Over the weekend, I saw a part of Dina's video where she reads out all of the nasty and disgusting comments she has gotten over the past three months for almost fifty straight minutes. I think, like most, I was extremely shocked and sickened by the things people have been saying to her! There are people telling her they hope her and her family die, that she should denounce islam, calling her the nastiest names imagineable and saying that since she doesn't wear hijab anymore, she should just show her children's faces. The kinds of things people are saying are so ludicrously disgusting and hateful, that it's honestly almost impossible to try and imagine where they could be coming from except from a place of pure hate. Part of me wants to believe that some of these people are just trolls or jumping on the bandwagon and hurling these insults at her, but there is no denying that they have crossed more than a few lines and that the things they are saying are completely unforgiveable.
Where do any of you get off saying things even half as bad?! Dina wearing or not wearing hijab is a personal choice that has to do with her body and is no one else's decision but hers! People always try to claim that the muslim community as a whole is one big, happy and supportive family, when the truth could not be farther from that. You spew hatred at anyone that doesn't conform to what you view as the 'correct' mindset or dress code and then turn around and act like this kind of bullying and hate only comes from outside the community. At first, I didn't understand what Dina meant when she said that 'the 'hijabi' community is starting to become a very toxic cult... the obsession and entitlement is appalling', but I definitely get it now. Instead of treating her like a human being with feelings and emotions, you instead act like she's some kind of doll to be held up on a pedestal and that she must be practically perfect in every way or else you will pelt her with daggers and rocks in a feeble and pathetic attempt to make her break and bend and conform to what you view as 'correct'.
As someone who has worn hijab off and on for four years (albeit for different reason), I honestly have some of an understanding of what Dina is going through, though obviously not on this scale. When I took my hijab off the first time, for safety reasons due to my living condition, I had all of my muslim co-workers, apart from my Darling, immediately turn on me and treat me like shit and even refuse to speak to me. The only one who didn't treat me differently was my Darling and he didn't even bring it up til a month after and he did it in a very nice way. 'You're taking a break from hijab?' was all he said and when I explained to him why, he just nodded and told me not to rush into things and that if I didn't feel comfortable wearing it, I shouldn't. Over the past four years, whenever I was unsure about taking hijab off, the only one who was there to listen to my thoughts and cocerns with an open and unbiased ear, was my Darling. His response was almost always the same: the decision was mine and mine alone, a man has no right or place to say anything about what a woman does with her body, but if I felt like I needed to take a break from hijab, then he would support me full-heartedly. Nothing makes me angrier than the fact that as soon as I began wearing hijab again, all of the other muslim co-workers immediately tried to be all buddy buddy with me and were trying to pretend like the way they'd treated me was just for my own good. As if! Instead of talking to me nicely or treating me like normal, they shot nasty looks in my directions, tried to stare me down and made very hateful comments about me within earshot. Whenever I would start to feel overwhelmed and completely isolated due to the hate and shunning that I was experiencing, I would go talk to my Darling and spill my heart out to him and he would always listen without saying a word and would just let me unburden myself of all the emotions and hurt I had built up inside. When he would finally speak, he would tell me the same thing. That I should just close my ears to the cruel words from our fellow muslim co-workers and just live in a way that I would happy and proud of and that it was my decision to wear hijab and no one could judge me but Allah (swt).
Why doesn't everyone who has suddenly joined the Dina hateclub admit that the only reason they're hating on her so intently and salvagely is because she's a woman and in the muslim community, a man could be caught burning down a building and be caught with the match in his hand and get a slap on the wrist, but a woman blinks 'wrong' and suddenly she's a disgrace to the community? You don't really care about Dina wearing hijab, all you care about is trying to control women and what they do with their own bodies.
If you really want to follow sunnah and be a supportive community, you should all just shut your damn mouths and/or apologise to Dina right now. Maybe right now, you can hide behind your computer and phone screens and fake usernames, but on Judgement Day, there will be no hiding and you will be held accountable for every single, nasty and disgusting thing you have said towards or about Dina. But if you really are so conceited and believe that by bullying and hating on someone that has done so much for the muslim community and for islam as a whole, then just remember that by back-biting and talking nasty about Dina, you are giving her every last one of your good deeds (if you actually have any, I'm doubtful). At the end of the day, it is your scroll of deeds and you are free to fill it any way you wish.
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