Fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad broke a barrier in Rio this week when she became the first woman to compete for the U.S. Olympic team while wearing a hijab. She lost her first competition, but has won over the world in other ways, becoming an ambassador of sorts for Muslim women.
“Anyone who has paid attention to the news would know the importance of having a Muslim woman on Team USA,” said Muhammad, who will make another appearance in the team competition on Saturday. “It’s challenging those misconceptions that people have about who the Muslim woman is.”
Across the pond, Britain’s Nadiya Hussain offers a similar message. Hussain, who gained fame after appearing on the popular reality TV show The Great British Bake Off , told The Times it was initially “incidental” that she wore a headscarf on the show. Hussain—who is so well known in Britain now she is simply called “Nadiya”—also told the Radio Times that at first, she worried “that perhaps people would look at me, a Muslim in a headscarf, and wonder if I could bake.” After a while, her concern died down. “The feedback I have had reveals how accepting people are of different cultures and religions,” Hussain said, adding that British society is “tolerant and accepting.”
Powerful words. Yet Muhammad also recently revealed she was followed home in New York City by someone who tried to report her to the police. History has been made. But clearly, there’s still more work to be done to do away with false perceptions of Muslim women.