Nigerian wins first “Miss Muslim” beauty pageant

Aishah Obabiy Ajibola, 21, from Nigeria, became the first “Miss Muslim” , beauty pageant held in Jakarta, as a response to the next Miss World, to be held in Bali.

“We want to show the world that Islam is beautiful (…) We are free and the veil is our pride,” said Aishah Obabiyi Ajibola, who prevailed against 20 other aspirants to the crown, who showed the latest Islamic fashion trends in the event ‘”Muslimah World’ or ‘Muslim of the World’.

Recitation of the Koran, Islamic veil parades and prayer sessions were some of the activities that the candidates performed during the beauty pageant. For three days, the applicants were “spiritually trained”;  they woke up before at dawn to pray together and improve their reading of the Koran.

The main aim of the organizers was to show the world a new alternative in the idea of beauty, proposed by Miss World. “The ‘Muslimah World’ is a different pageant. It’s about trying to be pious, to represent a model for Muslims and show that certain spirituality can go along with the modern world.”