The fragility of dreams from Muslim women: supermodel Halima

Halima, a model originally from Kenya, was born in a refugee camp, her parents were Somali Muslims, from whom she received her Muslim upbringing. When she turned seven, her family was granted asylum in the United States and settled in the state of Minnesota.

There, Halima Aden grew into a beautiful young Muslim girl with model-like measurements and a dark complexion, coupled with beautiful, delicate African features. She loved fashion and embraced the dream of being a model, to shape the idea of becoming a pioneer in the modelling world, thus being a model of Muslim faith parading without having to leave her Islamic dress (hijab). The dream finally came true.

Halima Aden was the first woman to wear a hijab (Islamic dress) in a beauty pageant, she did so at the Miss America/USA 2017 pageant as a representative of the state of Minnesota, where she was a semi-finalist. Since then, she has become a supermodel even though she did not show her body when she walked in the pageant.

After the pageant, Halima Aden signed with the IMG Models agency, starting her career as a model. At the age of 19, she made her debut on the catwalk with models from Kayne West's collection at New York Fashion Week.

From the very first moment she made clear her conditions for modelling; to always work with the hijab on, due to her religious beliefs and also to have her own personal space to change her clothes, conditions that have been granted, and with them the world of fashion and the catwalks proved to be a world without borders, where the religious condition should not be a handicap and that the human condition is what matters.

Halima Aden made history by becoming the first woman in hijab to star on the cover of Vogue, along with the covers of numerous magazines in press campaigns, being the first model to wear a 'burkini' in the swimming costume edition of Sports Illustrated magazine, becoming a reference for young Muslim women, a young woman of Islamic faith who has encouraged new generations of Muslims demonstrating that beyond religion and ideology dreams can come true.

Everything seems idyllic in Halima Aden's story, until the pandemic arrived and with it an expected ideologised reading of it (the pandemic is Allah's punishment for not following his way, the pandemic is a soldier of Allah to punish those who do not follow his precepts, etc.). ); throughout the Islamic world, and as a shockwave, an ideological torment gripped many Muslims, bringing out a deep-seated sense of guilt, deep frustration at having failed Allah and not having lived up to the religion, hence the imperative and urgent need for "TAWBA" (surrender to Allah) and a return to the "Straight Path" of Allah.

The pandemic brought all that to the surface and brought to the fore in the figure of Halima the veracity of openness to modernity and freedom for Muslim women, exposing how deeply rooted some radical and macho mental schemes are, despite the open education, diverse environment, better universities .....

At just 23 years old, Halima, the Muslim supermodel announced on social media that she was stepping away from fashion and abandoning the catwalks, expressing herself through her Instagram stories where she is followed by more than a million followers. 

The pandemic has allowed her to reflect, Halima says: "I can only blame myself for worrying about the opportunities than what was really at stake... Thanks to COVID and the breakup of the industry...I have finally realised where I went wrong in my journey with the hijab (Islamic dress)," explaining that her mother's pleas have made her "open her eyes". "My mum asked me to stop parading and give up modelling a long time ago. I wish I hadn't been defensive with her."

Halima's statements are very clear, she is not happy with herself despite the fact that she has paraded in Islamic clothing and despite the fact that the whole industry has given in to her conditions.

With the pandemic, as with many Muslims, Halima's sense of guilt surfaced and all those beautiful feelings of her achieved dreams were left behind, giving way to the power of deep mental frameworks woven from a set of harmful religious maxims that survive subtly at the heart of the sources of Islam, Hadithes that outline the stereotype of the Muslim woman (how she is and how she should be).

With immense pain, she explains that she has betrayed her beliefs, expressing her dissatisfaction with some of the campaigns she participated in, such as the 2017 promotion for American Eagle.  She painfully says: "Why did I allow them to let me wear jeans when at the time I had only worn long skirts and dresses? I was so desperate at the time for any representation that I lost touch with who I was." It seems like a trivial and absurd comment perceived by a Western mind, but perceived through the lens of the Islamic worldview and religious codes, it has a basis and a reason.

The hijab should in no way resemble the dress of infidel women, that is a code internalised by the Muslim woman, whether she practices it or not, and a jean in this case (Halima's case) is the symbol of Western culture, the culture of the infidels.  According to Islamic sources, Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-Aas, may Allah be pleased with him, said to the messenger of Allah, peace be upon him (referring to some garments he had seen), he said: "These are garments for infidels, do not wear them".

Halima says that during a photo shoot for Glamour magazine she excitedly wore her hijab, decorated with green fabric and feathers, and now regrets it: "I went back to my hotel room and cried after that shoot, because deep down I knew it wasn't like that".

Just as in the previous reflection this last one is a product of disappointment with herself and a deep sense of guilt; the sources of Islam say; "Abdullah ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, said: the messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said, whoever wears a garment with the intention of fame, vanity in the world, Allah will clothe him with a garment of humiliation on the Day of Resurrection and then the fire will perish".

Halima said in another message: "I was so desperate to have any 'representation' that I lost touch with my identity," and in another message where she was wearing a scarf encrusted with crystals, she added: "I should have left the set because it was obvious that the stylist did not have a woman in hijab in mind.  With these messages and many others, Halima argued her withdrawal, leaving behind her dreams, and so did many women whose dreams have been defeated by the weight of poisoned mental frameworks that destroy any attempt at real openness to modernity.

While the religious codes that forge the mental schemes referring to women and subtly enclosed in the heart of the sources of Islam bear the following resemblance; the sources of Islam say describing the woman who can gain paradise: "If a woman prays her fifth day, fasts her month, keeps her chastity and obeys her husband, it will be said to her: Enter Paradise through the gates you desire".

They also say: "Any woman who dies while her husband is satisfied with her will enter Paradise".

The progress of the Halimas of the world towards their dreams is fragile, superficial, deceptive and can break at any moment.