Unapologetically Muslim
"Is it hard to wear the hijab in the U.S now?" I've got it a million times before, but this time it was a little different. “Yeah actually. A little..." whoa whoa whoa, that’s the first time I ever said that. The usual response is something like “No way! Hijab is so easy! Hashtag no regrets!” or “no, i’m not hot in this hijab despite it being 102 degrees out.” But lately I've been feeling it. “A little I guess." I was raised in a post 9/11 era. The ignorant "Muslims are terrorists!" rhetoric was un-phasing to me. However now it seems like it has gotten little harder being a hijabi. Let's be 100% honest with ourselves, being visibly Muslim in the U.S ain't getting easier. For those of us who wear our religion with our hijabs, with our beards, for some our brown-ness, , we have to be pummeled by the dehumanizing media, growing hate groups, and a certain little orange President's Twitter. Yeah--some days its hard. But despite it being tough to be an American Muslim, the hate has had somewhat of an adverse effect; being so visibly Muslim has made me and many Muslims embrace every part of them, has made them not only learn more about their religion but become happy and proud of their faith and identity. Sure, it’s still tough, but i’m sure every visible Muslim, whether visible by their headscarf or by their name, have told themselves “You know what? Hell yeah i’m Muslim, and i'm damn proud!” And as long as those days can outnumber the bad ones, I think we can make it. My series is called Unapologetically Muslim and it’s a series on awesome Muslim women living their life, doing their thing, and being unapologetically them, all while rocking hijab or thier muslimness! There’s nothing more entertaining then to go through hijab fashion pictures, but fashion is just one aspect of it, Hijab means a lot of different things to a lot of people. This series explores the other side of Hijab, the average Fatima doing her thing in the world. We’re doctors, scientists, artists, mountain climbers, body-builders and so much more.
Our first Amazing Muslimah of the series is Rimsha Siddiqui, an exercise biologist, rock-climber, and skateboarder. Read the next blog post to learn more about her! If you know an amazing Muslimah killing it in the world, email us at asfurah.fashion@gmail.com and we might just feature them in our next post!