Shared: 16 May 2025
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I share more of my convert story and my journey with hijab (the women's head-covering) - why I do NOT believe it is a sin to choose NOT to wear hijab. Real Talk on Muslims, Islam and what it means to be a convert to Islam after 30+ years as a Muslim convert. I share wisdom, experience, and reflections from the life God curated for me as an American-born Taiwanese (immigrant parents) California-raised, Ivy-league educated Muslim convert married to a world renowned Islamic scholar!

About Me: I am the Executive Director of The Usuli Institute (https://www.usuli.org/), where we do amazing work to elevate ethics, critical thinking, social justice and beauty and humanism in Islam.

Check out our ground-breaking work on the Usuli Institute YouTube channel: @TheUsuliInstitute, especially Project Illumine: The Light of the Qur'an (The first direct-to-English Qur'anic Commentaries in over 40 years) here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnuA5MsYIH_i9j4wHugwSyaWa6i1TVNaH

We spent 15+ hours on Surah 33: Al Ahzab. You can find the detailed discussion of Verse 59 in here: https://youtu.be/TUhSJtHUxCQ?si=R1rFQEdSvrZ9JLG3. Timestamps in the pinned comments of the video.

Excellent Resources for Understanding the Issues and the Evidence on Hijab:
Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl, Islamic jurist and scholar, delves deep into the historical evidence and issues surrounding the topic of hijab, the covering of Muslim women. Four-part series:
https://soundcloud.com/usuli/sets/on-hijab

Dr. Abou El Fadl's non-binding legal opinion (fatwa) on hijab: https://www.searchforbeauty.org/2016/01/02/fatwa-on-hijab-the-hair-covering-of-women/
Also see "The Hijab Discourses" here: https://www.searchforbeauty.org/fatwa-s-non-binding-legal-opinions/

Readings: The Search for Beauty in Islam: A Conference of the Books, Chapter 57 - "Corrupting God's Book," available online here: https://www.searchforbeauty.org/2006/01/01/corrupting-god-s-book-chapter-57-from-the-search-for-beauty-in-islam-a-conference-of-the-books/

In the same book, Dr. Abou El Fadl discusses the issues of hijab, 'awra, and khimar in several places, so you can find those references in the index if you have the hard copy of the book. This book is an absolute gem: https://bookshop.org/a/4598/9780742550940

Also see @SitaraAkram and her series on hijab here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLb4bb0J1ylsIEHJF_C1a7SAJCILcEnjUh&si=CAxCOH6q_6RN4QT1

And the fabulous conversation between Dr. Sitara and ⁨@EramSaeedCoaching here: https://www.youtube.com/live/7RYGX2vrat4?si=BhgkwT4RAOX8korm
and Dr. Sitara's reflections here: https://youtu.be/GYsnKWH9RHw?si=QVbierK4DMktFCln

Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:43 No Disagreement Among Scholars (Ijma')?
1:37 My Background and My Testimony
3:17 Hijab as Case Study for Ethical Framework
3:42 Necessary Caveats Upfront
4:36 Hijab as Sixth Pillar?
5:14 More About My Story
6:19 A Call for Modesty
7:14 God can be Crystal Clear or Ambiguous: Room for Negotiation
7:37 31 Years Ago as a new Convert
7:52 On meeting my partner and Immersion in knowledge
9:08 Answering The Question of Hijab
10:00 Hijab as a Category of Manners ('Adab)
11:04 No Universal Consensus on Hijab
12:23 A Word on Islamic Law, Shari'ah and Islamic Jurists
13:13 The Timeless Moral Values of the Qur'an
13:44 Schools of Thought in Islamic Law
14:00 On Majority and Minority Opinions in Islamic Law
15:13 Real Talk and Moral Priorities
15:33 When Women Have No Choice
16:01 No Coercion in Faith
16:29 Room for Negotiation
17:00 When Women Suffer and Moral Priorities
18:01 Real Impacts on Women
19:04 Examining Attitudes on Hijab Within the Muslim Community
19:27 The Argument on the Substance of a Woman's Intellect
20:22 Silencing Women
21:07 My Story: What I Learned from Wearing Hijab at Work
22:50 Being Ambassadors of God
23:02 Truth of the Test for Women
23:48 The Power of Shame and Loss of Modesty
24:53 The Big Sin of Making the Halal (Allowed) become Haram (Forbidden)
25:28 Modesty is Contextual
25:45 Protection
25:55 Dehumanization as a Racial Category
26:13 Struggling with Depression and Doubts in Faith
26:30 As An Ambassador of the Faith
27:16 Acting on Moral Priorities
28:16 Keeping the Qur'anic Message Vibrant and Relevant
28:30 Each Woman's Right to Choose
29:48 The Most Important Priorities
31:42 The Struggle (Jihad) aka Bloopers!

IMPORTANT BOOKS TO READ BY KHALED ABOU EL FADL:
The Great Theft: Wrestling Islam from the Extremists
The Search For Beauty in Islam: A Conference of the Books
The Prophet's Pulpit Series: Commentaries on the State of Islam
The Palestine Sermons
Reasoning with God: Reclaiming Shari'ah in the Modern Age
Speaking in God's Name: Islamic Law, Authority and Women

Love the music at the end? By the gifted Wietske Merison from her album REMINDER, produced by Usuli Music! This beautiful track is called, "I Don't Have Time for That." For more: https://wietskemerison.hearnow.com/

#muslimconvert #islam #muslim #muslimrevert #usuli #americanmuslim #hijab

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