It’s a personal choice for her. She doesn’t wear them because she is trying to hide her frizzy mop or a pound of huge curls. May Naji and other Muslim women wear scarfs because of religious reasons.

But the choice for Muslim women can be the kind of scarf they wear or whether they will actually wear one.

Choosing to wear a scarf is solely a Muslim woman’s decision, according to Naji, a junior in biological sciences. She said they are not forced to wear them by any means.

When a woman reaches the age of puberty, she is faced with the decision of whether she will wear scarfs, according to Sara Yasin, a junior in textile and apparel management. The Muslim’s holy book, the Quran, states that Muslim women are required to cover their heads when they reach the age of puberty.

Naji said she started wearing scarves when she was 17 years old because that was when she felt comfortable enough with her religion to be able to take any criticism from her peers.

“Sometimes when people start too early, they aren’t mature enough to handle it,” she said.

Being able to proudly wear a scarf often means a woman has reached a different level of religious awareness, according to Yasin, who has been wearing scarfs for five years.

Ayesha Ali, a junior in elementary education, said she started wearing scarfs her freshman year of high school because she had been doing research on her religion and decided she was ready to take that step in her faith.

Ali said the transition was hard at first.

“It was just a challenge,” Ali said. “Now, I don’t even think twice about it.”

Not only do women who wear scarfs get used to wearing it, but as they wear scarfs more, they master the wrapping.

Yasin wears glasses but said the scarf rarely hurts her head because of her glasses.

“When I was younger, it hurt because I got it too tight,” she said.

The hardest part is keeping the scarf pinned on the head properly, according to Naji.

She said she was walking across campus one day and her scarf almost flew off. The wind on campus can cause problems and she now makes sure she has at least two pins holding up her scarfs to try to prevent something like that from happening.

Another way to prevent a scarf from coming off at an inappropriate time is to be selective when choosing the material, according to Naji.

“I’m very picky when it comes to material,” she said. “I make sure it’s not material that slides.”

When it comes to choosing material, they must consider more than the gusts of wind, they must consider the temperature. Yasin said she makes sure to wear thinner cotton scarfs in the summer to keep cool. However, she said the scarf doesn’t make her feel hotter than anyone else in the summer.

Changing scarves from season to season is something Ali said she does. She said she mainly changes colors to go along with the different times of the year.

“Lately, I’ve been wearing a lot of black and brown because they match with my fall clothes,” she said. “In the summer, I wear a lot of lighter clothes.”

Color choice is something they tend to take into consideration. Instead of fixing their hair to match an outfit, they wear a scarf to do that.

Naji said she wears a fancier scarf when she goes out with friends or to a party.

Having a scarf to go with an outfit is important to them, as well.

“Whenever we get an outfit, we make sure we have a scarf to match,” Naji said.

It is frustrating to them when they don’t have a scarf to match an outfit, according to Ali.

“I’ve had crises before because I had a really cute outfit but not a matching scarf,” she said.

When something like this happens, Ali said she then goes on a search for a scarf, asking friends and relatives and shopping for one.

Occasionally a new Western style won’t be conducive to a scarf, according to Ali. If this is the case, she said they try their hardest to work around it.

Yasin said she deals with this obstacle quite a bit.

“It’s just a challenge to figure out new ways to work around that,” she said.

Working out ways to integrate scarfs and Western style is a stepping stone to expressing themselves through their scarves.

“I like the colorful ones because I am a very vibrant person,” Yasin said. “I like stuff that looks a little different and expresses my personality more. I’m drawn to that stuff.”

Ali said she normally wears plain scarves and sticks to basic colors. But she said this reflects herself.

“I’m just really plain,” she said. “I’m not really loud.”

Being able to wear a scarf puts a different spin on fashion and displays faith at the same time, according to Yasin.