Going to Poland in a hijab - Polish people and Islam

Hi,
Im a half Polish and half Arab girl, and also a Muslim, I've lived in poland until the age of ten with my family, until we moved to the UK. When my family was in Poland we weren't really practising Islam since there weren't many resources and not many Muslims lived in Poland, this may be why we never faced Islamophobic comments etc, but soon I learned that the avarage Polish person wasn't very font or tolerant of the Muslim faith. At the time I have also become more interested in my religion and felt like it made alot of sense, so as I learned more about it i fell more in love with it. Some of you may find this confusing because of the stereotypes associated with Islam, such as terrorism or oppression of women, portrayed in modern media, but i know from that most of this information is untrue and manipulated. Now that i am practising Islam more, I wear the Islamic head wear that only covers the hair called the Hijab, I chose to wear it because I feel like it frees me from the expectations of modern society, such as the need for women to be beautiful, or the modern fashion, mostly created to please men (eg, revealing clothes etc). Also I feel like wearing Hijab helps me to be known for my intellectual abilites or my 'beauty-from-the-inside' instead of being known, or paid attention to because of my beauty. Anyway, in a few days im planning to go back to Poland for a short holiday to see my family and friends , but i am worried about the response of people when I am there, wearing my hijab, or modest clothing, because i dont think that anyone else wears it, and people may not be used to it. Do you think people may have negative responses to me when im there? Could Polish people who live in Poland, have an open mind to Islam, or Hijab if i explain the logic behind it?

Don`t worry, Poles won`t care about your head covering. I have taken a few photos of women wearing Muslim garb on streets of Polish cities.


Those trolls are getting more and more intelligent. I account it for the beneficial influence of PF.

There is no logic behind it.

If you lived without the hijab for 10 years then nothing will happen if you take it off for a few days.

@Wulkan , trust me im happier now :)
Im definately not sayig im ugly, im just tired of what is expected for a women to please a man, look at disorders such as anorexia or low self image, these are all mostly cause by the pressure put on a women to be beautiful

And funny joke there ;)

from which country ?

I dont think you get the point, Ive already stated my logic, and I lived without it from when i was born to the age of 10, so clearly i was a child, and its not required for me to wear it, and i also stated that my family wasnt practicing Islam at the time. Also if i do take it off, there would be no point of me wearing it in the first place, since I'm supposed to be hiding my beauty from men, for reasons ive already mentioned.


Palestine

I hate the need people have to thrust their religion at other people. If you wanna look dowdy and wear a headscarf, do it, but don;t expect sympathy because it's your "religion"

Religion - it exists to gain power and money and to keep the people in their place

just trust your self and do not worry about other
me 2 i am mix my dad from Arab and my mom is American
but i am man
looooooool

"since I'm supposed to be hiding my beauty"

So, you're saying the point of hijab is to make women less beautiful, modesty through making yourself look less attractive.

That seems about right as they are pretty ugly to look at, not as hideous as niqab, but still, it's not a nice look.

Don't worry about it at all. Some people might assume you are having chemo. So they might give you sympathetic glances. Others will think you have a quirky sense of fashion. Still others will know you are Muslim and why the head covering, because they'd seen Muslim women before. A tiny percentage of the latter might voice their opinion or ask you a question out of curiosity. Overall, I think you'll attract much less attention than a European girl with an uncovered head and "normally" dressed would cause in a Muslim country.

It is connected with deep human need of belonging to some community. When you wear it you feel stronger belonging to muslim community which makes you happier.

haha Magda funny post but true -
lazycat you could wear a looser kind of headcovering like women in UK do.

in my opinion ,i think that not wearing a hijab and wearing modest clothes will attract less attention than wearing a hijab ,but i know how muslim females think of it as a big deal ,so you'll probably get more attention .

Czesc, I was curious after reading your post, and want to ask you if it's possible to tell; how was your vacation in Poland as a polish muslim girl?

Dont listen to these People. Allah commands that a woman covers herself. They let us into Poland they should handle the cultural differences.

Hi lazycat12345 ,
I have a great suggestion for you!

few weeks ago, I visited Malaysia, and I saw many, actually almost all, muslim girls wearing colorful hijabs together with fitted clothes!
I never liked the look of plain black niqabs and hijabs (especially seeing it in summer heat...) , but when I went around markets in Kuala Lumpur, I was amazed with the colors and patterns of hijabs you can get there!

So, since you are half-Polish and have lived in Poland, I suggest you could get one of those folk scarves...

...and wear them as hijab!

You may get curious looks as why you're wearing such, truth is that even now, only grandmas are wearing these on their heads, but I think if you start to wear one, you'll show everyone a better picture of a muslim girl, one that is not afraid of other cultures. Also, look at these patterns, aren't they gorgeous? :D

No offence. But this was FUNNY! haha.


Spot on! I don't think anyone in this modern world will leave the freedom of have an 'open' face and then decide to wear hijab on! thats bullo*cks girl! know how to write your story!

Polish people hate muslims and dont accept their religion although it's not how it should to be so anyone who is going to poland wearing hijab niqab or anything should be ready that it won't feel nice unfortunately

I'm polish and im muslim, media destroyed people brains here and made them think about muslims as a terrorists

I have a friend who wishes to go to middle east for holiday and she does not wish to be covered. Do you think this is acceptable ?

It entirely depends which country. In some you don't need to cover any more than you would visiting some of the more conservative parts of Europe, in some you don't need to cover at all. In a few, you certainly need to and in a few it isn't necessary however a woman not covered in public may feel underdressed compared to women around her and might be concerned about standing out from the crowd.

Come up in Poland wearing a hijab is not good idea. I live in big city, we have really lot of visitors here, especially in sumer, but i have seen non , even single one, wearing a hijab. My advice : it'll be safer for you to not wear a hijab or any other religion wear coz you'll be exposed to some unfriendly behavior, if U know what i mean...

It may be that one day the trolls, or someone who sees a piece of money in it, may start a thread that garners such responses that a court case might be made of it?? against people on this forum? or even against Poland. Think about it? an EU court and someone accusing Poles of rascism with many Posts from this forum as evidence........who are the court going to come down on the side of? vigilance is necessary.

People hate muslims becouse of representative like you, Kamaz.
If you want to be welcome visitor in another country you must respect habits and customs of this country everywhere that you go. It's obvious. If not, better stay at home.

I've seen a few people in full hijab in Warsaw. They stand out and everybody stares.

Reminds me of the day after the 7/7 London bombings when my brother was in a tube train with a young girl in full hijab and a back pack. She had everyone's attention.

In most of the places she can get a tourist visa for it will be fine.

Snow flake.....In every country I visit I find out the local customs......one of the local customs a Police chief told me was get the Police on your side and we will look after you. It was good advice they have people who can soon track down people who make threats, I was surprised at how quickly they have reacted in the past.

Really??? Thank you for advice :)

Ha, Ha quite understandable as in Poland all women wear skimpy clothes and bikinis and have advanced anorexia so yes, your modest clothe can raise a few eyebrows :-)

A couple questions

- So covering up the hair is a statement against males/society pressuring women to wear skimpy clothes? But aren't you also altering your clothing based on a man/society?

- Are you able to enter the Mosque thru the same entrance as men?

- Poles will cause no physical or even verbal harm. Old Polish women wear head covers all the time. But people will stare and laugh.