Aussie Doctor Dons Hijab to Defend Islam
But when people started to commit violent crimes in the name of Islam, Dr Gul felt she had to stop her religion from being hijacked.
Hearing another Muslim woman speak about the hijab and identity further cemented Dr Gul's decision to start wearing the traditional headscarf.
"I wanted to identify with Muslims," she said, Daily Mercury reported.
"I always wanted to do it, but you need that conviction to do something."
Dr Gul moved to Australia from Pakistan five years ago and has worked at the Rockhampton Hospital since then.
Although she felt wearing the hijab was the right decision, Dr Gul felt anxious about the ripples it might cause in her workplace.
She said the biggest worry was whether patients would still trust and respect her.
But all those anxieties disappeared the first day Dr Gul walked into work wearing the hijab.
"It was just very natural," she said.
"I think when you make the decisions that are right for you, you just have that positive thing about you and everything just works.
"You cannot get rid of your identity anyway, so you should own it.
"I never faced any of the hatred."
Dr Gul said she was "very passionate" about Islam and believed it to be "100% peaceful", but understood people feared the religion after reading about crimes.
"When this is splattered across the media ... naturally you're going to be afraid of us," she said.
"For us it's frustrating because we are Muslims.
"No religion tells you to do bad stuff.
"What are these people reading, what are these people doing?
"To us it is completely untrue."
Although Dr Gul was disappointed those involved in terrorist group ISIS could affect how peaceful people live in Australia, she said for every darkness in the conflict there was light.
She said more people were taking the time to learn about Islam and understand most Muslims did not agree with extremist behaviour.
"We want to explain to people," Dr Gul said.
"It's not something which is exclusive to us.
"We're all just people and we need to understand each other."
The Rockhampton Mosque will hold an open day on Saturday, December 6, from 9am to 1pm.
