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World Hijab Day is an annual event founded by Nazma Khan in 2013,[1] taking place on 1 February each year in 140 countries worldwide.[2] Its stated purpose is to encourage women of all religions and backgrounds to wear and experience the hijab for a day and to educate and spread awareness on why hijab is worn.[3] Nazma Khan said her goal was also to promote wider acceptance of hijab wearing as well as combating religious discrimination.[4]
Nazma Khan, a Bangladeshi-American, launched World Hijab Day (WHD) in 2013. She said that her aim was "to raise awareness and normalize the wearing of a hijab." Khan added that she launched the day due hoping for "foster[ing] religious tolerance" given experiences of facing "discrimination and bullying in school and university by being spat on, chased, kicked and called a “terrorist”." This way, other women would not have the same experiences as "she had to endure."[4]
Since its inception, World Hijab Day has invited women from all faiths and backgrounds to wear the hijab on February 1st in solidarity with Muslim women worldwide. The initiative seeks to combat stereotypes about Muslim women and address the growing concerns of Islamophobia, especially in light of laws perceived as discriminatory like Quebec's Bill 21,[10] which bans religious symbols, and violent anti-Muslim incidents.[4][11]
A. J. Caschetta criticizes the choice of February 1 for World Hijab Day as distasteful, arguing that it coincides with Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's 1979 return to Iran from exile to lead the Iranian revolution and its enforcement of mandatory hijab laws.[14] Caschetta argues that while the hijab is promoted in the West as a symbol of the right to choose one's clothing, the same advocacy is lacking for women who are persecuted for refusing to wear the hijab.[14]
Maryam Namazie, a vocal ex-Muslim and campaigner, criticized World Hijab Day, arguing that it is a "form of oppression".[15] In his own opinion piece published in 2017, Maajid Nawaz suggested that the name be changed to "Hijab is a Choice Day".[16]
In 2018, Canadian activist Yasmine Mohammed started a #NoHijabDay campaign in response, World Hijab Day, framing it as a way to highlight women who have resisted societal pressure and state mandates to remove the hijab.[17]
Social media
World Hijab Day has largely been promoted through social media. Campaigners promote the day with hashtags such as #EmpoweredinHijab.[18][19]
Raihanah, M. M. (2017). " ‘World Hijab Day’: Positioning the Hijabi in Cyberspace". In Seen and Unseen. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004357013_007
Rahbari, Ladan (2021), In Her Shoes: Transnational Digital Solidarity With Muslim Women, or the Hijab?. Tijds. voor econ. en Soc. Geog., 112: 107–120. https://doi.org/10.1111/tesg.12376
Oren, Elizabeth. “Culture in a Murky World: Hijab Trends in Jihadi Popular Culture.” The Cyber Defense Review, vol. 3, no. 3, Army Cyber Institute, 2018, pp. 83–92, JSTOR26554999
Anouar El Younssi (2018) Maajid Nawaz, Irshad Manji, and the Call for a Muslim Reformation, Politics, Religion & Ideology, 19:3, 305–325, doi:10.1080/21567689.2018.1524327
Ghumkhor Sahar . (2020) The Confessional Body. In: The Political Psychology of the Veil. Palgrave Studies in Political Psychology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32061-4_6
^Spurgeon, Andrew B. (14 August 2016). Twin Cultures Separated by Centuries: An Indian Reading of 1 Corinthians. Langham Publishing. p. 196. ISBN978-1-78368-139-6. Ghoonghat (also ghunghat or jhund) is the Hindi word used for a veil or a scarf that a woman in northern India wears to cover her head or face (in states such as Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Assam). Sometimes the end of a sari or dupatta (a long scarf) is pulled over the head or face to function as a ghoonghat.
^Ahmad, A. S., King, E. B.(2010). An experimental field study of interpersonal discrimination toward Muslim job applicants. Personnel Psychology, 63(4), 881–906
