Days before the 2024 Olympic Games opening ceremony is held in Paris, France came under fire from sports and civil rights organizations. On 24 September 2023, sports minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra announced a ban prohibiting the wearing of hijabs by athletes representing the country. In recent weeks she has doubled down on the decision.

Though French sporting authorities have expressed a commitment to the Olympic values of “excellence, respect and friendship”, groups including Human Rights Watch and the Sport & Rights Alliance have called out the “discriminatory hypocrisy” of prohibiting the wearing of headscarves by national sportspeople. The ruling has a direct effect on French Muslim athletes including basketball players Salimata Sylla and Helene Ba, who have both previously worn hijabs while competing.

“How can such values be embraced when the French authorities’ efforts to improve gender equality and inclusivity in sports do not apply to one group of women and girls?” asked Amnesty International in an article about the decision.

While the ban only applies to French athletes, sports campaign groups warn that it violates the rights of Muslim women and girls, and has a “devastating impact on their participation in sport”.

Here are some trailblazing athletes from around the world who will be wearing hijabs at Paris 2024.

Tina Rahimi, Australia

When she steps into the ring in Paris, Tina Rahimi (pictured above) will be the first female Muslim boxer to represent Australia at the Olympic Games. That achievement comes two years after winning bronze at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Despite only taking up boxing as a hobby in 2017, Rahimi now has her sights set on gold in the women’s featherweight contest.

Taking part in combat sports as a hijabi woman has not been easy for Rahimi. In a recent interview, she described repeated experiences of discrimination. She has also expressed her frustration with the French authorities’ decision on Instagram.

“It’s so unfortunate for the athletes in France because [wearing the hijab] has nothing to do with your performance and it should not get in the way of you being an athlete,” she said.

“It’s so hard to be an Olympic athlete and to think that you have to give away your faith to participate in these events. Everyone should be equal — how is my hijab going to affect anything?”

Safiya al-Sayegh, United Arab Emirates

At just 22, Emirati cyclist Safiya al-Sayegh is the first woman cyclist from the United Arab Emirates to compete in the Olympic road race. Her sporting journey began eight years ago, when she and her father took bike rides around their neighborhood together.

Al-Sayegh has come a long way since then. In 2023 she took part in her first UCI Women’s World Tour event with the professional UAE Team ADQ and travelled to Hangzhou, China, to compete in the Asian Games.

Now she hopes to be in the running for a medal in Paris. As she explained in a recent interview: “I am trying to pave a way that no other woman ever did in my country, which is a privilege and a big responsibility, too. I’d like to set the standard high and do my best for whoever wants to follow.”

Nahid Kiani, Iran

When Nahid Kiani steps onto the mat in Paris, she will be representing Iran in taekwondo at the Olympic Games. Kiani, who began practicing taekwondo at the age of eight, has an impressive track record. She won the gold medal in the women’s bantamweight event at the 2023 World Taekwondo Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan. Kiani also secured bronze medals at the 2016 Asian Championships and the 2018 Asian Games.

Competing as a hijabi athlete has presented its challenges for Kiani. She has faced discrimination and has been vocal about the importance of allowing athletes to compete without compromising their religious beliefs. “It’s not just about winning medals; it’s about representing my faith and my country with pride,” she has said. Kiani is determined to make her mark in the women’s 57kg taekwondo competition in Paris.

Dunya Abutaleb, Saudi Arabia

Starting out in taekwondo at eight years old, Saudi champion Dunya Abutaleb trained at a boys’ club because there were no girls to compete with. Now 27, she is the first Saudi Arabian woman to earn an Olympic team place to compete in the sport.

Abutaleb’s competition record is impressive, winning bronze medals at the 2022 World Taekwondo Championships in Guadalajara, Mexico, and at the 2022 Asian Championships. She is now determined to shine in the Olympic women’s 49kg competition.

“Being the first woman is a great challenge for me — when I achieve in my sport, I don’t do it only in my name. I do it in the name of Saudi Arabia,” she has said.

Marwa Bouzayani, Tunisia

Tunisian 3,000m steeplechaser Marwa Bouzayani is gearing up for her second Olympics in Paris. At the 2020 Tokyo Games, she came in sixth place. No doubt, she will be hoping to improve on that performance this year.

Bouzayani, who competes in a hijab and modest attire, has said she hopes to be a role model for Muslim girls, showing them “that success in elite sports can be realized without forsaking religious values and beliefs”.

Farzaneh Fasihi, Iran

Farzaneh Fasihi, Iran’s record-breaking sprinter, will be competing in the 100-meter sprint at the Paris Olympics. Born in Isfahan, Fasihi has been a trailblazer in Iranian athletics. She holds the national record for the 60 meters indoor with a time of 7.20 seconds. Fasihi’s journey has been marked by perseverance and resilience, overcoming numerous obstacles to reach the pinnacle of her sport.

Fasihi’s achievements include winning gold in the 60 meters at the 2023 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan. She has also competed in the 2020 Summer Olympics and the 2023 World Athletics Championships. “Every race is a testament to my hard work and dedication,” Fasihi has said. She hopes to inspire other Muslim girls to pursue their dreams without compromising their values.

Source: Hyphen

Islamic Law and Society: The Practice of Iftā’ and Religious Institutions

By Emine Enise Yakar

Publisher: Routledge

Publication Date: May 31, 2023

ISBN: 9781032103808

This book places context at the core of the Islamic mechanism of iftā’ to better understand the process of issuing fatwās in Muslim and non-Muslim countries, thus highlighting the connection between context and contemporaneity, on one hand, and the adaptable perception of Islamic law, on the other.

The practice of iftā’ is one of the most important mechanisms of Islamic law that keeps Islamic thought about ethical and legal issues in harmony with the demands, exigencies and developments of time. This book builds upon the existing body of work related to the practice of iftā’, but takes the discussion beyond the current debates with the intent of unveiling the interaction between Islamic legal methodologies and different environmental contexts. The book specifically addresses the three institutions (Saudi Arabia’s Dār al-Iftā’, Turkey’s Diyanet and America’s FCNA) and their Islamic legal opinions (fatwās) in a comparative framework. This demonstrates the existence of complex and diverse ideas around similar issues within contemporary Islamic legal opinions that is further complicated by the influence of international, social, political, cultural and ideological contexts. The book thus unveils a more complicated range of interactive constituents in the process of the practice of iftā’ and its outputs, fatwās.

The work will be of interest to academics and researchers working in the areas of Islamic law, Middle Eastern studies, religion and politics.

Table of Contents:

• Chapter 1: General Presidency of Scholarly Research and Iftā’ (Dār Al- Iftā’) In Saudi Arabia
• Chapter 2: Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) In Turkey
• Chapter 3: The Fiqh Council of North America (FCNA) In America
• Chapter 4: A General Comparison Related to Madhhab Affiliation and Social Values
• Chapter 5: A General Comparison from The Point of Legal and Political Systems

About the Author:

Emine Enise Yakar completed her BA in the Faculty of Theology, Ankara University, Turkey, in 2010. She received her MA and PhD from the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, the University of Exeter, UK, in 2014 and 2018, respectively. She is specifically interested in the interaction between Islamic legal methodologies and social context to provide insight into the flexible, practicable and applicable dimensions of Islamic law in both Muslim and non-Muslim countries. Currently, she is Assistant Professor of Islamic law at Recep Tayyip Erdogan University, Turkey.

Source: Routledge

One of the artifacts that caught visitors’ attention is the replica of the Prophet Muhammad’s footwear, which became a replica of the original sandals in the 13th century, according to the history of the Moroccan hadith scholar Ibn Asaker in 1287.

Local Saudi media reported that artisans from Andalusia produced the replica sandals on display. These copies are usually distributed to Hadith scholars in Islamic capitals, where scholars are responsible for preserving and transmitting the teachings and Hadith of the Prophet (SAW). Exhibits also include fabrics from the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah, manuscripts, and valuables of the Prophet.

As reported by Gulf News, the replica is part of other items on display at the recently opened exhibition at the King Abdulaziz World Cultural Center (Ithra) in the Eastern Province.

The exhibition started on July 31 and is planned to last for nine months and will be moving around cities in Saudi Arabia, such as Riyadh, Jeddah, and Madinah. Saudi Gazette reported that the Emir of the Eastern Province, Prince Saud bin Naif inaugurated the exhibition recently. The show was attended by dignitaries, researchers of Islamic art and history, intellectuals, and guests worldwide.

Al-Rashed, Director of Ithra, further explained that the exhibition would display a collection of antiques, 14 interactive stops beautifully designed by local and foreign experts, a documentary, and a book that tells the story of the “hijrah.” The “Hijrah” marks the start of the Islamic calendar.

Source: The Islamic Information

As findings show, substantial portions of Western respondents in the survey perceived a clash between Islam and the values of society in their country.

This included nearly half of respondents in France (46%) and Germany (47%), and a plurality in the United States (36%) and Britain (38%) who chose this statement. Notably smaller portions chose the alternative statement – that Islam is generally compatible with the values of society in their country – including 22% in France, 20% in Germany, 17% in the United States and 24% in Britain.

In a separate survey experiment for the purpose of comparison, only 14% of US respondents perceived such a clash with Buddhism, with similar or matching results for Sikhism (15%) and Hinduism (14%). Likewise, only 6% of British respondents perceived a values clash with Buddhism, while just 8% said the same for both Sikhism and Hinduism.

In other results, general impressions of Islam were comparatively less favorable than that of other world religions among significant numbers of Western respondents.

For instance, all four Western samples had a discernibly higher number of respondents who felt unfavorable to Islam, compared with other religions.

Source: YouGov