Today in Indonesia, a 21-year-old Nigerian
student, Obabiyi Aishah Ajibola from UNILAG
will officially represent Nigeria at Muslimah
World Pageant.
The finale of a beauty pageant exclusively for
Muslim women will take place in the
Indonesian capital, Jakarta, in a riposte to the
Miss World contest in Bali that has drawn
fierce opposition from Islamic radicals.
Twenty contestants will show off the latest
Islamic fashion trends in the Muslimah World
pageant and will also take part in other
activities, such as reciting the Koran, aimed at
demonstrating their piety.
“We’re just trying to show the world that
Islam is beautiful. We are free and the hijab
(Muslim headscarf) is our pride,” said Ajibola.
The contestants can only enter the
competition if they wear a headscarf and have
undergone three days of “spiritual training” in
the run-up to the final in Jakarta, waking up
before dawn to pray together and sharpen
their Koranic reading skills.
Organisers say they want to show Muslim
women there is an alternative to the idea of
beauty put forward by the British-run Miss
World pageant, and also want to show that
opposition to the pageant can be expressed
non-violently.
0 100000:
Post a Comment