Young entrepreneurs and the beauty of modesty

By Anisah Muhammad | Last updated: Apr 14, 2015 - 8:37:40 AM

The Black woman is a Queen, and the job of a Queen is to protect and serve her people. She has to be willing to make sacrifices and develop her creativity through clothing. Two youth entrepreneurs in the fashion industry are Sister Shayba Muhammad, 23 and Sister Khalifah Muhammad, 17.

Sister Shayba owns a unisex handcrafted jewelry business, Lateef Accessories. She uses high-end craftsman techniques with raw, affordable materials such as brass, gold, copper and sterling silver. The pieces are all handcrafted, or metalsmithed, in her home studio in St. Louis. Lateef Accessories also offers complimentary personalization services with all orders and makes customization a simple, stress-free process. The customer enjoys a slice of unique
sophistication to compliment great style. Sister Shayba can be reached on Twitter @ShaybaMuhammad.

Khalifah Muhammad

Sister Khalifah’s slogan is, “A Tam is Fit for a Queen.” Her business is called Khaliztams. She sews handmade tams for all ages. She started her business not too long ago when she noticed people liked the tams she and her sister would wear. She thought it was a good idea to start sewing tams for other people. She says, “We are taught from our teachings that covering our hair is important. When going out on a general day, tams are a good replacement to cover your hair if you don’t want to wear a drape scarf or headpiece with your casual outfit.”

Sister Khalifah defines wearing tams as, “a form of modesty because being covered from head to toe is great protection in a world as troubled as the one we live in. Modesty means to cover your adornments in a righteous way that will protect you from men who want to harm you in any way possible, but you must be guarded spiritually, too.”

“My creativity comes from being able to be a covered girl and also knowing basic sewing skills. Also, seeing other sisters’ striving to be modest encourages me to keep building my wardrobe with tams and covered clothing,” she added. For more information email [email protected], or follow her on Instagram, @Khaliztams.

Sister Halima Muhammad, 17 is also a budding entrepreneur and plans on starting her own clothing line in the future also. “Modesty, in my eyes, means value and self-respect. When you value and respect yourself, you set the standard for everyone else to value, respect and ultimately honor you,” said Sister Halima.

“I strive to dress modestly and encourage modest fashion because I know that Allah (God) does not intend for us as women to have our adornments exposed to the world. They are gifts from Allah for the one man we select as our mate,” she continued.

“Our bodies are beautiful and a gift, but we should not and do not have to expose our adornments to everyone. As women, our physical form is beautiful, but it is not the only type of beauty. When we intentionally choose to cover it, we allow the beauty of our mind, heart, personality, talent and character to shine.” Sister Halima can be reached on Twitter @Halimahnia.

Anisah Muhammad is a 17-year-old writer based in Montgomery, Ala. To read more of what she writes, visit [email protected].

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