Dubai based activist, athlete and the first hijabi wearing woman to become the face of a Nike sports campaign, Manal Rostom, is on a mission to change the world’s perception about the hijab.
Europe’s leading international news channel, Euronewsspoke to Manal Rostomabout what has spurred on her mission, the Facebook support group that she runs, Surviving Hijab, which now offers advice, support and a role modelto nearly one million members around the world,as well as her work to educate the world about the hijab and what it means to Muslim women.
When asked what the hijab means to her,Manal Rostomsaid:“It’s a compulsory form of worship. So, by compulsory what I mean is that as soon as every girl reaches puberty, she needs to start embracing the hijab. Yet we also say let there be no compulsion in religion, so it should not be forced upon these little girls.Unlike popular belief, you know, whether it’s due to cultural or social reasons, sometimes parents and someareas in the world, countries, they force the hijab on women. So immediately that idea has become linked to the idea of hijabi women being oppressed because the hijab was forced upon them. Hijab was never forced upon me personally. It has not been forced upon a lot of women that I know.”
Manal Rostom feltsocietal pressures pushed her in to contemplating removing her hijab in 2013, after being turned away from taking part in sport and attending sporting events. In addition to burkinis and hijabs being banned in pools and certain countries around the world, Manal realized there was a lack of hijab-wearing role models, and important figures in the public eye and the sporting world.
Commenting on this time which spurred her on to found the Surviving Hijab Facebook support group she said:“I felt like society was finally going to dictate my identity because society is banning me here and banning me there and banning other women.I realised that, you know, I didn’t want to go with the flow. I had this random idea to set up a community, a platform on Facebook, a group that I called Surviving Hijab.”
When asked what advice she shares with herSurviving Hijab group members who are being forced to choose between sport and wearing the hijab she comments: “All I would say is that you need to continue to fight for your right to play with your hijab. I would not tell her to quit. I would not tell her to take it off because either solutionis not the solution. I’m just trying to change the world’s perception about who a hijabi woman is.”
In her quest to normalize wearing a hijab in sport and give women a role model to look up to, Manal reached out to sportswear giant Nike to highlight to them that there was a lack of Muslim representation within the brand’s marketing and products, urging them to cater to hijabi women around the world.
Commenting on the outcomeof herNike collaboration she said: “I became the first ever hijab-wearing athlete to appear in a Nike Middle East campaign. They had manufactured a hijab that was breathable, that was dry fit. And I was to become the face of it, you know, in the world, not just in the Middle East.”
With Belgium’srecent ban of the hijab in certain universities, that’s sparked protests and the creation of a movement just like Surviving Hijab, Manal said:“Belgium is coming out and saying, if you wear the hijab, you’re not allowed in our university. For me, that just doesn’t make any sense. Women should be allowed to educate themselves, whichever their faith. There is still a lack of education about what the hijab is. It’s not a symbol. It’s a dress code.”
Speaking to Euronews about how she responds to the backlash she has faced and encountered since her activism started Manal said: “From the Muslim community, I have Team ‘Manal does not represent us’, ‘Manal’s dress code, is not even Islamic’,‘Manal is ruining the image of Muslim women around the world’,‘Manal’s doing all this for fame’.And then I have another team West, who are like, ‘the hijab is a sign of oppression’,‘you’re supporting oppression for women’. And see, that’s exactly why I think there needs to be a lot more education. The hijab is not the oppression. Society is, you know, society’s putting the oppression on us by banning us. They are not doing their homework to educate themselves about what itstands for, why we wear, how we wear it, why we should be allowed to wear it.”
With a string of world firsts to her name, Manal Rostom is the first Egyptian to have completed five out of the six world marathon majors, as well as having scaled some of the highest peaks in the world from the Mount Blanc to Mount Kilimanjaro. She is also founder of Facebook community group, Surviving Hijab, a support group for girls and women who wear a hijab.
The full interview exclusive to Euronews, is available to watch on Euronews and euronews.com the channel that brings you the latest interviews and meetings with leading figures in the news, prime ministers, politicians, scientists and experts.
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