About HijabMan

by HijabMan :: posted 7 June 06

Idthkar Allah, “Remember God” commands the graffiti at the end of one of the tunnels that ease the passage from Al-Azhar mosque to Khan al-Khalili bazaar. I used to crave those tunnels, despite their eerie feel. They provided both a cool refuge from the sweltering Cairo summer as well as recording studio-like acoustics for the blind Qur’an reciters who sat in them. The recitation of the revelation would embrace me each time I passed through. It was hard to let go until the day I looked up and found a reminder. Idthkar Allah.

My name isn’t HijabMan, but you are free to call me that. At 14, I began this site as a way to reflect on the sights I’ve seen, the people I’ve met, and my life as a whole. Now, over a decade later, HijabMan has expanded to include expressions of my own creativity through a shop full of products wedding and event photography services, and a blog. It functions, quite literally, as a forum through which I can discover and pursue what I love and maintain friendships with people all over the world— some of who I still haven’t met. It should go without saying that I am thankful for all of this, and all of you.

For the few years during and after my undergraduate degree, I felt like I had to do something. Just. One. Thing. And slowly but surely, while I tried on various hats, I found that my goal wasn’t to be just ‘one thing.’ My goal is now about owning as many ‘hats’ as I can. In other words, I’d like:

1. To foster and develop as many of my natural talents as possible. 2. To find/do something that brings all of my natural skills together into one package.
3. To use all those skills to make a positive impact on the world by helping the downtrodden of the earth. The victims.

I’ve mentioned in the past that I wished to be a spiritual leader of a mosque, and so I began on that path, deciding to live in Syria for a little bit, in search of some sacred knowledge. If you can call self-knowledge sacred, well then that is what I found. I thought a lot about what I would be best suited for. We all have our own battles right? And we all have been blessed with a different set of skills to struggle through those battles. And so throughout my time in the Middle East, and traveling across the world selling HijabMan products and photographing weddings, I’ve gained a clearer vision of what I’d like to accomplish. It is still a bit fuzzy though, so in the meantime, I’ve devoted myself to learning new skills.

At the moment, I’m in nursing school. After nursing school, I’d like to get a real estate license. After that, who knows? Right now getting married to a beautiful single momma is at the forefront of my mind.

You may use my writings, if proper credit is given to me with a link back to hijabman.com. If you do happen to use one, let me know. I’d be curious to know where it has been. Please do not use the photographs. With that, I’ll let you go and explore. Peace.

For The Former About Section, Click Here

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