As salaamu alaikum and hello everyone!

It sounds very cliche of me, but I am blown away by how quickly we have arrived at the end of 2019 and are about to enter into a new decade! The breadth of experiences, growth, challenges, reckonings, ownership and empowerment we've experienced as Muslim women has been so exciting to cover as a journalist and editor. We've faced difficult issues and schisms in our communities while also owning our own narratives, uplifting each other's work and making huge strides in activism, business, education, politics, government and more.

In my first year here as blog editor at Haute Hijab, I've learned so much about the nuances of Muslim women's lives, thoughts and concerns while keeping a finger on the pulse of Muslim communities in general. We have so many stories we want to tell and issues we want to explore in the coming year. It's a constant work in progress that begins with listening to you and the conversations that are happening on the ground in your communities where you live.

And so, this month we'll be looking back at the big stories and moments not only in 2019, but from 2009-2019, in the worlds of modest fashion (of course), Muslim women in the news, books and authors and more. This coming year also marks ten years of Haute Hijab, and we are so excited about that! I'll be sitting down with Melanie for a fun conversation (that I'll share here on the blog) going over big moments from the past ten years as she and Ahmed grew this company and its mission!

Stay tuned for some great fashion posts on our latest fashion line – embellished hijabs, which will drop next week (insha'Allah)! Our fashion writer Rowayda will share a step-by-step tutorial with you on how to wear these hijabs plus how to style them with beautiful outfits! I'll also be going behind the scenes with our Creative Director, Gizelle, to share the design process behind our new embellished hijabs!

And finally, we are looking to end 2019 and enter into 2020 with the #LikeYouMeanItHH challenge – a month-long series of blog posts, videos and social media challenges to inspire us to renew our intentions towards being visibly Muslim women. We know it's not easy, especially as we head into the 2020 election season, but we have some powerful stories to share with you to help you renew your intentions and feel confident in your visibility as a hijab-wearing Muslim woman.

So, keep an eye on the blog! We've got you covered! As always, I pray you have a great month! And, like I constantly tell my kids, may we all be good, make good choices and say Bismillah-hir-rahman-nir-raheem.

Editorially yours,

Dilshad