WATERFORD – A Technology institute in Waterford, south-east of Ireland, will be hosting a special cultural event to mark the World Hijab Day next February 1, inviting students to don the hijab and chat with successful Muslim women who wear the Islamic attire.

“With increasing anti-immigrant sentiment around the world, it is really important to have an event like this,” Colette Colfer, lecturer in world religions at Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT), told Irish Examiner on Wednesday, January 18.

“Muslim women are far more likely to experience discrimination and prejudice if they are wearing the hijab.

“I know Irish women who have been told to go back to ‘their own country’ when they have been wearing a hijab,” Colfer said.

The event, next Wednesday, February 1, is planned by the Religious Studies and Theology Group at WIT.

The cultural event include an assortment of hijabs on display, and the Muslim women will be happy to show anyone how to wear a hijab and the different styles available.

WIT student union president, Michelle Byrne, will be among the women invited to visit the stall and try on a headscarf.

On February 1, millions Muslim and non-Muslim women don a traditional Islamic hijab to mark World Hijab Day.

The World Hijab Day, planned for the fifth consecutive year, is the brain child of a New York resident, Nazma Khan, who came up with the idea as a means to foster religious tolerance and understanding.

Suggesting the event, Khan wanted to encourage non-Muslim women to don the hijab and experience it before judging Muslim women.

Inspiration

The event will be attended by some successful Muslim women who wear the hijab to answer the students’ questions.

Speakers in the main auditorium on the day will include Muslim feminist and academic, Dr Rachel Woodlock; local Muslim convert Brigid Aylward; and Muslim businesswoman and photographer, Bara Alich.

Dr Woodlock, originally from Australia, is a convert to Islam from the Baha’i faith. She now lives near Clonmel with her Tipperary husband and their daughter.

Aylward is from Mullinavat, Co Kilkenny. She converted to Islam from Catholicism about eight years ago and after two years decided to wear the hijab.

She works as a nurse in the Paediatric Department in Waterford Regional Hospital. Last year she was awarded a master’s degree in nursing from WIT.

Alich, originally from the Czech Republic, converted to Islam eight years ago. She will speak about being a Muslim businesswoman who wears the hijab and some of the challenges she has faced over the years.

Colfer added some Muslim women believe that although the principles of modesty are clearly outlined in the Qur’an, they perceive the wearing of the headscarf as a cultural interpretation of the scriptures.

“They would interpret what is said in the Qur’an as meaning that they should cover and they should be modest.”