A Nigerian, Obabiyi
Aishah Ajibola, 21-year-old was crowned Miss World Muslimah during the finale
of an Islamic beauty pageant in Indonesia Wednesday, September 18, a riposte to
the Miss World contest that has sparked hard-line anger.
Aisha tearfully prayed and recited Koranic verses as
she was being crowned.The competition saw
participants judged not only on their appearance, but also their faithfulness
and Islamic knowledge and skills. Indonesia’s Noor Aspasia was named runner-up.
Hosted by Dewi Sandra, an
Indonesian actress and pop star who recently hung up her racy dresses for a
hijab, the pageant began with a choral performance of a song about modesty, one
of the traits judges looked for in the winner. Contestants also had to recite
the Koran.
Organizers say they want
to show Muslim women there is an alternative to the idea of beauty put forward
by the Miss World pageant which is currently underway in Bali and also want to
show that opposition to the event can be expressed none violently.
The pageant, which
featured Indonesian Islamic designer wear and popular bands, was openly
different way of protesting Miss World than the approach taken by Islamic
radicals.
More than 500 contestants
competed in the online rounds to get to the World Muslimah final in Indonesia,
one of which involved the contenders comparing stories of how they came to wear
the headscarf.
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” after the media began comparing it to Miss World. Hence, it was
rebranded as a Muslim alternative to the world-famous pageant.
Because of its
popularity, organizers accepted foreign contestants this year, with Iran,
Malaysia, Bangladesh, Brunei represented alongside Nigeria and Indonesia.
Contestants retold these
stories and answered questions from judges at the final. Aisha won 25 million rupiah ($2,179) and trips to Mecca
and India.
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| Some contestants |
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