Every year, millions of people around the world participate in World Hijab Day, experiencing the hijab for a day. What started as a personal response to prejudice has become a powerful tool for breaking down barriers and fostering empathy.
At the age of eleven, she moved from Bangladesh to the Bronx, New York. At school, she was Batman one day, a ninja the next, always protecting her friends. Her entry into university coincided with 9/11.
Everything changed. Everywhere she went, she was harassed for wearing the hijab. One day they would call her a “terrorist!”, another day “Osama Bin Laden!”
A Hijab, A Voice, A Movement
Nazma Khan was just a Muslim woman. She didn’t know Osama and had never even seen a terrorist up close. Fear and anxiety became her life’s nightmare.
She had to do something to help herself and her friends. The only way to end discrimination and insults, she thought, was for other women to experience the hijab for themselves. Maybe something would happen!
On February 1, 2013, she wrote on her page: “WHD”
“World Hijab Day. A symbol of appreciation for millions of Muslim women who have chosen to wear the hijab.”
She began inviting non-Muslim women of all nationalities and races to experience the hijab for one day.
Nazma Khan was just a Muslim woman. She didn’t know Osama and had never even seen a terrorist up close. Fear and anxiety became her life’s nightmare.
She wanted the hijab to become normal for them.
She wanted people to know that Muslim women choose the hijab as a symbol of faith and a spiritual and physical connection with God.
Nazma Khan wrote on her Facebook page: “This is a choice I made and I am very happy with it. When I wear my hijab, I feel powerful. I am an ambassador of Islam and it is a great responsibility to show my beautiful faith correctly and I feel really honored to have been given this privilege.”
Nazma’s Vision: World Hijab Day
Twelve years have passed since February 2013. Perhaps Nazma never thought that her efforts would turn into a global event.
People in nearly 190 countries around the world participate in World Hijab Day every year, and Muslim women invite non-Muslim women to experience the hijab for a day.
The event has received much attention in Western media, with over 580 million people liking its pages annually.
Non-Muslim women who participate in the event post photos of themselves wearing the hijab on Facebook, and many of them fast on this day.
Did you know that a woman made such an effort to have a hijab and defend it?
From: jahanbanou.ir