Good Lord, I haven't been asked that question in a while.
 Maybe because people are entirely convinced that any woman who covers her head does so for one of the following reasons:
- Amr Khaled, the super famous Islamic preacher
- Her parents
- People on the street
- To get married
The question itself used to piss me off a lot, because when I first decided to wear the veil, I got that question so many times I could puke.
 It was also a time when I felt that my decision was logical and didn’t require justification.
 
What's behind the veil?
What do you think is behind the freaking veil?
Nope, I haven’t been listening to Amr Khaled.
Nor were my parents praying for me to be pious, good, and one of the faithful.
And no, people on the street didn’t give me dirty looks because I didn't cover my hair.
Also, I didn't get veiled to get married. Those who weren't veiled actually got married first!
Why do people imagine that any girl who wears the veil does so out of total conviction and believes in God’s wrath on whomever doesn’t wear it?
“She heard that, got scared, and decided to cover her head”.
When I started reading about the concept of covering in Islam, I was totally aware that my conviction that it was a religious obligation could go away.
 I mean, I'm young, I'm going to grow up, my ideas will change, or maybe I'll meet someone who will brainwash me.
So it's better not to choose to veil out of conviction that it’s a religious obligation.
What’s wrong with wearing the veil anyway? How will I find a job? Why do I need my hair to work anyhow?
What about the other body parts I cover? I don’t need to have those parts of me exposed to be able to do my job correctly! What about when I get married? Will I take it off on my wedding day? Seriously? Are you people seriously asking me this question?
What am I going to do if I wake up one day and don't want to wear it anymore? Then, I'll just stop wearing it.
I'm sick of this society that forms an opinion about me based on my hair color and the size of my chest.
I'm tired of this context we live in, where we as girls are driven all the time to prove that we are the most beautiful, the prettiest, and the most fashionable.
You can't deny this drive, because it exists even if we aren't aware of it.
 I'm not saying that the headscarf puts me out of the race, but it slows things down a bit, or at least helps me slow things down a bit.
Didn't you people say that a person's relationship with God is strictly personal?
So why do I have to justify what I do for God to fellow human beings? Because I just might not be doing this for God? Well, that's still my own decision.
Did I ever ask an unveiled woman before why she doesn’t wear a headscarf? Did I ever ask you if you pray?
After wearing the veil for a while, and getting really sick of being asked why all the time and getting into arguments about whether the headscarf was an Islamic obligation or not, I started using different strategies to nip any possibility of an argument in the bud:
Why did you decide to wear the veil?
Because I have a scalp disease.
Why did you decide to wear the veil?
Because my parents forced me to.
Why did you decide to wear the veil?
Because of my boyfriend. What can I do? He's become religious!
Why did you decide to wear the veil?
Because I'm bald.
 
Six years later, this question doesn’t get to me anymore.
It actually pleases me, because it shows that some people are willing to listen to me before they judge me.
It reminds me why I chose to wear this piece of fabric in the first place.
So, every time I look in the mirror and feel that my pants are too tight or my top is too short, I remind myself that if I'd like to dress like this, I could just choose to take the veil off, just like I chose to wear it.
This question reminds me that I didn’t wear the headscarf to be a "hip hijabi", or to lead a march defending the rights of veiled women, or to be the first veiled woman to do this or that.
So why did you decide to wear the veil?
That’s none of your business!
It doesn't matter why I decided to wear it! It doesn’t matter whether I'll take it off or not. What matters is the person wearing it. I am a human being wearing a headscarf and not a headscarf on legs.