Al Haqeeqa
During a time when the majority of the government is made of White male faces and Trump’s administration makes it increasingly difficult for non-White, non-Christians to succeed in the United States, here are three Muslim women of color that serve as a breath of fresh air. These Muslim women are direct challenges to the establishment that you need to know:
1. Ibtihaj Muhammad
Muhammad is an Olympic fencer who is most known for being the first Muslim American to wear a hijab while competing on behalf of the United States in the Olympics. Muhammad has taken on a new role and become the icon for many young Muslim women by presenting the world with the first Hijabi barbie modeled after herself. Muhammad said, “Today I am proud to know that little girls wearing a hijab and, just as powerful, those who don’t, can play with Barbie in a headscarf.”
2. Afaf Nasher
Nasher is the current Executive Director of CAIR-NY and has been making noise against injustice for years. However, recently she has become a pivotal voice for the Muslim community speaking out more and more against the Muslim Ban and other legislative injustices committed against Muslims as well as other communities.
3. Linda Sarsour
Linda Sarsour, activist and former head of the Arab American Association of New York, hit mainstream headlines by being one of five women who spearheaded the Women’s March after Donald Trump’s election. Sarsour does not believe that everyone has to agree but instead, that everyone believing in the same things is a sign of failure. “So, if your expectations are to show up to a movement believing that we’re all going to believe the same things, then the movement has already failed,” she says.
These three women have stood up in a political climate where being Muslim might as well be a crime, and being Muslim women of color standing up against justice and equality is no easier.
