Zahra Rosea has 13k+ followers on instagram so one could definitely say she is in a very good position to inspire those who would like to start their journey to covering. As muslimahs we are constantly trying to improve ourselves and it can be so very hard for those who want to cover, and the 101 thoughts that enter your mind when making the decision to begin covering.  A lot of thoughts may enter your mind about wearing hijab e.g 'i won't look nice', 'i can't be fashionable with a hijab', 'people won't accept me', 'it isn't the norm in my environment or society to wear hijab', 'people at work will think i am weird', 'my wardrobe isn't modest enough to start wearing a hijab'. Well ladies, please stop thinking like this because hijab is a journey and it is done for the sake of Allah, so if you would like to start by wearing a hijab and slowly making your wardrobe more modest as you go along, what is wrong with that.

There are many inspirational ladies out there who you can take style ideas from on how to dress modestly. Of course, the overall aim is to please Allah, but a little helping hand can never be a bad thing! Zahra Rosea is one of the many hijabis who are here to show you that you can wear hijab and still be trendy at the same time. As long as you are fully covered there is nothing wrong with adding a bit of style to your look to ease you into to dressing modestly and from there things can only get better.

So without further ado here is my interview with Zahra who recently featured on Gap and was selected as the first winner to feature. That in itself is a great privilege, for a hijabi to be recognised as the first winner to feature on gap is something to be proud of. It highlights that the world is opening up more and more to the notion of hijab and this will only make it easier for those who want to cover but don't have the courage to take the plunge. Anything to help someone feel more comfortable wearing a hijab is something to celebrate. Zahra explains why she put herself out there and what her future goals are. Read below;

What made you submit your picture to Gap? 

I decided a very long time ago that as Muslim women and as a consumer of fashion we are very poorly represented in the fashion world, media and industry. I thought it would be a step in the right direction to have a Muslim within a media campaign, I think it's also a significant step for the industry to readily identify that we too are part of their consumer base and deserve to be included.

When did u start wearing hijab? 

I began wearing hijab when I was around fourteen years old. In all honesty it wasn't a step I really thought about since we were raised in a very un-multicultural part of the U.K where my family and I were the only permanent Muslim family in town.

What made you wear it? 

We had just spent that whole summer in Dubai and wore the hijab when we were out there and back to the airport in the UK. When we landed, my younger sister Asma was actually the first one to make the decision to continue wearing it. I decided I wasn't going to allow her to struggle alone and so I too began wearing it.I knew it would be difficult being the only teenager in the whole of our town wearing it, but with both our support to each other we decided it would be something attainable.

What would you describe your style as? 

I would decide be my style as muted power dressing. I love structured silhouettes, pointed pumps, clean crisp lines and shirts

What are your future goals? 

In terms of goals for hijabis as a whole I would love for us all to be included and recognised as a consumer market by fashion brands. 

As for myself, I am establishing and developing my own modest clothing brand, I would love for that to become global inshallah.

What or who is your style inspiration? 

I love Victoria Beckham, Celine & Coco Chanel. A mixture of all of the above!

I would like to thank Zahra for taking time out of her busy schedule to do this interview, and i hope this can help those of you who want to cover to come one step closer to making that decision and putting on the hijab. Hijab is beautiful, and anything that is done solely to please your creator will only bring you good things. Start your journey and remember true beauty comes from within and will shine out. Don't say to your self 'one day i will wear it' because that one day may never come, be spontaneous and just go for it. Zahra did, and has no regrets. We are all on a journey and continuously trying to improve- may we all be the best we can for our Creator.

Zahra Rosea can be found on Instagram ; http://instagram.com/zahrarosea 

If you have faith, health, family, a roof over your head and food to eat then you are more blessed then you realise. In the last few months i have seen so much for example the i have seen the loss of innocent civilians during war, i have seen people struggling through hardships and come through fighting and i have seen some who are at a crossroad in their life not knowing where to turn. One thing i learnt through all this is, never judge a book by its cover. Some seem outwardly content however we just do not know what is going on inside, what their hearts are agonising over. We think people are fine and happy but little do we know about their struggles. This is why it is so important to embrace whatever you have going on in your life and see the positive in it. Allah may have taken away something from you to protect you, Allah may have blessed you with an awful situation, yes awful, just to bring you closer to him. We think we know what is best for us, but we don't, Allah does, hence why we must always seek guidance and be thankful for whatever obstacles or blessings come in our path.

What i have learnt is life is not easy, but if you let your situation control you then you are already losing and on a downward spiral. You need to take control of what you can and do your very best, once you have done that then you leave it to Allah. The following hadith comes to mind as i type this;

One day the Messenger of Allah (saws) noticed a bedouin (desert Arab) leaving his camel without tying it and he asked the bedouin: "Why don't you tie down your camel?"  The bedouin answered, "I put my trust in Allah." The Prophet (saws) then said, "Tie your camel first, then put your trust in Allah"  (Tirmidhi).

This is one of my favourite Hadith as it quite perfectly states; that we must always do what we possibly can to better a situation and then we leave it to Allah. Whatever is better for us will happen, when you put your trust in Allah know that only good things can come of this. You may not see it in this life, maybe you will see it in the Akhirah (hereafter). Sometimes we become overwhelmed and that causes us to retract and let the problem or issue we have consume us. 

Everyone has a struggle in some shape or form in their lives, if this life was so perfect what would be the point? This life is not meant to be perfect,  Jannah is where you will find perfection. So if you are sad, please do remember that this is not the final destination. Stop trying to create a Utopia here, have patience and work towards Jannah! We are all travellers in this world, stop thinking it is permanent. Whatever struggle you are facing, remember that this is also temporary and this time will pass. Imagine Jannah and how amazing it will be, you will be with who you love and have all you ever wanted and the best thing is- it'll be forever. 

A recent seminar I attended by an amazing sister Yasmin Mogahed really helped me to regain some much needed focus. I had just come back from hajj, and those of you who have been blessed with this once in a lifetime opportunity can probably relate to what i was feeling. I felt i had hit an anti climax, i just just lived a dream, i had been granted one of my greatest wishes and then i was back to the reality of this world. Hardships, tests, life. It was a really difficult adjustment to make especially as i had just started a new job. However this seminar helped me put things back into perspective, i was reminded that this life is temporary and will pass. I needed to work on my akhirah. The one analogy Sister Yasmin Mogahed made which really aided me is; We should treat our life and this world like a hotel room when travelling. Yes a hotel room. When we go on holidays do we stock up on furniture, food, cutlery for our hotel room? No we do not! Why? Because we do not expect to stay there long. We stay at the hotel, not giving it much significance, maybe admiring its beauty but when it is time to leave, we are fine to leave. This is because we have not become attached to this hotel room, we saw it as a temporary place to live and when it's time to go home we happily pack up and go. This is how we must treat this world. We aren't here forever so why get so attached to worldly things when this will all pass. Why not focus on Jannah where you can have whatever you desire and more (things we aren't even capable of imagining). If we have this mindset, we will not become so consumed by our hardships. Take each day as it comes, let go of the past, stop worrying about the future, tie your camel (do all you can) and put your trust in Allah.

Now having said all this, i myself can put my hand up and say this is not easy. We are so easily immersed into the world that we lose focus. But we have to take control and ensure we do not let our woes consume us. This can be done through stepping back every now and again and trying to observe your situation as an outsider. Observe it, make notes, think if it was a friend what would you advise and then act on that. We are often great at advising others but cant take this advice on ourselves. Make an active effort to repair what you can, always remember Allah, focus, pray, pour your heart out to the Almighty and then just let it be. We are not the final deciders of anything, only Allah decides the outcome. Once you have done all you can and have faith be content that the results are for your betterment.

Look around you, I guarantee you there are others struggling. Be thankful for what you have, if you need help seek it from your friends, family and knowledgable people and don't try and struggle through it alone. Be active rather then passive and make the changes you can. 

If things are going great, remember to always thank the Almighty and remain faithful as sometimes a blessing can be your test. 

I'll leave a parting note (a verse from the Quran) for you all to ponder on. This is one of my personal favourites....

“And if you could count the favours of Allah, never would you be able to count them. Truly, Allah is Oft‑Forgiving, Most Merciful”[16:18]❤️