Modest Behaviour is showing modesty, being kind and behaving humbly; free from vanity and egotism. As our Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) says, “Kindness is a mark of faith and those who are not kind have no faith.”
Modest Behaviour was founded by Zainah Meqdadi in 2012 who is a well known public figure on Instagram, Tiktok and Youtube.
“I truly believe that without Modest Behaviour there is no modesty.” says Zainah. “The idea of Modest Behaviour came to me one day when I was shopping in a store called “Urban Behaviour” before 2012. I had just started to wear Hijab and was struggling to find any good quality Hijabs and modest clothing. I had a very poor self esteem and felt ugly in my Hijab. I really wanted to start a brand that caters to women who want to dress modestly and feel confident in their Hijab.” Zainah explains.
“I remember in 2012 my father (may Allah have mercy on him) was diagnosed with stage 4 colorectal cancer. My family was going through a challenging time and we were struggling financially. That was when my sister Sarah Meqdadi had just got engaged and said she needed something to wear for her honeymoon so my mother made her gorgeous maxi dresses. My mother is so talented at sewing and since we were little she used to make us beautiful dresses. She also taught me how to sew and together we designed beautiful dresses and hijabs. I would model them for her on my social media and we instantly would get loads of compliments about our dresses. That was when we decided to combine our talents and start a business selling modest clothing for all women. When we first started we were sewing everything from our basement and selling straight from home and at local events. However it didn’t go so well, people would pass by frowning at us and we were struggling so hard to sell. Not only that, my father was getting sick more and more each day and we needed all the support we could get to make a living. He needed us and we couldn’t spend all our time with the business anymore. My father always encouraged me no matter the lack of support we were receiving. He would always smile and say, “never give up Allah is always with you and you will be successful”. In 2016 my father passed away and we had stopped selling our clothing.” Zainah explains.
“It was a very dark time of my life. I needed Allah more than anything. I couldn’t imagine a world losing my faith. That’s when I went for Omra. I prayed for my father, my family, my business to succeed and to be married to a good man. Alhamdulillah Allah answered and granted all my duaas the following year.” Says Zainah.
By February 18, 2018, Modest Behaviour had officially launched live for shoppers to purchase online. “I had continued to work hard again and not give up on my passion. I felt my dad’s duaa was answered and he had promised me when he entered Jannah that he would always pray for me since I stayed by his side for 5 years of his cancer journey. I felt this drive in me to not give up ever again. I knew if I have Allah I have everything.” Says Zainah.
On June 28, 2020, Zainah was diagnosed with a brain tumor. “It doesn’t stop me from doing what I love. I know I can sit down and cry about it and throw a pity party, but instead I use whatever energy I have left to continue my hard work and no matter what happens to me I pray my work will be passed on and forever cater to my beloved sisters. I want to help them more than anything and I want women to feel happy while wearing their Hijab” Says Zainah.
“I couldn’t have made it this far without you so I want to thank everyone who has been supporting me and my entire journey. I really appreciate every single one of you. I would love to stay connected to all of you so please join my community, follow me @zainah.mb and my business page @modest.behaviour on instagram, tag my pages in my products. Be sure to bookmark my website as well to keep up to date with my latest products. I appreciate your time reading my story. Never give up on your dreams.” – Zainah Meqdadi.
