Hijab in Sport and Unhelpful Media Biases

March 19, 2013 By

This post was written by guest contributor Shireen Ahmed (@_shireenahmed_).

One of the most exciting aspects of the Olympic Summer Games 2012 was that every participating nation sent in women athletes as part of their delegations. Media faithfully reported on the successes and stories of “hijab-clad” women participating in the London Games, the most prestigious sporting event the world of athletics has to offer.

Women who cover having a choice to participate in sport and represent their countries is definitely a global “win” for women and girls. They can be role models for active and healthy, provide leadership and mentorship, inspire and represent a truer sampling of the population. But does it also propel society’s obsession with hijab and Muslims women’s clothing?

Normalizing and including athletes who wear a headscarf, is important in the realm of sport, most of which has been dominated by athletes from privileged, Western countries.

Despite the attention, this was not the first Olympics in which Muslim women have participated nor have important history. There is quite a wonderful and relatively unknown Olympic and sporting history of Muslim women’s participation, dating back to mid-twentieth century. In fact, the first Muslim woman to win a gold medal was Nawal El Moutawakel, almost 30 years ago at the 1984 Summer Games in los Angeles. Ms. El Moutawakel is now an active and senior member of the International Olympic Selection Committee. There were also a large number of Muslimah athletes and first time Olympians (not all headscarf-wearing) with exceptional stories of determination, performance and passion for their sport. Amazingly, Turkey sent more female athletes to the 2012 Games than they did male athletes – most of whom do not wear a headscarf to compete.

However, there seems to be a bias from media and incessant focus on hijab-wearing athletes. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: , , ,

World Hijab Day: Everyone’s Favourite Dress-Up Day

February 5, 2013 By

This post was written by guest contributor Shireen Ahmed. A version of this post was previously posted on her blog.

Every year there are a group of women who celebrate, support and participate in World Hijab Day. This year February 1, 2013 marked the day where women all over the world would be “invited” to wear a scarf on their head in solidarity with Muslim sisters across the globe.

This phenomenon has garnered much attention. It has exploded through social media and has been embraced by Muslim women and young girls who may see it as an opportunity to clarify, teach and share. Women have written about it and chronicled their feelings, their emotions and how it made them feel. Ironically, this was supposed to have them relate to and think about the Muslim covered woman facing challenges. Instead it has many of them not reflecting on their own feelings and how that should affect the world with regards to hijab.

Although some of these reflections may be respectful and have kind intentions, others are blatantly narcissistic . Some are from Muslim women just having a “go” at it while trying complete their daily routine – all covered up. How unfathomable! They all use clever taglines like “Under the veil”, “From beneath the veil”, and “Undercover”. They pose such groundbreaking questions as “How do people perceive me?” to the very insightful “How do I see myself?” and my personal favourite: “Am I more liberated and less oppressed by this hijab?”

As much as I am interested in sharing, dialogue and debate, as a hijab-clad woman, my concern is not, and will never be how other women “feel” about a hijab that they do not wear regularly. I shall elaborate. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Culture/Society, Events, Sports Tagged With: ,

Sania Mirza: A Pride or Disgrace to Indian Muslims

January 10, 2013 By

Sania Mirza is a source of pride in India. She is the first Indian woman to:

  1. Win a WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) tour title of any kind
  2. Win a Grandslam Title
  3. Surpass US $1m in career earnings

She has also won the Arjuna Award, which is the highest sports honour in India, and the Padma Shri, which is the fourth highest civilian award in India; she was  named one of the “50 heroes of Asia” by Time Magazine, and named by The Economic Times in the list of “33 women who made India proud“.

Sania Mirza on the cover of Time Magazine. [Source].

She also happens to be a Muslim woman, who according to her father and coach, is a deeply religious girl who prays five times a day, tries hard not to play during the holy month of Ramadan, and reads the Quran every day.

However, to many Indian Muslims, she is a media personality, who doesn’t wear the “proper” attire that a Muslim woman is supposed to be seen in. She dresses like any other tennis sports star, and is popular for her style statements as for her skill with the racket. This resulted in a Maulvi in Midnapore (West Bengal, India) issuing a fatwa on her dress code stating “The dress she wears on the tennis courts…leaves nothing to the imagination.” He also said she should follow the example of Iranian women who wore head scarves and long tunics when they played in badminton tournaments. Islamist groups such as Jamiat-ulema-e-Hind allegedly threatened to disrupt her tennis matches.

Recently another fatwa was also issued against her, for living together with her current husband, before their marriage; the fatwa stated that ”It’s un-Islamic for a man and woman to see each other during the ceremonies before the ‘nikah.’” (Mirza’s husband stayed in her parental home for few weeks prior to their wedding. )

Mirza was also heavily criticized for hugging non-Mahram men after a match, and for wearing t-shirts with bold statements on them. She also spoke in a conference about safe sex, which was understood as implying that she supported premarital sex, following which her effigy was burnt.  [Read more...]

Filed Under: Culture/Society, Sports Tagged With: , ,

In the Name of the Game(s) – Muslim Female Athletes at the 2012 London Olympics

August 5, 2012 By

The 2012 London Olympics have had a strong focus on women: for the first time women will be competing in all sports and every country has sent at least one female athlete.

Zulfiya Chinshanlo, Olympic gold medalist in weightlifting. Image via the Toronto Star.

While this does all look mighty good on paper, “male” sports remain overall more popular and male athletes are often better paid, make use of better facilities (flying business vs. flying coach) and receive more face time than their female counterparts. And while much of the attention female athletes receive is focused on their looks (beach volleyball anyone?), the major decision-makers in sports are still predominantly male. (It should be added that 1984 gold medalist Nawal el Moutawakel is now the first woman from a Muslim nation in the role of Vice President of the International Olympic Committee.)

For Brunei, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, this will be the first time sending a female athlete to the Olympic Games. All three countries are, and this has been pointed out numerous times, Muslim-majority nations. Both Qatar and Brunei let the world know early on that they will be sending in female athletes for these Games. The tiny Asian nation of Brunei is sending one female this year, hurdler Maziah Mahusin, which does not seem like a lot, but in 2008 Brunei did not even participate in the Games, and the country has sent in only four athletes to previous Games. Mahusin is part of a delegation that consists of three athletes in total. Qatar has been more successful, sending sizeable teams to previous Games.  This year, Qatar has sent four female athletes, competing in four different disciplines, and says it will continue to promote women’s sports in the country. This is no surprise; Qatar has aspirations to host several major international sport events (lost the bid for the 2020 Olympics), and will host the FIFA Soccer World Cup in 2022. [Read more...]

Filed Under: News, Politics, Ramadan 2012, Sports Tagged With: ,

The Right to Play or Creeping Sharia? FIFA Overturns its Headscarf Ban

July 16, 2012 By

FIFA has overturned its headscarf ban, enforced since 2007, on women playing soccer with their heads covered. Predictably, the French Football Federation issued an instant “this won’t happen here” communiqué, whereas Qatar, hosting the 2022 Olympics, commended the decision.

FIFA’s decision has incited strong criticism online. All you have to do is read the comments in news articles (including the ones I have linked) or participate in discussions on social media (if you like coming face to face with big, hairy trolls, as I found out on a Swiss forum the other night) to see that online reaction to FIFA’s decision appears to be overwhelmingly negative. And the divide isn’t just along Muslim/non-Muslim lines as some would like to say; some secular Muslims might find FIFA’s reversal a sign that fundies are being catered to. The problem is that anyone, Muslim or non-Muslim, who comes out in support of FIFA’s decision is branded anti-feminist, stupid or misinformed. I would link to some examples but I don’t really like linking to hate and bigotry; Google News should sort out the curious.

So, let’s address some of the key points that keep coming up.

[Read more...]

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Saudi Women’s Right to Kick Balls

July 5, 2012 By

With the summer Olympics fast approaching (and truly, what place says summer better than London), it was only natural that a bit of controversy would have to preface an event upon which the integrity of your otherwise boring country lies.

And who better to offer this controversy than Saudi Arabia?

Earlier this year, Human Rights Watch launched a campaign “Let Them Play” aimed to pressure the Kingdom into allowing female athletic participation in the upcoming Olympics. The campaign led to a bit of a media frenzy and even solicited a response from the Head of the Saudi Olympic Committee, Prince Nawaf Bin Faisal. According to a report made first by Al-Watan in April of this past year, Prince Nawaf made it clear that in accordance with (the Saudi government’s understanding of) shari’a and with respect to the sensibilities of Saudis around the world, women would not be allowed to participate in any official capacity in the Olympics. They could, however, participate unofficially.  This came after the International Olympic Committee’s own assertion, in March, that it believed women would be allowed to participate at the games in London, which was based on Saudi presentation of the names of possible female athletes who could represent at the summer games. [Read more...]

Filed Under: News, Politics, Sports Tagged With: , , ,
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