Clothes are pictured inside a Marks and Spencers retail store in London. The retailer has started stocking burkinis – and some people aren't happy, writes Shelina Janmohamed (AFP PHOTO/SHAUN CURRY)
Clothes are pictured inside a Marks and Spencers retail store in London. The retailer has started stocking burkinis – and some people aren't happy, writes Shelina Janmohamed (AFP PHOTO/SHAUN CURRY)

Muslim fashion is about choice



In hindsight, the backlash against Muslim fashion was inevitable. All those Muslim women, deciding for themselves how they should dress. Not allowed.

It was triggered by a swimming costume, a burkini being sold in the United Kingdom by quintessentially English retail brand Marks & Spencer. The women’s rights minister in France, Laurence Rossignol, declared the all-over-body suit a form of “social control” and demanded that Muslim woman capitulate to her demands not to wear it. Irony doesn’t appear to translate into French.

To make matters worse, she compared Muslim women who cover up to “negroes who support slavery”. And thus was unleashed the imperialist mindset that lays claim to women’s bodies, and in particular to the bodies of women of colour and Muslim women.

This row is about more than just about a swimsuit. It’s about definitions of fashion, of beauty, of womanhood, and who gets to define them. It’s about who gets to express themselves on their own terms, and how every attempt at self-expression is shut down if it does not conform.

In the thick of the French row, Pierre Berge, a fashion designer and partner of Yves Saint Laurent, implied that only his kind of fashion is beautiful, to be covered is not beautiful.

The fashion industry is up in arms that Muslim women are creating a look for themselves and wish to buy it in designer and high street outlets. How dare ordinary women choose their own version of fashion and beauty. And what, wait, how much is it worth? A total of $474 billion (Dh1.7tn) by 2019. Young Muslim women, increasingly educated, employed and affluent, and – here’s the crux of it – increasingly proud to assert their identity as Muslims are creating a new fashion look and have money to spend.

If Muslim women can quite clearly be seen to be the mistresses of their own identity and destiny through something as straightforward as how they choose to dress, who then will be left to be “saved” by the politicians and their wars on the one hand, and by stern hardline Muslim traditionalists on the other?

For all of them, Muslim fashion is dangerous, because it normalises and humanises Muslim women. It gives Muslim women their own means to express their own identity on their own terms.

White, non-Muslim middle-class feminists also seem to be outraged by Muslim women determining their own identity. They believe that only one kind of womanhood, and one kind of feminism is allowed – their own. It makes them feel nervous or immodest to be around Muslim women they whine. Since when should a woman’s self-esteem be tied up in what someone else wears? And isn’t the point of feminism to support women’s choices? Itis racism dressed up as feminism.

And politicians couldn’t be happier to put down Muslim women’s legitimate choices of self-determination to win a few votes and make themselves look tough by interfering in fashion choices.

As always, no one is listening to what Muslim women themselves are saying. Berge said he wanted to “teach Muslim women to revolt”. Being told our choices are not beautiful, and that we don’t have the right to make them, now that’s what I find revolting.

Shelina Zahra Janmohamed is the author of Love in a Headscarf and blogs at www. spirit21.co.uk

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TRAP

Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue

Director: M Night Shyamalan

Rating: 3/5

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Jigra
Director: Vasan Bala
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
Rated: 3.5/5
Moon Music

Artist: Coldplay

Label: Parlophone/Atlantic

Number of tracks: 10

Rating: 3/5

If you go

The flights
There are various ways of getting to the southern Serengeti in Tanzania from the UAE. The exact route and airstrip depends on your overall trip itinerary and which camp you’re staying at. 
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Kilimanjaro International Airport from Dh1,350 return, including taxes; this can be followed by a short flight from Kilimanjaro to the Serengeti with Coastal Aviation from about US$700 (Dh2,500) return, including taxes. Kenya Airways, Emirates and Etihad offer flights via Nairobi or Dar es Salaam.   

APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)

Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits

Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine

Storage: 128/256/512GB

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Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps

Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID

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In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter

Price: From Dh2,099

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4pm: Al Bastakiya – Listed (TB) $150,000 (Dirt) 1,900m; Winner: Panadol, Mickael Barzalona (jockey), Salem bin Ghadayer (trainer)

4.35pm: Dubai City Of Gold – Group 2 (TB) $228,000 (Turf) 2,410m; Winner: Walton Street, William Buick, Charlie Appleby

5.10pm: Mahab Al Shimaal – Group 3 (TB) $228,000 (D) 1,200m; Winner: Canvassed, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson

5.45pm: Burj Nahaar – Group 3 (TB) $228,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Midnight Sands, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson

6.20pm: Jebel Hatta – Group 1 (TB) $260,000 (T) 1,800m; Winner: Lord Glitters, Daniel Tudhope, David O’Meara

6.55pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 – Group 1 (TB) $390,000 (D) 2,000m; Winner: Salute The Soldier, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass

7.30pm: Nad Al Sheba – Group 3 (TB) $228,000 (T) 1,200m; Winner: Final Song, Frankie Dettori, Saeed bin Suroor

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Mamo 

 Year it started: 2019 Founders: Imad Gharazeddine, Asim Janjua

 Based: Dubai, UAE

 Number of employees: 28

 Sector: Financial services

 Investment: $9.5m

 Funding stage: Pre-Series A Investors: Global Ventures, GFC, 4DX Ventures, AlRajhi Partners, Olive Tree Capital, and prominent Silicon Valley investors. 

 
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Joker: Folie a Deux

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson

Director: Todd Phillips 

Rating: 2/5

The biog

Favourite food: Fish and seafood

Favourite hobby: Socialising with friends

Favourite quote: You only get out what you put in!

Favourite country to visit: Italy

Favourite film: Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.

Family: We all have one!

UAE’s revised Cricket World Cup League Two schedule

August, 2021: Host - United States; Teams - UAE, United States and Scotland

Between September and November, 2021 (dates TBC): Host - Namibia; Teams - Namibia, Oman, UAE

December, 2021: Host - UAE; Teams - UAE, Namibia, Oman

February, 2022: Hosts - Nepal; Teams - UAE, Nepal, PNG

June, 2022: Hosts - Scotland; Teams - UAE, United States, Scotland

September, 2022: Hosts - PNG; Teams - UAE, PNG, Nepal

February, 2023: Hosts - UAE; Teams - UAE, PNG, Nepal

In%20the%20Land%20of%20Saints%20and%20Sinners
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