F is for...

Fat:

Ok this post isn't going to be so much about fat as it is about body image.

When I was younger I thought I was fat. I wasn't. I was actually very tiny, but my body shape was much different than everyone else my age. I had curves on my tiny body.

Ok so I wore a size 24/25 jeans when I was younger. That is, my "natural" waist was 25 inches. At the time I was a little over 5 feet tall. I was really tiny y'all, but I had the shape of a woman unlike everyone I saw on TV and everyone I saw at school. I had that cute little lady tummy, not the flat kind. There was a marked difference between my ribs, my waist, and my hips.

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I was soooo self conscious about the way I was shaped and at the same time I tried to fit myself into the "fashions" made for flat chested women. I either looked pregnant or obscene. It made me even more self conscious. I never once considered that there was something wrong with the clothes, there must have been something wrong with me!!

I felt there were either over-weight people or normal people and since I wasn't normal, then I must be fat.

But I wasn't.

I have put on about 30 pounds since then and I am STILL not fat alhamdulillah. I am average.  It took me a long time to come to terms with that. Probably until I got into college.

The sense of modesty and appreciation for every kind of woman was something that deeply drew me to Islam. Women are considered so beautiful in Islam that our modesty is protected no matter what we look like... It doesn't say that only the particularly pretty ones should cover or that you should cover only if you weigh less than 140lb or if you have a flat tummy.

The beauty of each and every one of us is protected and cherished, because subhanAllah we are all beautiful.