Beaten for the Beauty.

Emma and Zohra

Fashion icons. Glamour models. ‘Sex symbols’. When it comes to Islam, all these are considered to be the opposite of what women should be.

25-year-old Shanna Bukhari was the first Muslim to enter a global beauty contest hoping to represent Britain. However, this lead to a very rough journey for the budding model. The decision to take part in this contest resulted in many death threats, verbal abuse and countless hate mail. Does she deserve this abuse just for following her dreams?

Her decision, her appearance in relation to clothing which included bikinis and short dresses led to this big controversy for Muslims who were against her ‘flaunting her body’ in front of many people. Many newspapers and magazines published this issue, one being The Sun ­– “And hidden among the hundreds of positive online messages Miss Universe GB contestant Shanna receives daily, lurk others containing abuse and labelling her “sinful.” The majority of the people involved in the abuse came from Muslims who as stated in The Guardian say that she is “denigrating the name of Islam” and also that “an Asian cannot represent the UK.”

Although it can be understandable as to why these extremists went to such levels of violation towards her, it could be argued that they became an obstacle in her career. Feminists argue that religion as a whole is oppressive and in this case, they would be opposed to restricted career opportunities for women. Is it right for a woman to be stopped from expressing herself? I mean, surely a woman has that much of a right to do what she wishes? Shanna defended herself by saying that she wanted to “represent all young women whatever background they are from” which Feminists would definitely agree with and support her in.

Z - As a Muslim myself, in some ways I do understand why Shanna received such abuse although I do believe that it was too extreme in my eyes as someone doesn’t deserve to be receiving such disturbing death threats and hate mail. In my opinion, I think it was inappropriate of her to wear revealing dresses which led the Muslims to react in such a way. In Islam, women should be dressed appropriately, covering their body and protecting their dignity to prevent them from being perceived as ‘sex symbols’. Despite saying this, I do think that Muslim women should not be restricted from pursuing careers such as modeling as long as they dress and behave modestly and always keep Islam as their main priority as going against the morals of Islam will be the wrong decision to make.

E – Because I am someone who believes religion isn’t necessary in life, I believe that Shanna had complete free will, even though she was of the Islamic faith. She has the ability to choose and do as she wishes but must deal with the consequences. As she is a Muslim woman the consequences of her choice were quite high such as the death threats and disturbing abuse. Personally, I think that many religions oppress both men and women and can stop them from achieving their personal life goals. Her choice of becoming a model within a global beauty contest meant she was judged and labelled by those of the same faith. If religion promotes social solidarity then surely people shouldn’t be restricted and judged by others.

Watch the Video...