So, I'm watching the Olympics with my wife, as I do almost every night (she has really taking control of the TV), and my wife starts yelling, "Baby Look! As Salaamu Alaikum!"
To my amazement I see this fully covered sister competing in the 200m finals. I know I'm a little late but I never watched the Olympics in 2004. Apparently, Bahrain's Ruqaya Al Ghasara, was the first athlete to ever take part in an Olympics wearing a hijab. She also won her heat in the women’s 200m sprint this year.
"Known as a Hijood - or hijab combined with a sports hood - the costume was specially designed for Al Ghasara by an Australian sports clothing company."Muslims have been adjusting dress to compete in sports for a while now. At my own Muslim high school, the sisters stayed covered for both soccer and basketball, gaining national attention on ESPN. In my own family, my sisters-in-law got all of there swim suits hand made to modestly cover their bodies. They would always get the question:
"All that material doesn't hold you back?"
2 comments:
As salaamu wa alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatu! Though many may find this a step forward for Muslim women, it is just another way of conforming to meet American standards of modesty. This Muslim sister is not covered correctly. You can see the shape of her body which is the whole purpose for hijab. Just because a person is clothed, doesn't mean that they meet the requirements of proper hijab. We need not celebrate these moments and focus more on studying Tawheed and perfecting our ebaadah. Islam is perfect and doesn't need to be mainstreamed to meet society's standards.
Wa alaikum as salaam wa rahmatullah wa barakatu,
@anonymous,
You bring up a good topic of discussion. And I do agree that her Hijab is not correctly serving its full purpose. However, I have found through my personal experiences that many people practice this beautiful religion with various levels of faith and interpretation. Their own personal Jihad is seen in their struggle to combat the negative influences of Shaitan. In a society that glorifies immodest conduct and appearance, for some, it takes courage to stand up against this.
So those of us with understanding should not be so quick to condemn, but in fact encourage and have patience with those who are representing Islam and representing Muslims.
O you who have attained to faith! Be patient in adversity, and vie in patience with one another, and be ever ready [to do what is right], and remain conscious of God, so that you might attain to a happy state! (Qur'an, 3:200)
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