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I will admit that I am not the “best” Muslim out there when compared to my parent’s standards of what a “good” Muslim girl should be.
Heck, if you were to compare me to some “upstanding” Islamic individuals on a larger scale, I wouldn’t even make it past round one of the morality games.
This is why after staring at my computer screen for ten minutes straight I couldn’t figure out the point of Miss Muslimah – at least not a point that is satisfactory to me.
You see this beauty pageant is supposed to be the Islamic answer to Miss World - after all the criticism that other pageants receive in the Muslim world.
How does it work?
Well just like most other beauty contests, really. More than 500 Muslim women from Iran, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Brunei, Nigeria and Indonesia competed in an online competition. From there, twenty finalists were chosen for the finals which were held in Indonesia.
Modest Muslim women cat-walked in their Hijabs, headscarves and heels in front of an audience - which by the way was a mixture of Islamic scholars and ordinary folk. They were to be judged not only on their beauty, but on traits of modesty and piety and how well they recited Quranic verses as well as their opinions on Islam in the modern world.
Call me old fashioned but, judging someone by the amounts of Salaah they do and how often they go to Mosque is a bit superficial. Add that to their outside appearance and it’s a little hypocritical.
Okay fine, a lot hypocritical.
And, while I am totally for the liberation of women – considering that the intention of this pageant is to celebrate inner and outer beauty - I am still perplexed.
If I am not mistaken, a headscarf, a hijab and a veil is the epitome of modesty and piety. A contest that puts on display the beauty of a Muslim woman defeats the entire purpose of their modest behaviour and attire. Doesn’t it?
Also, what message is this putting across to adolescent women? Should they measure their self-worth and the value of their sincerity toward their religion based on how pious they SEEM to others?
Should I as a Muslim woman be competing with my sisters in Islam using my awesome skills of Quraan reciting?
How are these judges going to determine the winner when inner beauty is immeasurable and intangible? Isn’t that the whole point of inner beauty?
And isn’t admiring a woman who is not your wife a sin?
While I get that the producers of this competition wanted to create their own unique way of placing women on a platform to showcase their capabilities, it’s what they are being judged on and the way they are being judged that has the Muslim, and the feminist in me all riled up.
And I suspect that this whole shindig will only make its contestants vulnerable to the upcoming backlash that the cruel interwebs might incur.
Follow Women24 on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
What do you think?
Heck, if you were to compare me to some “upstanding” Islamic individuals on a larger scale, I wouldn’t even make it past round one of the morality games.
This is why after staring at my computer screen for ten minutes straight I couldn’t figure out the point of Miss Muslimah – at least not a point that is satisfactory to me.
You see this beauty pageant is supposed to be the Islamic answer to Miss World - after all the criticism that other pageants receive in the Muslim world.
How does it work?
Well just like most other beauty contests, really. More than 500 Muslim women from Iran, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Brunei, Nigeria and Indonesia competed in an online competition. From there, twenty finalists were chosen for the finals which were held in Indonesia.
Modest Muslim women cat-walked in their Hijabs, headscarves and heels in front of an audience - which by the way was a mixture of Islamic scholars and ordinary folk. They were to be judged not only on their beauty, but on traits of modesty and piety and how well they recited Quranic verses as well as their opinions on Islam in the modern world.
Call me old fashioned but, judging someone by the amounts of Salaah they do and how often they go to Mosque is a bit superficial. Add that to their outside appearance and it’s a little hypocritical.
Okay fine, a lot hypocritical.
And, while I am totally for the liberation of women – considering that the intention of this pageant is to celebrate inner and outer beauty - I am still perplexed.
If I am not mistaken, a headscarf, a hijab and a veil is the epitome of modesty and piety. A contest that puts on display the beauty of a Muslim woman defeats the entire purpose of their modest behaviour and attire. Doesn’t it?
Also, what message is this putting across to adolescent women? Should they measure their self-worth and the value of their sincerity toward their religion based on how pious they SEEM to others?
Should I as a Muslim woman be competing with my sisters in Islam using my awesome skills of Quraan reciting?
How are these judges going to determine the winner when inner beauty is immeasurable and intangible? Isn’t that the whole point of inner beauty?
And isn’t admiring a woman who is not your wife a sin?
While I get that the producers of this competition wanted to create their own unique way of placing women on a platform to showcase their capabilities, it’s what they are being judged on and the way they are being judged that has the Muslim, and the feminist in me all riled up.
And I suspect that this whole shindig will only make its contestants vulnerable to the upcoming backlash that the cruel interwebs might incur.
Follow Women24 on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
What do you think?
