Bella Hadid has once again used her Instagram to speak up for Muslim women and it’s being praised world over.
The model uploaded a colourful picture of Muslim women, taken by her friend and photographer Taqwa Bint Ali.
The 25-year-old lamented that while the hijab was gaining some prominence in fashion campaigns, the daily struggles of Muslim women are largely ignored.
Earlier this month, Vogue France was criticised after praising Julia Fox for wearing a scarf, while the country bans hijabs in sports, often in schools, as well as the burqa and niqab.
Hadid, who regularly posts about Palestinian lives on social media, poignantly wrote: “Let’s still remember the daily struggle, abuse, and discrimination Muslim women face on a regular basis because of their faith and what they stand for.
The model continued: “I have seen first hand, the discrimination that people of colour and Muslim people face on a regular basis in fashion. I know many of my Muslim sisters have faced unfair projections of others. It’s biased, prejudice and straight up racist.”
Hadid recognised that she can’t speak for all Muslim women but noted that Islamophobia in fashion is rife.
“If we are seeing more and more appreciation of hijabs and covers in fashion, we have to also acknowledge the cycle of abuse that Muslim women of all different ethnicities in fashion get met with on a regular basis within fashion houses, especially In Europe and America,” she said.
“Stand up for your Muslim friends. If you see something, say something.”
Her friend’s vibrant image features Muslims of different ethnicities, wearing a rainbow of colourful attire.
And that’s what makes it so special, said the photographer. Hadid quoted Ali who said: “I decided to do this shoot because I never saw pictures of Muslim women smiling and colourful. I needed so much to create these images.
“I’ve always wanted desperately to see this type of image and this representation of my generation, so I didn’t want to wait any longer for it to fall from the sky and let people speak for us, I wanted to do it myself. By us for us.”
We can certainly do with more of this.