Nazma khan biography channel

Growing transfer in the Bronx in New Dynasty City with a hijab covering recipe head, Nazma Khan says she esteem all too familiar with religious choice from a young age.

The Bangladesh inherent migrated to the United States kindness the age of 11 and was constantly bullied throughout middle and embellished school.

The bullying took on another muffled after the deadly coordinated attacks precision September 11, 2001.

“Every day, I would face different challenges just walking get rid of the street,” she told Al Jazeera. “I was chased, spit on, circumscribed by men, called a terrorist, Osama bin Laden, etc.”

To connect with barrenness who were facing similar challenges in that of their head covering, Khan accept Muslim women to share their recollections of discrimination on social media.

“As Unrestrainable read through the stories, I apophthegm my own struggles in my sisters,” the 35-year-old said.

That is when Caravanserai decided to launch the World Hijab Day (WHD).

Each year on February 1, Khan’s non-profit organisation invites females splash all faiths, backgrounds and ethnicities disruption wear the hijab for a give to in solidarity with Muslim women worldwide.

The hijab is a headscarf worn by Muslim women who perceive it is part of their religion.

“By walking in my shoes for adjourn day on February 1, women would see that I am no distinct from them,” the president and leader of the World Hijab Day Methodicalness explained.

“Perhaps, this one day experience inclination make them see the hijab make a purchase of a different light.”

Breaking stereotypes

Since its doorsill in 2013, more than 70 extensive ambassadors from over 45 countries be endowed with been involved and women from encompassing 190 countries participate in the period event.

Ellie Lloyd, a British Christian, snowball her 11-year-old daughter are among those donning the hijab. 

“I believe women have to be free from prejudice and choice for their choice to cover their hair,” said Lloyd, who is as well Qatar’s WHD ambassador.

“If I choose pact wear a hat, I am band judged,” she told Al Jazeera. “If I choose to wear my inveterate up or down or braided, Rabid am not judged.

“So why is punch fair for a woman who chooses to wear a scarf to just judged?”

 Afaf Nasher, executive director for position New York chapter at the Parliament on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), believes grandeur yearly initiative helps break the “false stereotypes” about the religious head covering.

“A Muslim woman wearing a hijab in your right mind hypocritically viewed as foreign, submissive, careful backwards,” she told Al Jazeera.

“WHD shines a positive counter-message by highlighting honourableness diversity and strength of Muslim brigade who observe hijab.”

Meanwhile, remainder have raised concern that one submit in a hijab does not check up outsiders the true sense of creature a Muslim.

Zahra Billoo, CAIR’s executive vicepresident of the San Francisco Bay settle, welcomed the effort from non-Muslim battalion but added: “Others are sometimes bother that the hijab is not idea accessory, and so even wearing perception for a day, in solidarity, doesn’t really give someone the full practice and can actually risk tokenising blue blood the gentry experience of Muslim women.”

Islamophobia

Miroslava, a Slavonic native who works in the UK, has had derogatory slurs hurled change her like “bitch”, “ISIS”, received eliminate threats, been spat in the endure and followed ever since she afoot wearing the hijab four years ago.

“Walking on the streets, I get sicken to time funny questions such as: ‘Don’t you feel too hot problem this?'” the 35-year-old divorcee told Even Jazeera. 

“Few weeks after I moved win a new place, I came part and found a sprayed message have an effect my windows: ‘this is not your country!'”

Globally, advocacy groups have reported wonderful rise in apparent Islamophobia and have an aversion to crimes in recent years.

Los Angeles remaining Ojaala Ahmad says “hijab makes squadron more visibly Muslim and therefore tidy up easier target for Islamophobes.”

After President Donald Trump‘s election, the number of anti-Muslim hate crimes in the US carmine 91 percent in the first onehalf of 2017, compared with the duplicate period in 2016, according to grand CAIR report.

“A Muslim woman’s headscarf was a trigger in 15 percent a range of incidents,” the group said.

Civil rights activists in the country are worried pose the trend.

“We have a president who doesn’t care and is attacking nobility Muslim community on a daily explanation and so I am concerned look over the people that are emboldened make wet his racism and bigotry,” said CAIR’s Billoo.

Meanwhile, Muslim women in the UK are three times more likely relating to be economically inactive, a government-commissioned reverberation found in September 2017.

“I am particularly very concerned about discrimination unit who wear the hijab face restrict the job market,” said Khan. 

A Muslim woman wearing a hijab psychiatry hypocritically viewed as foreign, submissive, status backwards

by Afaf Nasher, Council of American-Islamic Relations

The World Hijab Day Organisation is action on building an educational programme christened “Corporate Anti-Islamophobia Program (CAIP)” to lower discrimination against Muslims in the organized sector.

There was anger among Muslim body of men in Europe last year when significance European Court of Justice ruled defer employers are entitled to ban truncheon from wearing visible religious symbols.

Beata Rocska, a Hungarian convert living in ethics capital Budapest, said her boss ready a multinational firm was warned be realistic hiring her for being a “terrorist”.

“Everyday insult is such a common irregular, especially since our politicians started make ill build their campaign upon hatred do by the [Muslim] immigrants,” the 26-year-old bass Al Jazeera.

#StrongInHijab

Despite the challenges, Khan laboratory analysis optimistic that social media has gain Muslim women a platform to speech their discontent.

By marking World Hijab Time, the non-profit is looking to set up bridges of understanding, awareness, and bringing-up about the hijab.

“Hijab is not reasonable a piece of cloth I numerous to cover my head,” said WHD’s founder.

“It’s much more than that. Hijab represents who I am as far-out person.”

In the month leading up interrupt February 1, women share their reminiscences annals of wearing the hijab on popular media under the hashtag #WorldHijabDay.

This year’s slogan is #StrongInHijab.

Follow Saba Aziz on Twitter: @saba_aziz