The idea behind World Hijab Day was sparked by an imaginative and energetic social activist, Nazma Khan. The goal of this worldwide event is to spread awareness and understanding of the hijab; that Muslim women actually choose to wear hijab as a part of their faith and not a form of oppression or male coercion. On February 1st, Muslim women who do not wear hijab and also non-Muslim women are invited to wear the hijab and experience it for a day. Walk in the shoes of a Muslim woman wearing the hijab. Born in Bangladesh, Nazma Khan, moved to America at the age of 11. She was the only girl wearing the hijab in the entire school and her classmates made fun of her and called her names, such as Batman, ninja. As a Muslim university student in New York, she continued to face discrimination because of her hijab and she decided to start an online hijab store. Her aim was to cater to Muslim women by providing unique designs of the headscarf, education about the hijab, moral support, and a friendly social network. After the launch of the online hijab store, Nazma began to receive hundreds of e-mails from women about how they were facing discrimination because of the hijab. Nazma Khan said, “After receiving many messages from sisters across the globe, I could immediately relate to them and I wanted to help them. That is when the idea of World Hijab Day was born. If I could invite other women to walk in our shoes just for one day, perhaps, things would change.” The feedback from the world community has been amazingly positive. From ordinary individuals to celebrities, such as the famous Malaysian singer, Ms. Nina, women from around the world have been very supportive. “Volunteers from around the world will be holding hijab awareness events on February 1st, wearing the hijab and offering educational literature. We estimate that women from around 100 countries will take part in World Hijab Day. Church members from various countries have contacted us and they would like to host an event for World Hijab Day to foster religious tolerance and interfaith dialogue and understanding in their communities,” said Ammarah Biruar-Dumama, an active advocate of World Hijab Day, based in the Philippines. Ammarah herself attended college in an area of the Philippines that was predominantly Catholic. “For me, wearing the hijab assures my modesty, safety, and security. Wearing the hijab is a process and as they say, ‘Rome was not built in a day.' Although there are times when I am mocked and ridiculed, I am content to be a full-time hijabi, living a life of modesty, and I view my hijab as a way that brings me one step closer to Paradise,” Ammarah said. The whole World Hijab Day movement was organized solely using social networking sites. Its founders launched a website and Facebook page which have attracted interest from Muslim and non-Muslim women in more than 67 countries. “I figured the only way to end discrimination is to ask our fellow sisters to experience the hijab themselves,” said Nazma Khan. By next year, her goal is to have 1 million participants worldwide.
