The Limits of Society: Does Wearing A Hijab Make You Ashamed To Seek Knowledge?

In the last four years, I noticed that mosques in Bandung are always full of people for its majlis taklim (gatherings for muslim religious learning). The rapid increase of majlis taklim are dominated by youth. Women is no exception, such as Great Muslimah and #Shaf Muslimah.

The participation of women in islamic events is marked by the increasing number of women who wear hijab. People call it hijrah--meaning you move from one place to another or in other words you change from bad to good for the sake of Allah. And I guess it is a good thing because the more people gathers in the majlis taklim, the more medium to learn Islam. However, not all muslim people are confident enough to get his feet into masjid to listen to the islamic lesson.

I remember one day this year when I asked a friend to accompany me to a majlis taklim. Surprisingly, she said, "But, I don't wear syar'i hijab". Then, I was like, "WHAAATTTT?". Does it mean that if she didn't wear syar'i hijab, she wouldn't come to seek islamic knowledge? It was kinda insulting me because what if I wear regular hijab but I really want to go to majlis taklim? Am I not suitable to sit in majlis taklim?

Then I realized that every time I go to majlis taklim, it is dominated by women wearing syar'i hijab. For example, last month I joined a program to correct how I recite the Quran by using tone. I decided to join this program because the way I recite Quran doesn't satisfy me. I want myself to enjoy reading Quran so that I can interact with Quran more often and the people/the angels who hear me will also enjoy listening to me reciting. When I arrived at the class, there are no women wearing regular hijab. Only me! And they are already good in reciting Quran. I was the last one in class when the ustadz asked me to search for the example of tajweed (the rules governing pronunciation during recitation of the Quran). I felt so awful. So, I understand why my friend said, "But, I don't wear syar'i hijab". It's like there's no place for us--the women with regular hijab--to sit in majlis taklim. That was exactly what I thought months ago when I was in the edge between wearing hijab or not.

Then I remember that...

“Birds that are born in a cage think that it is a crime to fly”

I know that it is so hard to change the mind set. The people who think that they're not a good people or not good enough to get islamic knowledge totally limit themselves. Some of us also believe that mosque is not our place or there's no place for us in the mosque. They also limit themselves.

I guess, that kind of people don't realize that dunya is only a temporary stop where we should prepare our lives for the next life (akhirat). I don't want to blame anyone because I was like the bird in a cage once but I really needed help to understand my religion. So that's why I go to the majlis taklim no matter what the people say about what my hijab looks like, no matter how bad I am. NOT because I am a pious good person, but because I really need to understand my religion. Believe me, I am a bad person. But it doesn't stop me seeking the answer about the purpose of this life.

I'm a firm believer of the five before five.
The Prophet ﷺ advised this. Besides the advise from the Prophet, I'd share a video about The Purpose of Life. I really like this video because it is delivered in the style of spoken-word poetry (I am a fan of spoken-word poetry btw). Hope this video reminds us about the purpose of your life. This video is a highly recommended video! Don't worry, there's subtitle to make it easier. Check it out! I am sure you won't regret to spend some internet quota for this. :)