A 24-year-old Italian woman converts to Islam and decides to wear the hijab. At first she is shy and afraid of people's judgement, but then she finds the courage to follow her faith. Her family members react in a mixed way, but she doesn't give up and continues to maintain relationships with them. Over time, the people of her town begin to accept her, even if not everyone understands her choice. The woman finds the strength to follow her faith within herself, thinking about the love she feels for Allah and the purpose of life. In short, the story is about a woman who follows her heart and finds the strength to defend her choices, even in the face of difficulty.
I was 24 years old when I decided to convert to Islam and wear the Hijab for the love of Allah ﷻ
My mother had moved away from home to be able to live at home with her partner in a town about 30 minutes away, my husband had always lived in other cities in Italy for work reasons so we always traveled to be able to see each other since we also have a shared 4 year old girl and I have another older 5 year old girl (with another man). I often found myself alone at home with the girls to raise.
Every time we got together my husband prayed and I always asked him why he prayed and he always knew how to give me interesting answers, this interest allowed me to do my research , with this he started reading the Koran translated into Italian so as to satisfy my curiosity , even though in my heart Allah ﷻ had already placed the faith in me to become Muslim.
Living in a small village in Sardinia with 4,000 inhabitants, I was a little ashamed of wearing the Hijab since no one wore it, initially I started praying secretly with the anxiety that someone would ring the bell and come in seeing me praying and wearing my prayer dress. , then I started asking my grandmother for fine scarves but not with the aim of covering my neck, with the aim of trying them on as a veil and seeing how it looked on me .
It was August 2022 when there were a few pages left to finish reading the Koran, I felt my faith stronger and the desire to wear the Hijab was also stronger so even if I found myself alone, afraid of people's judgement, of what could think of my family, my little girls, even if they were small , I took courage and took a nice photo of myself with the veil . I posted it on social media with a caption relating to the motivation for my conversion and at the same time I immediately sent it to my closest relatives.
At that moment moments of anxiety... but I was surprised by the fact that some of my relatives supported me like my father, while others (those with whom I had a closer relationship, my mother and my grandmother) judged me and if I took it. I won't initially deny that a lot of tears fell, but even though I was physically alone I knew that on the other end of the phone I had the support and love of my husband.
Being young, my daughters didn't see the change, the older one said to me "mummy do you have to go out like this?"
And I said "yes love, from today she will come out like this mum because she has become Muslim"
And she said "you're beautiful mom".
However, the following day I went out for the first time with the veil, alone, just to test people's reaction. I was very shy but I tried to walk with my head held high.
I noticed that many smiled at me , others looked at me badly, some spoke in a low voice, others greeted me as they had always done , I happened to have someone tell me that it looked great on me, others who asked me questions in conclusion.
the worst I thought was only in my head!
In the family context, I didn't give up just because my relatives didn't like the fact that I wore the veil, in fact I maintained relationships, I continued to frequent them, despite the initial criticism, the attempt to bribe me even with money to make me remove it etc... I I was patient, I prayed so that they could understand, to date they haven't understood but they have accepted.
The only true strength that allowed me to wear the Hijab and convert to Islam I found within myself,
I only thought about the love I felt for Allah ﷻ , about all that he gave me and I thought about the purpose that we human beings have in life (praying to Allah ﷻ , doing good, improving ourselves, fighting injustice, improving the world etc etc) .
The benefits I have gained from this path are first of all being Muslim, secondly I feel closer to Allah ﷻ since I dress as he commands me to do.
Do you want to get in touch with the author? Write her an email at Gaiettapodda@gmail.com
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