Jessica Rhodes is a 21 year old female from Norwich, UK who
works as a telesales consultant and is also a student. She was a
Pagan before reverting to Islam a month ago.
She was born in 1991 and was adopted in 1993. Grew up in a
small seaside town on the south east coast of England, she
went to university at 19 to study for a degree in Music and she
hopes to do postgraduate qualifications in counselling starting
September 2013.
She has an amazing story of her reversion and how she got
attracted to Islam. New York based lady Nazma Khan started a
campaign known as ‘world hijab day’. The movement has
been organised almost solely over social networking sites. It
has attracted interest from Muslims and non-Muslims in more
than 50 countries across the world. For many people, the hijab
is a symbol of oppression and divisiveness. It’s a visible target
that often bears the brunt of a larger debate about Islam in the
West. World Hijab Day is designed to counteract these
controversies. It encourages non-Muslim women (or even
Muslim women who do not ordinarily wear one) to don the
hijab and experience what it’s like to do so, as part of a bid to
foster better understanding.
It was social networking that got Jessica Rhodes involved. Her
friend Widyan Al Ubudy lives in Australia and asked her
Facebook friends to participate. Jessica who was a non-Muslim
decided to participate in the world hijab day. She says: “I took
part in the first World Hijab Day and challenged myself to
wear the hijab for a month. I then began reading the Quran
and the words in the Quran seemed logical and clear, rather
than in the Bible where they tend to waffle. I also did some
research into Islam as a whole and felt that it was an inclusive
religion that could give me the answers I was looking for”.
Although her parents were little apprehensive, if it was a good
idea or she may be attacked in the streets because of non-
tolerance.
Several Websites like BBC, CBBC, Muslim times, Malaysian
Digest has published articles on her regarding the experience
of anon-Muslim wearing a hijab
The defining moment in her life was when she walked out in
Hijab for the first time as a non-Muslim and she could not
remember what it felt like to go without a hijab on.
On reaction of her parents/friends/relatives/Husband she says:
“It was a bag of mix, parents were not happy but they accept
my decision. My in-laws have been extremely supportive. My
friends are unfortunately a mixed bag – some are happy with
my decision, others want to argue with me about it, and still
others walked out of my life altogether.”
On the question of what challenges she faced as a Muslim
she said is lucky and so far she didn’t face any problem and
everybody has been very supportive and open-minded about
it.
She further added on the level of support from other Muslims:
“I have had some support, but not many people seem to want
to reach out to me, it is always me asking for help. When I go
and ask questions, people quote the Quran at me and do not
seem open to a convert’s interpretation of the Quran. They can
improve this by being more open-minded to other
interpretations, because it is not just Westerners who can be
narrow-minded, misguided etc.”
She further adds: “sometimes I am unsure – the reaction from
most of the Muslims that I have spoken to has led me to feel
like I should leave Islam and go back to paganism as in that
religion I was given a choice about how I practice my religion,
and nobody cared if I did things my way or another way. As
for the Muslim Ummah… that is in the hands of Allah. If people
worldwide, of all walks of life, are more open-minded
perhaps we can move forward but if not, we will simply
continue to be in a mire of misconceptions, anger and pointless
wars”.
Jessica wore the hijab for the first time last week to her office
and got wonderful response.
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