“I fight the prejudices by boxing with my headscarf,” says this Hijabi Muslim German Boxer.
Yes, it’s true! The rules have been rewritten for boxing and it’s official that women can practice it; who wish to wear the hijab. The acceptance of hijab and its recognition has been increasing since quite some time now. For instance, the shows; Skam and Elite signify a similar phenomenon in terms of Muslim representation.
The International Boxing Association (AIBA) has amended their guidelines to allow female boxers to wear hijabs at international competitions “should they want to due to religious reasons,” Harpers Bazaar Arabia reported on February 20.
Nike Pro Hijab ambassador Zeina Nassar in light of AIBA’s historic announcement which was released at the Executive Committee Meeting in Istanbul, Turkey on the 9th of February. The German Muslim boxer played a major role in reforming the discriminatory rule, after fighting and winning the right to box in her home country. The five-time German boxing champion expressed:
“I always had to fight them because I had to hear that women with headscarves are not educated, are forced to wear the headscarf and have no freedom. I prove them wrong, those are only clichés.”
In fact, AIBA is currently led by the Uzbek Muslim president Gafur Rakhimov who has been the Vice President of AIBA since 1998.
There has been this fierce battle for Hijab and many people have made history striving. The restriction on hijab in boxing became most notably after the case of the 15-year-old American boxer, Amaiya Zafar. Shirzanan, an activist group for the rights of female Muslim athletes worldwide, has successfully lobbied on behalf of this issue and continues to fight for other sports to drop their restrictions ahead of the 2020 Games in Tokyo, Japan. Interestingly, the American fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad made history at Rio 2016 Games as the first Muslim American woman to wear a hijab while competing.
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May Allah (SWT) gives us and our fellow Muslims the strength to face difficulties with Patience! We pray that this discrimination is catered effectively in other fields for Muslims as well
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Source: About Islam
