Nigerian wins World Muslim beauty
pageant
on september 18, 2013 at 6:47 pm in
showtime people
JAKARTA (AFP) – A Nigerian woman
tearfully prayed and recited Koranic
verses as she won a beauty pageant
exclusively for Muslim women in the
Indonesian capital Wednesday, a
riposte to the Miss World contest that
has sparked hardline anger.
The 20 finalists, who were all required
to wear headscarves, put on a glittering
show for the final of Muslimah World,
strolling up and down a catwalk in
elaborately embroidered dresses and
stilettos.
INDONESIA, JAKARTA : The newly
crowned the Muslimah World 2013
Obabiyi Aishah Ajibola (C) of Nigeria
speaks to audience during the
Muslimah World competition in Jakarta
on September 18, 2013. The finale of a
beauty pageant exclusively for Muslim
women was set to take place in the
Indonesian capital on September 18, in
a riposte to the Miss World contest in
Bali that has drawn fierce opposition
from Islamic radicals. AFP PHOTO
But the contestants from six countries
were covered from head to foot, and as
well as beauty they were judged on how
well they recited Koranic verses and
their views on Islam in the modern
world.
After a show in front of an audience of
mainly religious scholars and devout
Muslims, a panel of judges picked
Obabiyi Aishah Ajibola from Nigeria as
the winner.
While the event in a Jakarta shopping
mall paled in comparison to Miss World
on the resort island of Bali, in which
scores of contestants are competing,
Ajibola was nevertheless overwhelmed.
Upon hearing her name, the 21-year-old
knelt down and prayed, then wept as
she recited a Koranic verse.
She said it was “thanks to almighty
Allah” that she had won the contest.
She received 25 million rupiah ($2,200)
and trips to Mecca and India as prizes.
Ajibola told AFP before the final that the
event “was not really about
competition”.
“We’re just trying to show the world
that Islam is beautiful,” she said.
Organisers said the pageant challenged
the idea of beauty put forward by the
British-run Miss World pageant, and
also showed that opposition to the
event could be expressed non-violently.
Eka Shanti, who founded the pageant
three years ago after losing her job as a
TV news anchor for refusing to remove
her headscarf, bills the contest as
“Islam’s answer to Miss World”.
“This year we deliberately held our
event just before the Miss World final to
show that there are alternative role
models for Muslim women,” she told
AFP.
“But it’s about more than Miss World.
Muslim women are increasingly working
in the entertainment industry in a
sexually explicit way, and they become
role models, which is a concern.”
Hosted by Dewi Sandra, an Indonesian
actress and pop star who recently hung
up her racy dresses for a headscarf, the
pageant featured both Muslim and pop
music performances, including one
about modesty, a trait the judges
sought in the winner.
The pageant, which also featured bright
Indonesian Islamic designer wear, is a
starkly different way of protesting Miss
World than the approach taken by
Islamic radicals.
Snowballing protest movement
Thousands have taken to the streets in
Indonesia in recent weeks to protest
Miss World, denouncing the contest as
“pornography” and burning effigies of
the organisers.
Despite a pledge by Miss World
organisers to drop the famous bikini
round, radical anger was not appeased
and the protest movement snowballed.
The government eventually bowed to
pressure and ordered the whole
pageant be moved to the Hindu-
majority island of Bali, where it opened
on September 8.
Later rounds and the September 28
final were to be held in and around
Jakarta, where there is considerable
hardline influence.
But there are still fears that extremists
may target the event — the US, British
and Australian embassies in Jakarta
have warned their nationals in recent
days of the potential for radical attacks.
More than 500 contestants competed in
online rounds to get to the Muslimah
World final in Indonesia, one of which
involved the contenders comparing
stories of how they came to wear the
headscarf.
The contest was first held in 2011
under a different name and was only
open to Indonesians, Shanti said, but
after the media began comparing it to
Miss World, it was rebranded as a
Muslim alternative to the world-famous
pageant.
Because of its popularity, organisers
accepted foreign contestants this year
for the first time, with Iran, Malaysia,
Bangladesh, Brunei, Nigeria and
Indonesia represented.
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pageant
on september 18, 2013 at 6:47 pm in
showtime people
JAKARTA (AFP) – A Nigerian woman
tearfully prayed and recited Koranic
verses as she won a beauty pageant
exclusively for Muslim women in the
Indonesian capital Wednesday, a
riposte to the Miss World contest that
has sparked hardline anger.
The 20 finalists, who were all required
to wear headscarves, put on a glittering
show for the final of Muslimah World,
strolling up and down a catwalk in
elaborately embroidered dresses and
stilettos.
INDONESIA, JAKARTA : The newly
crowned the Muslimah World 2013
Obabiyi Aishah Ajibola (C) of Nigeria
speaks to audience during the
Muslimah World competition in Jakarta
on September 18, 2013. The finale of a
beauty pageant exclusively for Muslim
women was set to take place in the
Indonesian capital on September 18, in
a riposte to the Miss World contest in
Bali that has drawn fierce opposition
from Islamic radicals. AFP PHOTO
But the contestants from six countries
were covered from head to foot, and as
well as beauty they were judged on how
well they recited Koranic verses and
their views on Islam in the modern
world.
After a show in front of an audience of
mainly religious scholars and devout
Muslims, a panel of judges picked
Obabiyi Aishah Ajibola from Nigeria as
the winner.
While the event in a Jakarta shopping
mall paled in comparison to Miss World
on the resort island of Bali, in which
scores of contestants are competing,
Ajibola was nevertheless overwhelmed.
Upon hearing her name, the 21-year-old
knelt down and prayed, then wept as
she recited a Koranic verse.
She said it was “thanks to almighty
Allah” that she had won the contest.
She received 25 million rupiah ($2,200)
and trips to Mecca and India as prizes.
Ajibola told AFP before the final that the
event “was not really about
competition”.
“We’re just trying to show the world
that Islam is beautiful,” she said.
Organisers said the pageant challenged
the idea of beauty put forward by the
British-run Miss World pageant, and
also showed that opposition to the
event could be expressed non-violently.
Eka Shanti, who founded the pageant
three years ago after losing her job as a
TV news anchor for refusing to remove
her headscarf, bills the contest as
“Islam’s answer to Miss World”.
“This year we deliberately held our
event just before the Miss World final to
show that there are alternative role
models for Muslim women,” she told
AFP.
“But it’s about more than Miss World.
Muslim women are increasingly working
in the entertainment industry in a
sexually explicit way, and they become
role models, which is a concern.”
Hosted by Dewi Sandra, an Indonesian
actress and pop star who recently hung
up her racy dresses for a headscarf, the
pageant featured both Muslim and pop
music performances, including one
about modesty, a trait the judges
sought in the winner.
The pageant, which also featured bright
Indonesian Islamic designer wear, is a
starkly different way of protesting Miss
World than the approach taken by
Islamic radicals.
Snowballing protest movement
Thousands have taken to the streets in
Indonesia in recent weeks to protest
Miss World, denouncing the contest as
“pornography” and burning effigies of
the organisers.
Despite a pledge by Miss World
organisers to drop the famous bikini
round, radical anger was not appeased
and the protest movement snowballed.
The government eventually bowed to
pressure and ordered the whole
pageant be moved to the Hindu-
majority island of Bali, where it opened
on September 8.
Later rounds and the September 28
final were to be held in and around
Jakarta, where there is considerable
hardline influence.
But there are still fears that extremists
may target the event — the US, British
and Australian embassies in Jakarta
have warned their nationals in recent
days of the potential for radical attacks.
More than 500 contestants competed in
online rounds to get to the Muslimah
World final in Indonesia, one of which
involved the contenders comparing
stories of how they came to wear the
headscarf.
The contest was first held in 2011
under a different name and was only
open to Indonesians, Shanti said, but
after the media began comparing it to
Miss World, it was rebranded as a
Muslim alternative to the world-famous
pageant.
Because of its popularity, organisers
accepted foreign contestants this year
for the first time, with Iran, Malaysia,
Bangladesh, Brunei, Nigeria and
Indonesia represented.
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