Leicestershire Muslim Girl, Fatimah, Wears Hijab in Miss Teen Great Britain Contest; “Hijab Is A Choice by Us", She Said
New
Age Islam News Bureau
25
October 2022
• Fatima
Al-Ruwaili, Wife of Saudi Ambassador to France Holds Breast Cancer Awareness
Symposium
•
Laura Jones, From Cardiff, Learns Welsh Language to Translate Islamic Texts
•
How Desire for Freedom Is Uniting Women of Iran, Fight for the Right Not To
Wear a Hijab, And India, Fight For the Right to Wear a Hijab
•
How Indonesia’s Female Candidates Have Used Social Media to Boost Islamic Image
and Win Elections
•
Afghan Women's Championships: Winner Fariba Hashimi Calls For Change
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/leicestershire-muslim-fatimah-hijab/d/128262
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Leicestershire
Muslim Girl, Fatimah, Wears Hijab in Miss Teen Great Britain Contest; Hijab Is
A Choice by Us," She Said
Miss
Teen GB finalist, Fatimah Bobra
------
By
Amy Phipps
October
24, 2022
A
teenager from Leicestershire has said she hoped to inspire other Muslim girls
by entering the Miss Teen Great Britain competition.
Fatimah,
from Scraptoft, was one of 61 finalists in the event which took place in
Blackpool last Monday.
The
17-year-old wore a traditional hijab with all three outfits she presented
herself in.
She
said she wanted other Muslims to know it is possible for them to compete
respectfully in a pageant.
Miss
Teen Great Britain said it was not a beauty contest but was about empowering
teenagers, having fun, making friends and memories.
Fatimah
said she was the only Muslim contestant but her needs were well accommodated,
including a ban on dressing room photographs of her with her head uncovered.
She
said showcasing her religious clothing was one of her reasons for entering the
competition.
"It's
stereotyped that Muslim women have been oppressed to wear the hijab and dress
modestly when in fact, it's a choice by us," she said.
"In
my case, I chose to dress like this and I wanted other Muslim women to know
it's still possible to do things in the modern day with modesty and class.
"I
understand that it is called a beauty pageant but the whole thing is not
actually based on beauty, it's how you represent yourself," she added.
Fatimah
did not make the shortlist of contestants but said the experience had benefited
her studies and she would consider doing it again.
Source:
BBC
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leicestershire-63348562
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Fatima
Al-Ruwaili, Wife of Saudi Ambassador to France Holds Breast Cancer Awareness
Symposium
Fatima
Al-Ruwaili, wife of Saudi Ambassador to France, speaking at the women’s breast
cancer awareness symposium in Paris.
------
October
24, 2022
PARIS
— Fatima Al-Ruwaili, wife of the Saudi Ambassador to France, hosted a women’s
symposium to enhance awareness about breast cancer.
In
her opening speech, Al-Ruwaili stressed the importance to raise awareness of
the disease, its danger, and its rate of spread, as well as the role of
examination and early detection in enhancing the chances of full recovery.
She
also gave an overview of the breast cancer healthcare system in the Kingdom,
which includes free periodic examination and its facilitation through mobile
carts and examination units in shopping and entertainment centers and other
public facilities. She said that this contributed to the early detection and
complete treatment of discovered cases.
The
symposium was attended by officials of the International Agency for Research on
Cancer (IARC), as well as a number of health professionals, representatives of
relevant organizations, the wives of ambassadors accredited to France, and a
group of women from the French community.
At
the end of the symposium, a lunch, including Saudi coffee and some popular
dishes, was served.
Source:
Saudi Gazette
https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/626294
--------
Laura
Jones, From Cardiff, Learns Welsh Language to Translate Islamic Texts
October
24, 2022
A
Muslim woman has said that one of the reasons she learned to speak Welsh was so
she could translate Islamic texts.
Laura
Jones, from Cardiff, said she wants her Muslim faith to be a part of
conversations in Welsh.
Despite
being translated into hundreds of languages, there is no full Welsh translation
of the Quran.
She
said with more Muslims now speaking Welsh, it is a good time to translate more
Islamic texts.
"Because
I'm Muslim I want to try to bring Islam into the Welsh language," she told
BBC Radio Cymru.
She
had studied Welsh at school for GCSE's, but said she only became a confident
Welsh speaker as an adult in 2016.
"One
reason was to improve my career, to improve my job opportunities," she
said.
"But
the other reason was, I wanted to translate Islamic things into Welsh."
She
said she tries to express her Muslim faith with other Welsh speakers and on the
radio.
"But
it was another thing to translate things like passages from the Quran, or the
sayings of the prophet Muhammad into Welsh as well," she said.
When
she was working for the Muslim Council of Wales, she said she started to do
some translations.
"Because
there is no full translation of the Quran in Welsh," she said.
"This
was the thing I wanted to be a part of."
'More
Muslims speaking Welsh'
Laura
has trained as a Muslim chaplain and researched people's experiences during
Ramadan for a postgraduate MA degree from Cardiff University, where she studied
the role of Islam in contemporary Britain.
She
is now studying for a doctorate at Cardiff University, researching people's
experiences during Ramadan.
In
a paper on the history of Muslims in Wales, she said the links to Islam go back
to the 8th Century when King Offa had a gold coin minted with an Islamic
inscription.
Laura
said in the past there may not have been enough Welsh-speaking Muslims in Wales
to warrant a Quran translation, but that is changing.
"I
think now, a lot more Muslims speak Welsh, go to a Welsh school or things like
this, so I think this is a good time to do work like this," she said.
Source:
BBC
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-63373936
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How
Desire for Freedom Is Uniting Women of Iran, Fight for the Right Not To Wear a
Hijab, And India, Fight For the Right to Wear a Hijab
By
Ansharah Shakil
October
24 2022
Two
different countries, two different governments, and two different policies have
each led to the same result in Iran and India — women protesting for their
rights. In Iran, protestors fight for
the right not to wear a hijab. In India, protestors fight for the right to wear
a hijab. In both countries the fight is the same, however, the goal is
different. This is a fight for freedom.
Iran’s
morality police control what women wear, and how they are meant to wear it. The
event to bring this into global understanding was the suspected murder of
22-year-old Mahsa Amini by the Iran regime. Iranian women fight for their
freedom to not wear a hijab, and for their ensured safety no matter what choice
they make regarding their religion. According to government law, the mandatory
hijab is enforced to promote Muslim rule, despite many Muslim women not wearing
hijabs or only wearing them occasionally.
Amini
was detained for how she wore her hijab, but there are no strict rules
regarding how head coverings must be worn or how much hair they should obscure.
Whether or not the Quran even requires head coverings on women at all is a
matter of controversy and up to interpretation. Spirituality becomes oppressive
when it extends beyond the individual and their relationship with God,
ultimately then the goal being to control others.
The
hijab is not meant to be a tool of oppression, but a symbol of faith. Its
original meaning is exactly why Indian women are fighting for the right to wear
it — and its distorted meaning in Iran is why women are fighting for the right
not to wear it.
In
India, a government order banning Muslim girls from wearing headscarves in
school was enforced in Karnataka. The court ruled that wearing a hijab was not
essential to Islam as a religion. Muslims, being one of the largest minority
communities in India, have recently come under a wave of religious-based hate
crimes.
The
protest of Karnataka students, many of whom are only young girls, has inspired
women around India to march for their right to wear headscarves or other
religious clothing. In India, the reasons behind this fight are twofold. To
fight for women’s rights to dress as they would like to and practice their
religion as they want to is one. But another is to ensure that Muslim culture
is not erased from India.
Those
in India who oppose the hijab cannot look to Iranian women as a defence of
banning the hijab. If Iranian women were not constantly in danger for wearing a
hijab “wrong” or not wearing one at all, protests regarding the hijab would not
be occurring. The trouble happens when people police the wearing of this
garment. Forcing someone to wear an item of clothing is a violation of rights,
but so is forcing someone to remove an item of clothing.
Perhaps
the West cannot so easily understand this idea. In many places in Europe, like
France and Switzerland, there are partial or total hijab bans. And of course,
in Québec, many civil servants are prevented from wearing their hijab. Some of
these decisions have caused public outrage — but only briefly. The bans
continue. The same goes for places like Afghanistan, which still has a rule
enforcing hijabs on all women. Yet making decisions about how Muslim women
should present themselves in public should be something only Muslim women can
do.
Some
might say these two fights in India and Iraq are irreconcilable. A country
whose women are burning hijabs has nothing to do with a country whose women are
holding fiercely on to theirs. But this is in many ways the same fight — the
fight to let women be humans. To let them control their own body. Bodily autonomy
or religious freedom, the desire is the same.
The
tragedy of Amini and women like her is a tale as old as time. What happened in
Iran may happen again in India, or anywhere around the world, and will keep
happening unless women are given control of their own bodies and their own self
once more. It must be up to them, and not any government, no matter what they
call themselves, to decide how they appear to the world.
Source:
The Gauntlet
https://thegauntlet.ca/2022/10/24/how-desire-for-freedom-is-uniting-women-of-iran-and-india/
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How
Indonesia’s female candidates have used social media to boost Islamic image and
win elections
October
24, 2022
Haryanto
Rizkika
Lhena Darwin
In
recent years, voters in the world’s third-largest democracy, Indonesia, have
preferred to support candidates with solid religious personas and a lifestyle
and appearances adhering to Islamic values. This preference is in line with the
increasing trend towards Islamic piety in the Muslim majority country.
Many
political candidates in Indonesia have been taking advantage of social media to
design campaigns that promote piety. Female political candidates in particular
have started to utilise social media to bring about social change and encourage
women to become politicaly engaged.
During
the 2019 election, many Indonesian female candidates running for political
offiec used social media to bolster an Islamic image. Our latest research shows
the pattern of social media usage among female candidates in the 2019 election
in Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh province which enforces sharia law.
The
research finds that creating an Islamic image on social media helps the female
candidates increase their electability and supports female participation and
representation in politics.
Being
pious is the key
Under
Aceh’s sharia law, patriarchy dominates religious practices and social customs.
But the proportion of female legislators in Banda Aceh has increased
significantly in recent years.
In
2019 election, female candidates accounted for almost 42% of the total
candidates fighting for 30 seats, according to data from the General Elections
Commission. In the 2014 election, the portion of female candidates was only
14.8%.
We
interviewed four female candidates, including one incumbent, who finally won
the election, for the research.
They
were Tati Meutia Asmara, Devi Yunita, Syarifah Munirah and Kasumi Sulaiman.
Most of them came from Muslim-based political parties.
Knowing
that most of the voters and the largest groups of digital media users in Banda
Aceh were young women, they decided to launch their political campaigns on
social media, especially Facebook and Instagram.
On
their social media posts, we found that a majority of them tried to create a
pious image. Posts saw them share images of their Muslim wardrobes and them
engaging with religious events and activities. Tati, for instance, announced a
visit to a community of Muslim women who promoted hijrah (becoming more
Islamic).
She
also posted on her Facebook and Instagram feeds a photo of a chaplain who was
performing a pilgrimage to Mecca. Kasumi, another example, frequently shared
religious quotes on her social media.
These
actions reflect the candidates’ belief that voter ratings were based more on
personal characteristics, identity and lifestyle, rather than on issues and
their policy programmes.
Projecting
ideal Islamic female figures
They
also reinforced the image of an ideal female Muslim by showing how they love
and care for the family as well as being faithful to their husbands on the
social media posts.
Tati,
for example, built her image as a pious wife through her post that portrayed
two pairs of sandals for her husband, with a caption that read, “I am sure, in
the sole of your feet, my heaven lies now; for my beloved”.
Candidate
Syarifah Munira branded herself a pious wife by posting a picture with Eid
al-Adha greetings while kissing her husband’s hand. In Islam, obedience to a husband
is widely believed as the path to heaven for women.
Kasumi,
meanwhile, named all of her social media accounts ‘Bunda Mimi’ (Mother Mimi) as
she tried to associate her feminine image with Islamic values.
Our
research calculates that their social posts to improve their religious image
increased during 2019 election campaign period. Up to 50% of the total number
of candidates’ posts on Facebook showed these. While the number went up to 24%
on Instagram. Tati, who won the election, was the candidate with the most
social media posts showing her piety.
Breaking
the barrier
In
many Muslim countries, traditional media has supported an idea that it is
unfavourable for women to join political race. Social media, however, has given
women alternatives. Our study has shown how social media strategy can open more
opportunities for women in the region to increase women’s political
participation.
The
research echoes other work showing that social media provides more significant
chances in certain societies for female candidates to promote themselves and
increase their chances of winning elections.
Source:
The Conversation
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Afghan
women's championships: Winner Fariba Hashimi calls for change
23
October 2022
"I
hope it has sent a message about the rights of women in Afghanistan and that
the world will wake up."
That
was the message from Fariba Hashimi, winner of Sunday's Afghan women's
championships - an event held in Switzerland because of the situation in
Afghanistan.
The
event saw 50 refugee athletes, now living in different countries, compete in
Aigle.
"We
are trying to change things," said Fariba.
An
Amnesty report in July said that the Taliban had "decimated the rights of
women and children" since returning to power in Afghanistan last year.
A
series of restrictions have been re-imposed on women in the country and
regulations on clothing and laws forbidding access to public areas without a
male guardian have been enforced.
Many
female sports stars have also female sports stars have also been forced to flee
the country for fear of persecution.
"I
hope the women will get back their rights," added Fariba.
Fariba,
19, and her 22-year-old sister Yulduz made their move with 57km of the race
remaining, and no- one could catch them.
With
5km to go, the sisters had a five-minute lead on their two closest rivals and
Fariba edged the sprint to the line, finishing in one hour 32 minutes 40
seconds.
"I
didn't think I would win; I thought it would be my sister," said the new
national champion of Afghanistan.
Her
sister added: "We talked to each other during the race and we worked
together which is why we could stay so far ahead."
The
bronze medal went to Zahra Rezayee.
All
three of the women on the podium are currently living in Italy.
Source:
BBC
https://www.bbc.com/sport/cycling/63368567
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