By Sundus Abrar

Jan/Feb 2024

“Shame on you.” 

“She was my inspiration.”

“Tears started falling and I really loved you.” 

These are some of the emotionally charged comments that remain on an Instagram post of a Muslim influencer when she decided to stop wearing the hijab. Despite her very public presence on Instagram, she has opted to not clarify her reasons for doing so. Subsequent requests from Islamic Horizons for an interview were not answered. A’s identity is not the central concern in this discussion, but the turbulent reaction to her personal decision needs to be explored to understand how the actions of public individuals impact the broader Muslim community. 

Interviews referenced here were conducted prior to the ongoing and devastating siege in Palestine which has resulted in a rise in Islamophobic rhetoric and hate crimes affecting “visible” Muslims in North America. As the mainstream media continues to peddle a familiar bias narrative, many are beginning to question its validity. Social media, despite the persistent attempts of censorship on it, serves as a key access point to portraying the realities of oppressed populations. 

Muslims have consistently been vilified in mainstream media. This has far-reaching and tragic outcomes when Muslims are targeted in acts of hate and harassment. Presenting as visibly Muslim, an experience shared by women who wear the hijab, can be difficult in such unbalanced settings. Social media offers relative safe spaces for these women to connect and build resilience to overcome the challenges they encounter in their immediate environments. 

Leaving the Hijab

Before she stopped wearing hijab, A used her presence online to share different hijab styles and modest dressing. She also offered services as a hijab stylist which led to the launch of her hijab line. In a 2014 interview, published on a Muslim blog, she shared insight about when she started wearing hijab at age 11. “I wore it by choice because I had the right influence around me.” This positive influence was what many of A’s followers were seeking to aid them in their own hijab journeys. 

Like A, several other influencers have recently stopped wearing hijab. Two other women also marketed hijabs and modest fashion lines. They were vocal in their choice to wear hijab when they were maintaining this choice but did not discuss their reasons for why they stopped. Their dismissiveness only led to more questioning and frustration from their followers. 

People feel betrayed and disappointed when the unspoken expectations they have of influencers and public figures they admire are not met. These feelings are not unwarranted. A deeply resonating message, or niche, on social media, evokes an emotional response in followers which results in increased content engagement. This is the very currency for prominence and success on social media. An emotionally invested following online can often nly be sustained through an influencer’s consistency in messaging.

Do Influencers then have any responsibility to maintain this trust and be consistent in their personal choice to wear hijab? 

Scholarly Advice

Dr. Tamara Gray, acclaimed religious scholar and founder of Rabata, a Minnesota-based nonprofit Islamic organization for women, is thoughtful and thorough in addressing this concern. 

With a considerable following on social media herself, she recognizes the challenges that come with heightened prominence for influencers.  “The early companions didn’t want to be leaders because they knew this was hard, and I am going to have to put even more of my nafs aside,” said Gray. “Being in the limelight is really hard because now you have to make decisions that are not only about yourself but are also about those that are following you.” 

She uses the example of an account she follows which shares vintage fabric designs. Should this influencer change the focus of their content, the impact on their followers would likely not be deeply distressing. The same does not hold true if an influencer is using their platform to promote religion. They need to be more mindful and consistent. 

“Losing religion publicly can be a great sin,” said Gray. “It’s serious because it’s not only about you anymore. If what you did caused other people to struggle – if you put yourself out there as an influencer and you benefited from it and you set that aside – that’s not responsible.” 

Influencers are being watched in their personal settings, such as their homes and cars. Followers may develop a sense of closeness through these observations. The experience for the influencer though is very different. He or she does not have the same level of familiarity with her observers. “We need to be intentional and understand that we are creating relationships,” said Dr Gray. 

 Though followers may be upset about an influencer’s decision, Gray encourages thoughtful conduct in our engagement online.

“You are not fixing things by lashing out at someone. That is not the Islamic way.  You are just making sin for yourself. We need adab and akhlaq in interactions with people no matter who they are,” she said. 

Holding each other accountable is important for Muslims, but accusatory comments are not beneficial. Influencers who are consistent in wearing their hijab are also met with harsh comments.

Maintaining the Hijab

Tahirah Folk, New York native, model, and influencer, has often received unkind and accusatory comments online. As an African American she shares her experience with racism within the Muslim community, “The only place I felt I truly belonged as a Muslim was when I went for Umrah.” She addresses the criticism she has experienced about her approach to hijab in a Tiktok (@sincerelytahiry) post: “People who I will never allow to come for my hijab” went viral. The responses to it are polarizing. While some argue that women should be receptive to criticism, many women who wear hijab wholly endorsed the boundaries Folk asserts. “To give naseeha (advice) you have to be involved in the emotional wellbeing of the person,” Folk said. 

 Online, Folk has connected with her community celebrating Black Muslim women, and she is aware of the potential her prominence brings. “I have always been very intentional once I saw that I was getting a platform. I knew I wanted to represent a community that is often overlooked,” she stated. 

Upholding this concern, she called attention to a recent incident of exclusionary marketing. During New York Fashion Week. Veiled Collection, a popular brand for Muslim modest fashion, invited prominent Muslim modest fashion influencers to represent their brand. The concern was a glaring lack of diversity. Most influencers were light or fair-skinned. Folk’s view was echoed, and the complaint gained traction.  Veiled Collection finally offered a statement acknowledging their shortcoming in reflecting the diversity of Muslim women.

Though no actual changes were made to the event, the swift recourse inspired @everyblackmuslimgirl, an online community for Black Muslim to host EBMG Fest. This took place a few weeks after Veiled Fest and invited Black Muslim influencers and brands to showcase their products. It proved that collaboration opportunities through social media can amplify social issues and expedite solutions. 

Influencer and modest stylist, Hakeemah Cummings (@hakeemahcmb) shared Folk’s post criticizing Veiled Fest. She too has faced criticism online. She understands that there should be accountability, but she won’t respond to accusations or answer questions she feels she is not equipped to address. “The comment section is not a place to bully. If you are seeking a question, you should be asking a scholar. I am far from that.”

Real vs. Reel Friends

Cummings feels secure in her hijab and actively produces content to guide others on how to adhere to it, but she still relies on her sister’s opinion to ensure her content aligns with Islamic values. “There is really no one online who knows and loves me the way she does. I know that she will push back when I am getting self-absorbed and losing myself in whatever the trends are,” she added. She encourages women seeking support in their faith and hijab journeys to navigate online spaces thoughtfully and seek friendships in real life. “Have that one friend who you can call when you are struggling with your faith,” Cummings said. 

Social media platforms aim to increase engagement. More engagement yields more revenue. To achieve this, social media platforms employ a tool called the algorithm which ensures that users see content most like that which they engaged with the most. To manage this tool to the benefit of the user, Cummings recommends engaging and seeking out content that serves a person’s aspirations. 

She advises a break from social media for those that feel overcome with negative emotions. “It is emotionally taxing if the content you see online is constantly bringing you up and down.” 

Starting the Hijab

With every influencer who takes off the hijab, there are more who start wearing it. Dr. Areeba Adnan, a Toronto, Canada influencer and psychologist is one such example. Her platform @mintcandydesigns initially highlighted her DIY home projects, but now she shares more of her efforts in furthering her understanding of Islam. 

Adnan also teaches the “Influencer Blueprint,” an online course for aspiring digital creators.  “I feel a sense of moral responsibility to the eyes that are watching me. I feel it’s my responsibility to define my values and stay true to them.” 

Nevertheless, she emphasizes the limitations of the influencer culture. “There is an important distinction to be made- you may be influenced by people online, but they are simply people that you watch.”

Adnan has been open about her hijab struggle. Before she became an influencer, she had worn the hijab for five years. “I felt I wasn’t a good Muslim, and I am going to stop wearing hijab and focus more on learning about other aspects of my faith. That didn’t happen. It took me 12 years to come back to learning more about my faith and to wearing hijab again.” 

She advises women considering wearing the hijab or struggling to keep wearing it, to take time in assessing their concerns and persevere.  “It is important to really reflect and do the internal work, and it is important who we surround ourselves with in real life to help us understand why we wear hijab, “she said. 

“Good suhba (companionship) is essential to progress in our faith,” said Dr. Gray. “It’s not something that we have yet figured out how to entirely achieve online.” 

Sundus Abrar, an undergraduate degree in professional writing, aspires to generate dialog around current concerns within the Muslim community. 

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By Monia Mazigh 

Nov/Dec 2023

At the end of August, a few days before the schools opened, the newly appointed French education minister Gabriel Attal announced in a memorandum that wearing the abaya, a large and long traditional dress worn by women on top of other attire, will be prohibited in public schools. The ban extended also to the qamis, a long tunic usually worn by men in several Muslim countries. 

The minister justified the ban as an urgent act to defend and preserve the principle of laïcité (secularism) in the French school system. “L’abaya has no place in our schools,” emphasized Attal in a press conference. He insisted that this ban is a response to school principals who requested clear instructions about this type of attire.

What’s really strange here is that this “pick and choose” much anticipated dress code only applied to the abaya, despite the fact that the minister never clearly defined what it looks like. Thus, school principals can interpret and apply the ban as they wish. 

The same memorandum made a dangerous and misleading association between the assassination of high school teacher Samuel Paty in 2020 by a Chechen refugee with the increase of religious attire worn by students — understood here as Muslim students. (Reported by B.F. with AFP, www.bfmtv.com, Aug. 28, 2003).

Drawing dangerous parallels

But how did such an association come to be normalized and accepted as a justification of the ban? What does the wearing of this traditional garment have to do with killing and violence? In an interview with a French journalist, President Macron mentioned Paty’s killing in his reply to a question about the abaya ban. Cornered by the journalist Hugo Travers, Macron denied “making any parallel” between the two events (BMFTV). Nevertheless, the impression Macron left was his subtle attempt to “weaponize” abayas worn by a minority of young Muslimas and make it sound like a dangerous item that is “testing the principles of the French Republic.” 

Banning the abaya is neither surprising nor unexpected. Ever since this obsession with Muslima’s bodies began in 1989, the debate on religious symbols in French schools hasn’t stopped. It started with “the scarf affair,” when three middle school Muslima students were suspended for refusing to remove their headscarves. At that time, the French minister of education issued a statement that gave the school principals the latitude to judge on a case-by-case basis whether to remove or keep the headscarves. 

Thirty years later, things remain pretty much the same, for this latest additional ban makes the school principals the sole interpreter of the memorandum. Instead of stopping, the debate continued and became even more controversial. In 2003, President Jacques Chirac appointed a commission to examine the “interaction between secularism and religious symbols in schools.” That same commission released a report that recommended the banning of ostentatious religious signs in school. 

Bandanas, burkinis, and beyond

In 2004, the first official law banning the “conspicuous” religious sign was born, and the hijab became its first target. Muslimas who wanted to wear it as a sign of religious observance or modesty had to remove it before entering the school. The principals would stand in front of the main entrance to check and prevent them from entering if they refused to do so. Many Muslimas tried to get around the new law by wearing bandanas, a square colourful kerchief mostly painted in paisley. 

But even that was banned, depending on who was wearing it. Elaine Sciolino, writing for the New York Times Jan. 20, 2004, explained that, in effect, a Muslima wearing a bandana wouldn’t be allowed to enter the school, but a non-Muslima wearing it as a fashion statement could. This opened the door to racial profiling and arbitrariness. 

In 2010, another law was passed to ban the niqab, a full-face full body covering. France became the first European country to introduce such legislation; other European countries have since followed. Niqabis in public space would be fined 150 euros (US $160). The law, challenged in the European Court of Human Rights, was upheld after the court accepted the argument advanced by Paris of a “certain idea of living together.”

In 2016, another public controversy arose over the burkini (the full-body swimsuit). The picture of a Muslima napping on the beach in Nice, southern France, surrounded by four police officers who asked her to remove her burkini, considered a symbol of Islamic extremism, went viral. Once again, a Muslimas’ presence in the public space was uncomfortable to some, and their choice of covering their bodies was portrayed as proselytism or an association with extremist misogynistic ideologies. Interestingly, this ban was never the object of any legislation, but the personal initiatives of some city mayors. It was later overturned by the Conseil d’État, Frances’ highest administrative and constitutional court (similar to the Supreme Court). 

Joan Wallach Scott, an American historian and prominent professor of gender studies, argued in her “Politics of the Veil” (2007) that the 2004 French law banning the headscarf in schools is clear evidence of France’s failure to fully integrate the citizens from its former colonies. The fact that modesty or a religious choice by visibly embracing Islam came to be understood through the lenses of sexual openness and the “unavailability” of some Muslim French women to the gaze of French men, literally or figuratively, bother many French. 

Continuing colonization

The ban is a continuation of French colonization — no longer over Muslim lands, but over Muslima’s bodies. For those who support such bans, the government, extreme-right parties and some of the population, these women refuse to accept French society’s “norms” and thus refuse to integrate. The ban would be a punishment, namely, removing them from the “public space.”

Wallach Scott’s analysis is correct. During a recent interview on French media, two male French journalists kept asking a teenaged Muslima, who was wearing a long tunic and large pants and had been banned from entering her high school, whether this “large” tunic and “large” pants aren’t religious and thus create confusion with the abaya. One of them asked, “Why do you wear this kind of ‘large’ clothing? Is it because it hides your shapes?” “No, I chose it because I like it,” she responded. But the journalist, in an attempt to associate the ample tunic and pants with Islam, continued his inquisition and asked, “You also wear the headscarf, right?” (BFM TV) 

That was the core issue: racial and religious profiling. If you’re a Muslima who wears modest attire, then your allegiance to the République’s sacred values are called into question and you can never be considered a full French citizen. If you are non-Muslima and chose to wear the same attire, then you are considered just another fashionable teenager — as if for Muslimas, wearing 

nice comfortable and brand clothing can’t be an innocent choice. There is always a hidden sinister reason, like radicalization or religious extremism. 

Amid this fabricated controversy, the French education minister was able to make many citizens forget that the public education system is failing, with many teachers leaving because of the difficult teaching conditions and the challenges of finding replacements. As a result, many students won’t have teachers and won’t receive a proper education. These topics are rather “covered” by the length and the ampleness of those few Muslimas who want to dress modestly and, at the same time, be Muslim and French (Alain Gabon, www.middleeasteye.net, Sept. 5, 2023).

Despite some anti-racism organizations and French personalities, including Annie Ernaux, a French Nobel Prize winner in literature, signing a statement denouncing the anti-racist and Islamophobic nature of this ban (Collectif, https://www.politis.fr, Sept. 13, 2023), France continues, with its pitiful populists and mainly opportunistic machinations, to “use” Muslim French women to gain votes from both the left and the right. 

Monia Mazigh, PhD, an academic, author, and human rights activist, is an adjunct professor at Carleton University (Ontario). She has published “Hope and Despair: My Struggle to Free My Husband, Maher Arar” (2008) and three novels, “Mirrors and Mirages” (2015), “Hope Has Two Daughters” (2017) and “Farida” (2020), which won the 2021 Ottawa Book Award prize for French-language fiction. She has recently published an essay/memoir “Gendered Islamophobia: My Journey with a Scar(f).”

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