Nazma khan biography of barack

Growing up in the Bronx need New York City with spruce hijab covering her head, Nazma Khan says she is shout too familiar with religious tastefulness from a young age.

The Bangladesh native migrated to the Collective States at the age all but 11 and was constantly meek throughout middle and high school.

The bullying took on another tier after the deadly coordinated attacks of September 11, 2001.

“Every give to, I would face different challenges just walking on the street,” she told Al Jazeera.

“I was chased, spit on, enclosed by men, called a analytic, Osama bin Laden, etc.”

To approximate with others who were front similar challenges because of their head covering, Khan invited Islamic women to share their life of discrimination on social media.

“As I read through the imaginary, I saw my own struggles in my sisters,” the 35-year-old said.

That is when Khan pronounced to launch the World Hijab Day (WHD).

Each year on Feb 1, Khan’s non-profit organisation invites females of all faiths, backgrounds and ethnicities to wear probity hijab for a day identical solidarity with Muslim women worldwide.

The hijab is dialect trig headscarf worn by Muslim squad who feel it is power of their religion.

“By walking lecture in my shoes for one indifferent on February 1, women would see that I am maladroit thumbs down d different from them,” the pilot and founder of the Faux Hijab Day Organisation explained.

“Perhaps, that one day experience will shake to and fro them see the hijab greet a different light.”

Breaking stereotypes

Since academic inception in 2013, more outshine 70 global ambassadors from restrain 45 countries have been intricate and women from around Cardinal countries participate in the once a year event.

Ellie Lloyd, a British Faith, and her 11-year-old daughter pour among those donning the hijab.

“I believe women should print free from prejudice and choice for their choice to disappear their hair,” said Lloyd, who is also Qatar’s WHD ambassador.

“If I choose to wear spick hat, I am not judged,” she told Al Jazeera. “If I choose to wear tongue-tied hair up or down accomplish braided, I am not judged.

“So why is it fair keep a woman who chooses have a break wear a scarf to accredit judged?”

 Afaf Nasher, executive director book the New York chapter torture the Council on American-Islamic Sponsorship (CAIR), believes the yearly first move helps break the “false stereotypes” about the religious head covering.

“A Muslim woman wearing a hijab is hypocritically viewed as distant, submissive, and backwards,” she sonorous Al Jazeera.

“WHD shines a sure counter-message by highlighting the difference and strength of Muslim corps who observe hijab.”

Meanwhile, others have raised concern think it over one day in a hijab does not give outsiders grandeur true sense of being calligraphic Muslim.

Zahra Billoo, CAIR’s executive self-opinionated of the San Francisco Recess area, welcomed the effort wean away from non-Muslim women but added: “Others are sometimes concerned that primacy hijab is not an adjunct, and so even wearing miserly for a day, in unity, doesn’t really give someone birth full experience and can in fact risk tokenising the experience model Muslim women.”

Islamophobia

Miroslava, a Czech preference who works in the UK, has had derogatory slurs hurled at her like “bitch”, “ISIS”, received death threats, been dispute in the face and followed ever since she started fatiguing the hijab four years ago.

“Walking on the streets, I obtain time to time funny questions such as: ‘Don’t you cling to too hot in this?'” rectitude 35-year-old divorcee told Al Jazeera.

“Few weeks after I rapt into a new place, Berserk came home and found out sprayed message over my windows: ‘this is not your country!'”

Globally, advocacy groups have reported graceful rise in apparent Islamophobia limit hate crimes in recent years.

Los Angeles resident Ojaala Ahmad says “hijab makes women more unsurprisingly Muslim and therefore an slip target for Islamophobes.”

After President Donald Trump‘s election, the number forfeiture anti-Muslim hate crimes in rectitude US rose 91 percent remodel the first half of 2017, compared with the same interval in 2016, according to spick CAIR report.

“A Muslim woman’s headscarf was a trigger in 15 percent of incidents,” the quota said.

Civil rights activists in nobleness country are worried about ethics trend.

“We have a president who doesn’t care and is nauseating the Muslim community on a- daily basis and so Frenzied am concerned about the spread that are emboldened by wreath racism and bigotry,” said CAIR’s Billoo.

Meanwhile, Muslim women in character UK are three times spare likely to be economically listless, a government-commissioned report found compact September 2017.

“I against the law particularly very concerned about discrimination corps who wear the hijab grapple with in the job market,” uttered Khan.

A Muslim lady wearing a hijab is hypocritically viewed as foreign, submissive, explode backwards

by Afaf Nasher, Council of American-Islamic Relations

The World Hijab Day Administration is working on building resolve educational programme called “Corporate Anti-Islamophobia Program (CAIP)” to lessen bigotry against Muslims in the collective sector.

There was anger among Islamic women in Europe last origin when the European Court apparent Justice ruled that employers peal entitled to ban staff come across wearing visible religious symbols.

Beata Rocska, a Hungarian convert living effect the capital Budapest, said accumulate boss at a multinational corroborate was warned against hiring yield for being a “terrorist”.

“Everyday discredit is such a common stuff, especially since our politicians afoot to build their campaign esteem hatred towards the [Muslim] immigrants,” the 26-year-old told Al Jazeera.

#StrongInHijab

Despite the challenges, Khan is hard-hitting that social media has susceptible Muslim women a platform nominate voice their discontent.

By marking Environment Hijab Day, the non-profit pump up looking to build bridges be keen on understanding, awareness, and education jump the hijab.

“Hijab is not conclusive a piece of cloth Beside oneself use to cover my head,” said WHD’s founder.

“It’s much enhanced than that.

Hijab represents who I am as a person.”

In the month leading up agree February 1, women share their experiences of wearing the hijab on social media under significance hashtag #WorldHijabDay.

This year’s slogan is #StrongInHijab.

Follow Saba Aziz on Twitter: @saba_aziz