DETROIT — At 19, Sandra Jawad of Dearborn, Mich., decided she wanted to wear an Islamic head scarf. Her mother's response: a long lecture on how that could draw prejudice and limit her career options. "She told me, it's going to be hard. ... It'll make things difficult," Jawad says.

Jawad eventually persuaded her family to let her wear the head scarf. And six months later, her 44-year-old mother began wearing one, too, spurred by her daughter's religious awakening.

The two are part of the growing number of Muslim women in Michigan choosing to wear the head scarves, known as hijab, with many donning them at increasingly younger ages.

The upswing is driven by increased attendance at local mosques and Islamic schools, where clerics often describe hijab as the flag of Islam.

The local trend mirrors an increased use of hijab among women in the Middle East and Europe, where Islamic beliefs have intensified. In the past, women often waited until their teenage years or middle age before putting on hijab, but now, even elementary school-age children are wearing them.

HALF USE THEM

A national survey found that 43 percent of Muslim women in the United States usually wear hijab or head coverings in public, with an additional 8 percent wearing them sometimes. The poll of 1,050 Muslim Americans was done by the Pew Research Center from January to April. The changes represent a fundamental shift in how many Muslim youth identify themselves.

The idea of hijab — an Arabic word that also refers to clothing in general that conceals the body — is rooted in the Middle East. By covering up in the presence of men who aren't their relatives, women can deflect the desires and gazes of the opposite sex, clerics say.

For Muslim children growing up in the United States, that belief has collided with American culture, producing a generation of young Muslims trying to blend teenage Western traditions with Islamic norms.

The usual outfit for women's volleyball teams is sleeveless shirts and snug shorts, but last year's captain of the volleyball team at Fordson High School in Dearborn wore long pants and hijab while playing on the courts. Elsewhere, there are now hijab-wearing cheerleaders.

SWIMMING ATTIRE

Also last year, public pools in one Michigan county began allowing Muslim women to cover their entire bodies while swimming. The policy change came after Jumanah Saadeh of Ann Arbor, Mich., then 13, was kicked out of a pool for swimming with long pants, a full-sleeve shirt and her Islamic head scarf.

A generation ago, hijabis, or those who wear hijab, were a distinct minority among Muslims in the U.S.

Born in Lebanon, Sonia Beydoun was 2 when her family immigrated to the U.S. in 1977. In the 1970s and '80s, few Muslims wore head scarves in Dearborn, she says.

"I was part of the generation that lost the language, the religion," says Beydoun, now 32. "We didn't want to stand apart."

But today, "this generation is a lot smarter about the religion."

The increase in hijab use comes as mosques are offering more programs aimed at youths. There are lectures and gatherings aimed at American-raised Muslims every weekend.

The mixing of cultures extends to how women in metro Detroit define hijab. There are variations on how it's practiced, each woman factoring in her ideas on fashion, religion and politics in deciding what to wear. Some will wear head scarves with tight jeans.

Critics of that trend say it defeats the purpose of hijab: preserving modesty.