Nigerian girl crowned winner of World Muslimah 2013

Jakarta: Islam is a religion of modesty and at the same time it gives required freedom to women which is totally in contrast to what is propagated against Islam and presented as myopic religion.

Jakarta: Islam is a religion of modesty and at the same time it gives required freedom to women which is totally in contrast to what is propagated against Islam and presented as myopic religion.

All false propaganda against Islam proved baseless, when a modest beauty contest was held in the capital of Nigeria last week among Muslim women and they all were covering their bodies and wearing headscarfs which is totally opposite to conventional beauty contests where women show their bodies by wearing almost no clothes.

The World Muslimah2013 beauty contest in Jakarta was won by a Nigerian girl who was wearing a headscarf and stilettos. In the contest, participants were judged not just on their looks but their ability to recite verses from the Holy Quran and their philosophy on modern-day Islam.

Nigerian winner, ObabiyiAishahAjibola, 21, dropped to her knees and thanked Almighty Allah before collecting a prize of 25 million rupiah (£1,375) and trips to Makkah and India.

She expressed, “We’re just trying to show the world that Islam is beautiful.”

The 500-plus contestants who originally competed for the crown answered a round of online questions about, among other things, their relationship with Islam, including when they first began wearing the headscarf – a requirement for the beauty pageant.

“Muslimah World” saw 20 finalists from six countries, including Bangladesh, Brunei, Iran, Malaysia, Indonesia and Nigeria, compete in a contest that has been billed as a non-violent answer to the Miss World pageant railed against by Islamic hardliners.

Thousands have protested in recent weeks against Indonesia hosting this year’s Miss World pageant, originally set in Jakarta for 28 September, but which has since been moved to the resort island of Bali, a Hindu enclave, amid public security concerns. Miss World contestants have also been banned from wearing bikinis and will instead wear sarongs in accordance with “what the public wanted”, Indonesia’s coordinating minister for people’s welfare, AngungLaksono, said.