In the year 2017, Halima Aden made her debut on New York Fashion week for being the world’s first supermodel, only being 19 years of age at the time.
Aden, currently 23, was born in a Kenyan refugee camp in Somali, is considered to be the first of her kind to ever be featured in Vogue and Allure.
Being at the top of her career, Aden couldn’t help question her identity as a Muslim.
Signed to IMG Models, this woman shares her struggles through social media Instagram, in her Highlighted Stories – about how challenging it is to keep a grasp on herself, as a practicing Muslim, in the industry of models that are all about portraying their physique and beauty.
In those posts, she even mentions that she might have lost the values of being a ‘hijabi’ completely.
“As I’ve said many times… being a minority inside of a minority is never easy. Being a ‘hijabi’ is truly a journey with lots of highs and lows,” Aden said.
In the stories, Halima pinpointed how naïve and brain-washed she was being in the industry, where Muslim ‘hijabis’ have never been on.
Aden mentioned that she had a phase where she resented the ‘hijab’ because she just couldn’t fit in with the other models there.
Currently, 99% of the people in Somalia are Muslim.
Aden had realized that she had cared more about the opportunity given to her than what she was actually sacrificing in order to take that chance in the industry, all just to be more relevant to ‘modern times’.
Usually wearing long shirts and long dresses, she had been asked to wear compromising clothing that would damage her own faith in the name of fashion.
In one shoot, Aden even claimed to have ‘sobbed’ because of how uncomfortable she was after it.
The COVID-19 pandemic, for everyone else, has been a struggle and inconvenience, it has been an eye-opener for Halima to step back and re-evaluate herself.
Other celebrities like Gigi Hadid and Rihanna have supported her decision to stand firm with her views.
The reason she had the epiphany was because of her mother, that told her to “go correct it” because she was “good and blessed” before the fashion industry came to her.
Halima stressed about the standards she’s comfortable with – if she’s not given the option, she would not cooperate to work with them.
Her story inspired Muslim ‘hijabis’ all around the world, praising her for speaking up against the industry with her firm beliefs.
“Fashion can wait. My Deen cannot,” said Halima.
Source: Instagram @halima