Muslims Reject Hijabi Model Halima Aden

Making headlines as the first mainstream hijabi model who appeared on Kanye West’s runway then again in Sports Illustrated, Halima Aden is turning heads again — this time as a headline speaker at the Reviving Islamic Spirit conference.

**Huge Announcement**
For the first time at #RIS2019 – Halima Aden @Kinglimaa!!

Don’t miss out!! Get a chance to meet Halima and hear from her live by purchasing your ticket at https://t.co/iAatcEdWVc pic.twitter.com/FeruEcGSJx

— #RIS2019 (@risconvention) December 6, 2019

Taking place December 20-22, 2019 in Toronto, Canada, the choice of hijabi model Halima Aden has drawn mixed reviews from Muslims. While there’s always the group that loves the fanfare of celebrity Muslims, there is also the group of Muslims who are interested in faith for the sake of faith rather than the next fashionable identity brand (which is how some see Halima and social justice Muslims).

Why this is problematic: it tells us #Muslims to take as role models individuals whose public decisions and acts contradict the #Quran & sunnah. Can we please just stop & develop some foresight? What does #RIS2019 presume to achieve by becoming a pop cult convention? https://t.co/q75ImD13Mf

https://twitter.com/NourMGoda/status/1204071146632699905?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1204071146632699905&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fclarionproject.org%2Fris-muslims-reject-hijabi-model-halima-aden%2F

Though I don’t wear the hijab and understand that Muslim women who do wear one tend to have their own reasons for it, I can sympathize with the frustration of seeing items of faith reduced to markers of diversity or fashion, or embraced by businesses as a marketable item. On that, conservatives, traditionalists, a reformer like myself and even Islamists disinterested in social justice causes, can all agree: Stop fetishizing what some women in Islam choose to wear as part of their faith.

Who is she?

— Noufal Ibrahim (@noufalibrahim) December 9, 2019

While I’m sure Halima Aden is a wonderful person, leaning into bringing on board celebrity Muslims to draw an audience is against what I imagine is the spirit of Islam. We should be led by our ethics and ideas, and not by how loved we are by the material world.

RELATED STORIES:

Sports Illustrated: Halima Aden Poses in Burkini

Hijab, Female Oppression and the Left

Why I’m Sick of Talking About Hijab

Weaponizing Hijabs: A Slippery Slope to Fascism

EDITORS NOTE: This Clarion Project column is republished with permission. © All rights reserved.

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