World Hijab Day

Not to be confused with Global Pink Hijab Day or International Purple Hijab Day.

World Hijab Day
World Hijab Day poster from 2016
Date(s)1 February
FrequencyAnnual
Established2013 (2013)
FounderNazma Khan
Websiteworldhijabday.com
Part of a series on
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World Hijab Day is an annual event founded by Nazma Khan in 2013,[1] taking place on 1 February each year in 140 countries worldwide.[2] Its stated purpose is to encourage women of all religions and backgrounds to wear and experience the hijab for a day and to educate and spread awareness on why hijab is worn.[3] Nazma Khan said her goal was also to promote wider acceptance of hijab wearing as well as combating religious discrimination.[4]

Background

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See also: Hijabophobia

The hijab is a type of head covering worn by many Muslim women as a sign of faith, similar to the tichel or snood in Orthodox Judaism,[5] the mantilla, apostolnik, and wimple in Christianity, and the dupatta in Hinduism and Sikhism. Hijab comes in various forms.[6][7][8]

Hijab-wearing Muslim women face both overt and covert discrimination in job applications and workplace environments, with covert bias often resulting in more hostile treatment.[9]

Nazma Khan, a Bangladeshi-American, launched World Hijab Day (WHD) in 2013. She said that her aim was "to raise awareness and normalize the wearing of a hijab." Khan added that she launched the day due hoping for "foster[ing] religious tolerance" given experiences of facing "discrimination and bullying in school and university by being spat on, chased, kicked and called a “terrorist”." This way, other women would not have the same experiences as "she had to endure."[4]

Since its inception, World Hijab Day has invited women from all faiths and backgrounds to wear the hijab on February 1st in solidarity with Muslim women worldwide. The initiative seeks to combat stereotypes about Muslim women and address the growing concerns of Islamophobia, especially in light of laws perceived as discriminatory like Quebec's Bill 21,[10] which bans religious symbols, and violent anti-Muslim incidents.[4][11]

Official recognition

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In 2017 New York State recognized World Hijab Day, and an event marking the day was hosted at the House of Commons, which was attended by Theresa May (former UK Prime Minister).[12] The House of Representatives of the Philippines approved 1 February as "annual national hijab day" to promote an understanding of the Muslim tradition in 2021.[13]

Criticism

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A. J. Caschetta criticizes the choice of February 1 for World Hijab Day as distasteful, arguing that it coincides with Ayatollah Khomeini's return to Iran, which led to the enforcement of mandatory hijab laws.[14] Caschetta argues that while the hijab is promoted in the West as a symbol of the right to choose one's clothing, the same advocacy is lacking for women who are persecuted for refusing to wear the hijab.[14]

Maryam Namazie, a vocal ex-Muslim and campaigner, criticized World Hijab Day arguing that it is a "form of oppression."[15] In his own opinion piece published in 2017, Maajid Nawaz suggested that the name be changed to "Hijab is a Choice Day".[16]

In 2018, Canadian activist Yasmine Mohammed started a #NoHijabDay campaign in response, World Hijab Day, framing it as a way to highlight women who have resisted societal pressure and state mandates to remove the hijab.[17]

Social media

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World Hijab Day has largely influenced through social media. World Hijab Day campaigners promote the day with hashtags such as #EmpoweredinHijab.[18][19]

See also

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Bibliography

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  • Rahbari, L., Dierickx, S., Coene, G., & Longman, C. (2021). Transnational Solidarity with Which Muslim Women? The Case of the My Stealthy Freedom and World Hijab Day Campaigns. Politics & Gender, 17(1), 112–135. doi:10.1017/S1743923X19000552
  • Raihanah, M. M. (2017). " ‘World Hijab Day’: Positioning the Hijabi in Cyberspace". In Seen and Unseen. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004357013_007
  • Rahbari, Ladan (2021), In Her Shoes: Transnational Digital Solidarity With Muslim Women, or the Hijab?. Tijds. voor econ. en Soc. Geog., 112: 107–120. https://doi.org/10.1111/tesg.12376
  • Shirazi, Faegheh. 2019. "The Veiling Issue in 20th Century Iran in Fashion and Society, Religion, and Government" Religions 10, no. 8: 461. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel10080461
  • Oren, Elizabeth. “Culture in a Murky World: Hijab Trends in Jihadi Popular Culture.” The Cyber Defense Review, vol. 3, no. 3, Army Cyber Institute, 2018, pp. 83–92, JSTOR 26554999
  • Anouar El Younssi (2018) Maajid Nawaz, Irshad Manji, and the Call for a Muslim Reformation, Politics, Religion & Ideology, 19:3, 305–325, doi:10.1080/21567689.2018.1524327
  • Ghumkhor Sahar . (2020) The Confessional Body. In: The Political Psychology of the Veil. Palgrave Studies in Political Psychology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32061-4_6

References

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  1. ^ "World Hijab Day - Better Awareness. Greater Understanding. Peaceful World". Archived from the original on 6 October 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
  2. ^ Participating Countries. "Worldwide Support". World Hijab Day. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  3. ^ "World Hijab Day". worldhijabday.com. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
  4. ^ a b c "'We're not oppressed': Canadians unite to mark World Hijab Day - National | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  5. ^ Khir-Allah, Ghufran (24 May 2021). Framing Hijab in the European Mind: Press Discourse, Social Categorization and Stereotypes. Springer. ISBN 9789811616532.
  6. ^ "Religious clothing and personal appearance". Pew Research Center. 29 June 2021. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  7. ^ Spurgeon, Andrew B. (14 August 2016). Twin Cultures Separated by Centuries: An Indian Reading of 1 Corinthians. Langham Publishing. p. 196. ISBN 978-1-78368-139-6. Ghoonghat (also ghunghat or jhund) is the Hindi word used for a veil or a scarf that a woman in northern India wears to cover her head or face (in states such as Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Assam). Sometimes the end of a sari or dupatta (a long scarf) is pulled over the head or face to function as a ghoonghat.
  8. ^ Garcia, Myrian (15 March 2022). "How India's Religious Headwear Ban Affects Muslims And Not Hindus". Religion Unplugged. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  9. ^ Ahmad, A. S., King, E. B.(2010). An experimental field study of interpersonal discrimination toward Muslim job applicants. Personnel Psychology, 63(4), 881–906
  10. ^ Rukavina, Steve (4 August 2022). "New research shows Bill 21 having 'devastating' impact on religious minorities in Quebec". CBC. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
  11. ^ "World Hijab Day". The University of British Columbia. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
  12. ^ Grewal, Kairvy (31 January 2020). "On World Hijab Day, women across the globe are polarised". ThePrint. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  13. ^ "House OKs bill declaring National Hijab Day". The Manila Times. 26 January 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  14. ^ a b Caschetta, A. J. (30 January 2020). "The Irony and Hypocrisy of World Hijab Day". National Review. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  15. ^ "Hijab for a day: Non-Muslim women who try the headscarf". BBC News. 31 January 2013. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  16. ^ Maajid Nawaz (29 December 2015). "The Great Hypocritical Muslim Cover-Up". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  17. ^ "'Removing your hijab can get you killed – even in the West'". spiked. Archived from the original on 2 February 2019. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  18. ^ "World Hijab Day: Proud to be a hijabi and breaking stereotypes". BBC.
  19. ^ "World Hijab Day and the women who are breaking boundaries and stereotypes". Sky News. 1 February 2023.
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