World Hijab Day

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World Hijab Day
World Hijab Day 2016.png
World Hijab Day poster from 2016
Date(s)1 February
FrequencyAnnual
Established2013 (2013)
FounderNazma Khan
Website worldhijabday.com

World Hijab Day is an annual event founded by Nazma Khan in 2013, [1] taking place on 1 February each year in 140 countries worldwide. [2] Its stated purpose is to encourage women of all religions and backgrounds to wear and experience the hijab for a day and to educate and spread awareness on why hijab is worn. [3] Nazma Khan said her goal was also to normalize hijab wearing. [4]

Contents

Background

Nazma Khan, a Bangladeshi-American, launched World Hijab Day (WHD) in 2013. She said that her aim was "to raise awareness and normalize the wearing of a hijab." Khan added that she launched the day due hoping for "foster[ing] religious tolerance" given experiences of facing "discrimination and bullying in school and university by being spat on, chased, kicked and called a “terrorist”." This way, other women would not have the same experiences as "she had to endure." [4]

Official recognition

In 2017 New York State recognized World Hijab Day, and an event marking the day was hosted at the House of Commons, which was attended by Theresa May (former UK Prime Minister). [5] The House of Representatives of the Philippines approved 1 February as "annual national hijab day" to promote an understanding of the Muslim tradition in 2021. [6]

Criticism

A. J. Caschetta criticizes the event's date of 1 February as ironic and distasteful since it coincides with the return of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to Iran from his French exile, which subsequently led to the enforcement of mandatory wearing of hijabs. [5] [7] Caschetta argues that while the hijab is being promoted in the Western world as part of the right to choose clothing, the same right to choice is not being fought for persecuted women who refuse to wear the hijab. [7]

In February 2013, Maryam Namazie, a vocal ex-Muslim and campaigner, criticized World Hijab Day in a blog post that compared World Hijab Day with a World Female Genital Mutilation Day or a World Child Marriage Day. [8] Asra Nomani wrote an opinion piece in The Washington Post saying the World Hijab Day event spreads the "misleading interpretation" that the head covering is always worn voluntarily, and that "hijab" purely means headscarf. [9] In his own opinion piece published in 2017, Maajid Nawaz references the earlier Nomani & Arafa article and describes the event as "worse than passé", suggesting that the name be changed to "Hijab is a Choice Day". [10]

In 2018, Canadian human-rights campaigner Yasmine Mohammed started a #NoHijabDay campaign in response, to celebrate the women who have defied social censure and the state to remove the hijab. [11] She said that No Hijab Day is a global day of support for bold women who reject the hijab, those who wish to choose what to wear on their heads. [12]

Social media

World Hijab Day has largely influenced through social media. World Hijab Day campaigners promote the day with hashtags such as #EmpoweredinHijab. [13] [14]

See also

Bibliography

Related Research Articles

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In modern usage, hijab generally refers to various head coverings conventionally worn by many Muslim women. It is similar to the tichel or snood worn by Orthodox Jewish women, certain headcoverings worn by some Christian women, such as the mantilla, apostolnik and wimple, and the dupatta worn by many Hindu and Sikh women. Whilst a hijab can come in many forms, it often specifically refers to a scarf wrapped around the head, covering the hair, neck and ears but leaving the face visible. The use of the hijab has been on the rise worldwide since the 1970s and is viewed by many Muslims as expressing modesty and faith; it has also been worn for purposes of adornment. There is a consensus among Islamic religious scholars that covering the head is either required or preferred, though some Muslim scholars and activists point out that it is not mandated.

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Islamic clothing is clothing that is interpreted as being in accordance with the teachings of Islam. Muslims wear a wide variety of clothing, which is influenced not only by religious considerations, but also by practical, cultural, social, and political factors. In modern times, some Muslims have adopted clothing based on Western traditions, while others wear modern forms of traditional Muslim dress, which over the centuries has typically included long, flowing garments. Besides its practical advantages in the climate of the Middle East, loose-fitting clothing is also generally regarded as conforming to Islamic teachings, which stipulate that body areas which are sexual in nature must be hidden from public view. Traditional dress for Muslim men has typically covered at least the head and the area between the waist and the knees, while women's islamic dress is to conceal the hair and the body from the ankles to the neck. Some Muslim women also cover their face. However, other Muslims believe that the Quran does not mandate that women need to wear a hijab or a burqa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Types of hijab</span>

This table of types of hijab describes terminologically distinguished styles of clothing commonly associated with the word hijab.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Headscarf</span> Piece of cloth worn on ones head

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Hijab and burka controversies in Europe revolve around the variety of headdresses worn by Muslim women, which have become prominent symbols of the presence of Islam in especially Western Europe. In several countries, the adherence to hijab has led to political controversies and proposals for a legal partial or full ban in some or all circumstances. Some countries already have laws banning the wearing of masks in public, which can be applied to veils that conceal the face. Other countries are debating similar legislation, or have more limited prohibitions. Some of them apply only to face-covering clothing such as the burqa, boushiya, or niqab; some apply to any clothing with an Islamic religious symbolism such as the khimar, a type of headscarf. The issue has different names in different countries, and "the veil" or hijab may be used as general terms for the debate, representing more than just the veil itself, or the concept of modesty embodied in Hijab.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Halima Aden</span> Somali/American fashion model

Halima Aden is an American fashion model. She is noted for being the first woman to wear a hijab in the Miss Minnesota USA 2016 pageant, where she was a semi-finalist. Following her participation in the pageant, Halima received national attention and was signed to IMG Models. She was also the first model to wear a hijab and burkini in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephanie Kurlow</span> Australian ballerina

Stephanie Kurlow is an Australian dancer and ballet student often credited as being the world's first Hijabi Ballerina.

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Zara Kay is an ex-Muslim atheist, secular activist and women's rights activist, based in London. She is the founder of Faithless Hijabi, an international non-profit organisation that seeks to support the rights of Muslim-raised women, especially those who are in the process of leaving or have left Islam.

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References

  1. "World Hijab Day - Better Awareness. Greater Understanding. Peaceful World". Archived from the original on 6 October 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
  2. Participating Countries. "Worldwide Support". World Hijab Day. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  3. "World Hijab Day". worldhijabday.com. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
  4. 1 2 "'We're not oppressed': Canadians unite to mark World Hijab Day - National | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  5. 1 2 Grewal, Kairvy (31 January 2020). "On World Hijab Day, women across the globe are polarised". ThePrint. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  6. "House OKs bill declaring National Hijab Day". The Manila Times. 26 January 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  7. 1 2 Caschetta, A. J. (30 January 2020). "The Irony and Hypocrisy of World Hijab Day". National Review. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  8. "Hijab for a day: Non-Muslim women who try the headscarf". BBC News. 31 January 2013. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  9. "As Muslim women, we actually ask you not to wear the hijab in the name of interfaith solidarity". The Washington Post. 21 December 2015. Archived from the original on 21 December 2015. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  10. Maajid Nawaz (29 December 2015). "The Great Hypocritical Muslim Cover-Up". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  11. "'Removing your hijab can get you killed – even in the West'". spiked. Archived from the original on 2 February 2019. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  12. Mohammed, Yasmine. "Support Muslim women in fight against hijab". Toronto Sun. Archived from the original on 2 February 2019. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  13. "World Hijab Day: Proud to be a hijabi and breaking stereotypes". BBC .
  14. "World Hijab Day and the women who are breaking boundaries and stereotypes". Sky News . 1 February 2023.