KIT LEFFLER
Islamic school, covering was part of the girls' uniform requirement, she says. Although at first she took her veil off as soon as she left school, she soon felt that covering was part of her and her faith. She practiced wearing her veil out in public. After some practice and prayer, covering became part of her daily routine. "It's a part of who I am now," Qaddaid says, "and something no one can take from me."
Mack explains that the purpose of wearing the hijab is mainly for modesty. Qaddour agrees, saying that covering forces people to focus on a woman's face instead of the rest of her outward appearance, placing more importance on inward beauty. The black veil frames her face and brings out her dark, smiling, perfectly-lined almond eyes, making her a picture of mysterious beauty. But Qaddour doesn't date. When she's ready she will decide whom she wishes to marry, but until then her father acts as the middleman,
"I can pray anywhere, even on the second floor of Anschutz Library."
—Jomana Qaddour, Overland Park senior
taking inquiries from young Muslim men interested in his daughter. Qaddour says her dad will occasionally get excited about a prospective suitor, urging her to consider. "My father thinks
everyone's ready for marriage, especially me," she says as as she smiles and rolls her eyes lovingly, "But I'm just not ready yet."
Qaddour says Islam contains restrictions, but because she has chosen this religion, she willingly accepts them. She still does everything she enjoys. Muslims aren't allowed to drink alcohol, but she says she doesn't mind at all and finds other ways to have fun with her friends. She enjoys going to the movies and plays, shopping and jet skiing. While swimming and skiing, she wears a bathing suit, underneath her hijab and a lightweight shirt and pants. Qaddour laughs as she recounts a story about her sister and a friend falling off a jet ski and losing their veils in the process. When the lifeguards came out to retrieve them, all they cared about was getting some towels to cover their hair with. "It was a funny image," she says with a smile. "The first thing I saw when they came back to shore was bright green towels wrapped on their heads."
Odddour's prayer rituals are also an important part of her religion and the second of the five pillars of faith. Muslims are instructed to pray five times daily, at dawn, midday, afternoon, evening and night — according to the time of sunrise and sunset. According to Thomas Lippman, author of Understanding Islam, each part of the prayer ritual is marked by a change of position: standing, bending to put hands on the knees, kneeling with palms on the thighs and kneeling with the forehead on the floor. Qaddour explains that kneeling in prayer, for her, is an act of humility to God. She is devout in her obedience wto God through prayer, often taking breaks from class for a moment to pray in a hallway, unwilling to allow her schedule to compromise her duties as a Muslim." I can pray anywhere," she says, "even on the second floor of the Anschutz Library in a little place us Muslim students call 'the masjid' a arabic for a place of worship, or mosque in English — just because it's big enough to fit in a lot of us."
Asmaa Albadiwah, left, and Jomana Qaddour, att and read from the Quran. Qaddour prays at least five times a day.
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