Assalamu alaikum - Feeling pressured about hijab
Assalamu alaikum sisters, I’ll try to be brief but please be patient with me 😞 I’m 19 and in my second year of university. My mother has always been worried about what others think and about men looking at me “wrong,” so since I was about 10 she made me wear a scarf over my chest, and at 12 I started wearing hijab. I was young and scared, so I complied even though I didn’t truly like it. Over time it became a habit - sometimes I felt odd without it. When I started university, I slowly began to dislike wearing it because very few people there wore hijab. I worried that if I wore it I wouldn’t make friends, so I stopped wearing it at uni. I would put it on before leaving home or keep it around my neck, but recently I went out with friends and left it fully in my purse. My mother saw the pictures and reacted very strongly. She said things like “I will burn all your hijabs,” “how can I trust you - you get naked as soon as you leave the house,” and tried to stop me at the door once and take my hijab from me. Her words and actions are really upsetting me and have been bringing me to tears. I don’t know how to handle her anger and the pressure - I want to balance my faith, my comfort, and my relationship with my mother. Any advice, duas, or practical tips on talking to her calmly, setting respectful boundaries, or gradually rebuilding trust would mean a lot. JazakAllahu khair.