First Saudi Woman, Rahaf Al-Harbi, To Participate in International Beauty Pageant: ‘Believe in God, In Yourself, Set A Goal, And Everything Will Come to You’
New Age
Islam News Bureau
14 September 2023
·
First Saudi Woman, Rahaf Al-Harbi,
To Participate in International Beauty Pageant: ‘Believe in God, In Yourself,
Set A Goal, And Everything Will Come to You’
·
Hijab Row: Students Stage
Protest in Goa Over Principal’s Suspension
·
Plumptre Signs for Al-Ittihad in
Boost for Saudi Women’s Premier League
·
OIC and Saudi Arabia Prepare
for the International Conference on Women in Islam
·
Iran Bets On Brutal New Hijab
Law After A Year Of Failing To Suppress Women
Compiled by
New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/saudi-rahaf-harbi-pageant-goa/d/130676
--------
First Saudi Woman, Rahaf Al-Harbi, To
Participate in International Beauty Pageant: ‘Believe In God, In Yourself, Set A
Goal, And Everything Will Come To You’
First Saudi
Woman, Rahaf Al-Harbi, To Participate in International Beauty Pageant
-------
Hussam Al Mayman
September 07, 2023
RIYADH: Rahaf Al-Harbi became the first
Saudi contestant at the Miss Europe Continental pageant in Napoli last year, an
experience that brought her widespread recognition and prompted the fashion
industry to take her more seriously, she told “The Mayman Show.”
Al-Harbi said it was difficult to be
accepted into the competition, as one of the prerequisites was prior experience
in similar local and regional activities, which did not exist in Saudi Arabia
at the time. Now, she has bigger ambitions.
“I think I've reached the full potential
in Saudi (Arabia), because we don’t have (a) runway here,” she said, adding
that she hopes to participate in the Miss Universe beauty pageant next.
Al-Harbi tries to get in as many
photoshoots and collaborations as possible. During the last Saudi Cup, a global
horse racing event held at King Abdulaziz Racetrack in Riyadh, she formed a
partnership with Saudi designer Pavone. Her photos from the event went viral as
she wore an outfit made from natural silk and pearls inspired by Al-Ahsa, also
known as “the city of a million palm trees.”
She said of the Saudi Cup: “It’s like
the Met Gala, but in our way.”
Now, she is involved in the upcoming
Riyadh Fashion Week through the Saudi Fashion Commission.
Hailing from a family of doctors and
boasting a degree in medicine herself, Al-Harbi found in modeling a creative
outlet, starting part-time while still studying. At the present time, she is
focusing more on her acting career. After her role in the successful Saudi
series “Eyal Nouf,” which was nominated for the Joy Awards, she is preparing
for another series starting in October.
On juggling all three ambitions, she
said: “I think it’s all about time management. I work from 8 until 3 p.m. and
then photoshoots are very flexible. So, me and the team, we sit down, we agree
on a date and time that suits us all. And usually, a shoot is only one to three
hours, so it doesn’t take that much time. It’s like going to the gym.”
Aside from her multifaceted professional
pursuits, Al-Harbi has always been a strong believer in the law of attraction,
which she describes as “believing in God, believing in yourself and setting a
goal. And then after that, everything you want in life is going to come to
you.”
The law of attraction continues to be a
guiding principle in her life, she told “The Mayman Show,” emphasizing the
importance of listening to positive affirmations that can improve health and
well-being and bring wealth, happiness, and love into a person’s life.
“It’s really good to listen to something
while sleeping because your brain goes (into) alpha waves, which is before deep
sleep … and it absorbs anything that’s put into it. So, if you want to focus on
something, try this,” she said.
Al-Harbi said that American motivational
speaker Jim Rohn has been a great source of inspiration and has benefited her
throughout her career.
“This was a turning point in my life,
COVID, watching his videos. I was going through my final exams. I was obviously
depressed. Everyone was depressed in COVID. We were in lockdown. I had a final
surgery exam. It was Ramadan, and it couldn’t get any worse,” she said.
Guided by one of Rohn’s principles,
which advises people to cultivate a range of skills, Al-Harbi began practicing
the piano and took up horse riding lessons.
“Go for it,” she encouraged listeners,
“because if someone (else) can do it, so can you.”
Source: arabnews.com
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2369006/saudi-arabia
-----
Hijab Row: Students Stage Protest In Goa
Over Principal’s Suspension
Students of
Keshav Smruti Higher Secondary School from South Goa on Wednesday took out a
protest rally demanding revocation of the principal's suspension who has been
suspended over the hijab row.
-----
September 13, 2023
Panaji: Students of Keshav Smruti Higher
Secondary School from South Goa on Wednesday took out a protest rally demanding
revocation of the principal’s suspension who has been suspended over the hijab
row.
Principal Shankar Gaonkar was suspended
on Monday by the management after Hindu organisations alleged that he allowed
students to visit mosque, where they were allegedly forced to wear hijab.
“We were not forced to wear Hijab. Just
like at our worshiping places and out of respect, we wore ‘dupatta’ and a
scarf,” a protesting girl student said.
The protesting students demanded that
the suspension of the principal should be revoked.
Chairman of Keshav Smruti Higher
Secondary School, Pandurang Korganokar told IANS that students have demanded to
revoke the suspension of Principal Shankar Gaonkar. “They took out a rally
after the school hours. I have told them that at present I can’t revoke the
suspension as inquiry is pending,” Korganokar said.
“We had received a letter from a Muslim
organisation about an educational workshop. Our 22 students attended the
workshop, which included two Hindu and two Christian girl students. There were
also students of government higher secondary school for this workshop, who wore
scarf while entering the mosque as per their tradition,” he said.
“I have tendered an apology to everyone
who called me and also told that the intention of the principal was not hurt
anyone’s sentiments. He only sent the students for the workshop…” Korgaonkar
said.
“They (students) were not forced to wear
a scarf, but teachers and students voluntarily wished to wear it. The
organisation had conducted a programme — ‘Mosque open for all’. It was just an
educational workshop, which students attended,” the Chairman of the school
said, adding that he tendered an apology to Bajrang Dal and other Hindu
organisations, whose sentiments are hurt. — IANS
Source: muslimmirror.com
https://muslimmirror.com/eng/hijab-row-students-stage-protest-in-goa-over-principals-suspension/
-----
Plumptre signs for Al-Ittihad in boost
for Saudi Women’s Premier League
Suzanne Wrack
13 Sep 2023
Nigeria defender Ashleigh Plumptre has
become one the most high profile women’s players to join a Saudi Arabian side
after signing for Al-Ittihad.
The 25-year-old joins the Saudi Women’s
Premier League team following three years with WSL side Leicester City. With
many openly gay players in women’s football and extremely restrictive rights
for women and homosexuality being illegal in Saudi Arabia, the move and the
country’s growing interest in women’s football is controversial.
Plumptre has been recruited by the
former technical director of Championship side Lewes, Kelly Lindsey, who is now
head manager of the Saudi Arabian side. Lindsey is a former US international
who has previously been head coach of the Afghanistan women’s national team and
Morocco women’s national team.
Her assistant, Myles Smith, spent six
years working in West Ham Women’s set up and nine months as a scout for
Manchester United Women and the team’s goalkeeping coach, Dan Smith, joined
from newly promoted Bristol City.
Plumptre posted on X (formerly Twitter)
that she was “grateful to have signed for Al-Ittihad.” She added: “I am excited
to start this journey alongside some incredible human beings. My journey of
stepping into more of myself continues … It’s more than football.”
Plumptre impressed for Nigeria at the
World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, with the African side narrowly missing
out on a place in the quarter-finals, losing to England on penalties after the
game was goalless after 120 minutes.
The defender represented England at
Under-15, Under-17, Under-19 and Under-23 levels but chose to represent Nigeria
at senior level, whom she qualifies to play for through her paternal
grandfather.
Plumptre follows Venezuela’s Oriana
Altuve, fellow Nigerian Rita Chikwelu and Sweden’s Nor Mustafa into the league
for its second season.
Al-Ittihad finished fifth in the
eight-team league’s first season, with five wins and six draws from 14 games.
The new season kicks off on 13 October. The 30-team second tier, which is made
up of six regional groups, will see three teams promoted to the top flight
following a knockout competition of the winners of each region and one
relegated from it.
The winners of the top flight will
collect SR2million (£427,457).
Source: theguardian.com/
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/sep/13/plumptre-signs-for-al-ittihad-in-boost-for-saudi-womens-premier-league
-----
OIC and Saudi Arabia Prepare for the
International Conference on Women in Islam
13/09/2023
As part of preparations for holding the
International Conference on Women in Islam, the book of arrangements for
organizing the conference was signed on Wednesday, September 13, 2023, at the
headquarters of the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the OIC
between the OIC General Secretariat and Saudi Arabia, the country hosting the
conference. The conference will be held in Jeddah on November 6-8, 2023.
H.E. Amb. Tarig Ali Bakhiet, Assistant
Secretary-General for Humanitarian, Cultural, and Social Affairs, signed on
behalf of the OIC General Secretariat, while H.E. Amb. Dr. Saleh Al-Suhaibani,
the Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the OIC, signed
on behalf of Saudi Arabia.
It is worth noting that the 49th Session
of the Council of Foreign Ministers held in Nouakchott, Mauritania, in March
2023, called for holding an international conference on women in Islam and
welcomed the offer made by Saudi Arabia to host it in coordination with the
General Secretariat.
The conference aims to clarify women's
rights and responsibilities in Islam, especially women's right to education and
work per the teachings of the true Islamic religion, with broad participation
from scholars of the Islamic Ummah.
Source: oic-oci.org
https://www.oic-oci.org/topic/?t_id=39542&t_ref=26623&lan=en
------
Iran bets on brutal new hijab law after
a year of failing to suppress women
14 September 2023
As the first anniversary of the death of
Mahsa Amini in police custody approaches, Iranian authorities are pushing
through the process of passing a controversial hijab law, after other
initiatives to force women to wear headscarves in public, including the use of
AI cameras, have seemingly failed.
Over the past year, months after
security forces violently put an end to weeks of protests ignited by Amini's
death, Iranian women have increasingly flouted the mandatory dress code,
leading to growing scrutiny, intimidation and grave attempts by Iranian
authorities to control the situation.
In March, notorious police force
commander Ahmad Reza Radan, appointed in January, announced the installation of
"smart tools and cameras" to identify women not complying with the
hijab and warning them 0f legal consequences.
A month later, police began monitoring
traffic cameras to locate women not complying with the law, as part of their
implementation of a so-called "national chastity and hijab plan".
Those who are caught for the first time
are sent a "warning text message as to the consequences" of their
actions. On the second offence, their vehicles would be confiscated and they
would face a lawsuit.
Mahmoud Javad Azari Jahormi, a former
communications minister, has raised doubts about the effectiveness of the
surveillance plan, predicting weaknesses in such a system would eventually
start to appear. He further cautioned that the system could become less
effective over time.
“Currently, China is considered a
leading country in the field of facial recognition cameras. In China, contrary
to developed countries, privacy laws are weaker and the government has been
allowed to implement this technology on a large scale," an expert in
artificial intelligence technology told Middle East Eye on condition of
anonymity.
"But in terms of infrastructure, we
are so far away from China to be able to implement such technologies.
Therefore, what the Islamic Republic has is a limited capability and, as you
can see, it has failed because had they been able to succeed, they wouldn’t
bring the morality police back to the streets."
Following Amini's death, the morality
police came under scrutiny and suspended its street patrols. In July, however,
and to the dismay and shock of many Iranians, the force resumed car and foot
patrols across the country to deal with individuals wearing what is deemed as
"unusual clothing".
"This shows that their plan has
fully failed,” the expert said.
Fines, dismissal and prison
The draft law introduces a range of
punitive measures for the various violations it delineates.
Both men and women, found wearing
"indecent attire" in the street face fines categorised as the
"sixth degree" for initial offences, followed by the "fifth
degree" for subsequent transgressions.
In simpler terms, this translates to
fines ranging from six to 24 million tomans ($100 to $500) for first-time
offenders, and 24 to 50 million tomans ($500 to $1,000) for second to fourth
offences.
Subsequent violations could carry a fine
of 50 to 100 million tomans ($1,000 to $2,000).
The legislation further specifies that
"indecent attire" for women includes wearing short-sleeved clothing,
round-neck t-shirts, three-quarter length trousers, and ripped trousers. Men,
meanwhile, are not allowed to wear low-waist trousers.
The Judicial Commission of the
Parliament has ruled that donning an improper outfit is punishable by
substantial fines that could reach 280 million tomans ($6,000) for repeat
offenders, potential arrest, and a prison sentence ranging from five to 10 years.
Remarkably, the bill empowers citizens
to apprehend offenders in the absence of law enforcement personnel, as well as
reporting on people not adhering to the law.
Furthermore, failing to wear a hijab by
"employees" and "teachers" within their workplaces not only
subjects individuals to penalties akin to those for public non-compliance but
also entails potential dismissal from government and public services for
durations spanning six months to two years.
Furthermore, public employees, including
teachers, who fail to wear the hijab in the workplace face penalties akin to
those applied for public non-compliance, in addition to potential dismissal
from government and public services between six months to two years.
The legistlation also stipulates that
providing services to individuals not wearing the hijab or not adhering to the
dress code in tourism-related places would lead to the termination of
employment. The person punished also risks being banned from working again in
the same field for up to two years.
On university campuses, meanwhile,
“inappropriate attire” will be first addressed through the university's own
disciplinary regulations. However, subsequent violations will be referred to
the police for sanctions consistent with public indecency.
The publication of images featuring
unveiled women on social media will also be met with fines ranging from six to
24 million tomans ($100 to $500).
Certain penalties meanwhile target
businesses directly, with those found to be providing services to women in
"improper" attire risking closure and other serious consequences.
Allowing voluntary hijab among employees
also carries monetary and social exclusion consequences for businesses and
staff.
People who buy goods or services online
from a business that promotes illegal attire risk paying a fine three to four
times the amount of the item purchased.
Likewise, celebrities promoting
voluntary hijab and "indecency" on social media, or engaging in
organised production, distribution or importation of "indecent"
clothing, will incur financial penalties, typically based on the income derived
from such activities.
The law also imposes financial penalties
on foreign residents who fail to wear the hijab, which could lead to expulsion
from the country.
Judged harsher than drug traffickers
Objections to the hijab law, which
authorities are doing their best to pass in the coming weeks, have led to
vigorous debates among legal experts, sparking discussions that shed light on
the intricacies of this legislation.
Speaking to MEE on condition of
anonymity, a former judge cynically characterised it as a "legislative
marvel", one that reveals the pitfalls of haste, lack of planning, and
overall incompetence on the part of its authors.
A seasoned lawyer, also speaking on
condition of anonymity, meanwhile, drew a stark comparison between the harsh
consequences of not adhering to the hijab law and the penalties imposed on
perpetrators of other offences.
For instance, producing five kilograms
of crack cocaine leads to a fine of five to 20 million tomans ($100 and $400)
and a prison sentence of up to 15 years.
“Compare this punishment with a woman
who does not wear a hijab. Not only can she be fined up to 280 million tomans
according to this law, but in addition to the police force, people can also
arrest and detain her immediately," said the lawyer.
"That says that a woman is so
dangerous that ordinary people and passers-by must do something until the
police arrive. This is ridiculous.”
'Children not immune'
An additional contentious aspect of the
bill pertains to penalties for those under 18 years of age.
During a parliamentary session last
month, Gholamreza Nouri Qazalcheh voiced concerns that even students are at
risk of detainment.
“When a 10-year-old student acts against
this law, the parents who sent their child to school in the morning must pick
him up from the police station at night,” said Qazalcheh.
Meanwhile, Hossein Jalali, a member of
the parliament's Cultural Commission, endorsed fines for minors, emphasising
that individuals under 18 enjoy various privileges and responsibilities,
including access to education, employment, and banking services.
Violating the hijab law will result in
the suspension of these privileges and financial penalties, confirmed Jalali.
“We are approaching dangerous levels.
I'm really scared of the hardliners that are ruling the country. It is like the
Taliban is ruling the country. There is no difference," a reformist
journalist, who didn’t want his name to be revealed, told MEE.
"Look at the details of the hijab
law. It is shocking to see that even children are not immune in this country
from brutal and merciless laws.”
Source: middleeasteye.net
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/iran-new-hijab-law-bets-brutal-after-failing-supress-women
-------
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/saudi-rahaf-harbi-pageant-goa/d/130676