[fapourfasiark]

Salaam alaykum,

I couldn't resist responding as I sooo feel you.. I am a doctor in niqab too.

First, May Allah reward you for your courage, sincerity, and reward you with His pleasure which you are seeking. The niqab doesn't have to be waajib for us to wear it, I think the arguments are a sign of general weakness of eeman in the ummah . It is much the same as arguing whether to go all lengths to perform nawaafil salaat.If it pleases Allah, we should be willing to die to achieve it. If an act such as the use of miswak before salaat was important in winning a battle against the Kuffar in the time of the illustrous Sahaaba (ra), one can not imagine what sort of effects unveiled faces is having on the Ummah's status.

I am so full of emotion that I am sure to write a haphazard response. Bear with me, I hope this will insha Allah blossom into a friendship.

When I read your first entry to my husband, he remarked " is someone impersonating you?" Dear sister, I have 2 other friends of my nationality all in the same boat as you, and your feelings and hardships ring true for us all. You are not alone in the circumstances or the way you felt.

Alhamdulillah, when we started, we were medical students in niqab,we had it tough from our parents, teachers, friends,and fellow citizens, but now we are still practising [albeit outside our countries (hijra)] wives and mothers. We finished from different med schools but our unique challenges brought us together. We too are yet to find a place to do our residency in peace of mind and deen. You are right - there is no qualm free place, but the 'muslim countries are still much better off. At least I can always pray salaat at the right time while on the job. There are other advantages to being in a niqab tolerant environment.

Residency in Oman would have been nice as they don't accept males at all into the dept ( so the problem of not showing your face does not exist during practice) and the cultural acceptance of the niqab seems yet sufficient ( thus your own colleagues won't label or ostracize you) ...but they only accept nationals. Allah will make a way for us, it may not be a bed of roses but it will be safe for our deen while we train and practice.

I only joined this group to respond to your thread which I found when I googled ' niqab in qatar'. I was looking into Qatar when I stumbled into HMC opening for applications. Did you say there was only one body that offers residency in Qatar? Can you shed more light on this?

When I was fresh out of school like you described, I would have been demoralized by the HODs comment, but now after much baking and emotional bashing, I would seized the opportunity to have a discussion which insha Allah if it didn't leave him feeling sorry for himself having made snide remarks about his own deen, would have left him respecting my courage, determination and success so far at daring to be different for the sake of Allah. You hang on to Allah's book and the sunnah, you will always find comfort in remembering Him and that we shall all return to Him. You will gradually develop the skills to cope and shine

looking foward to hearing from you.