At the time of a global pandemic, maintaining fitness could be a challenge for many. For Muslim women, the challenge is even bigger with the closure of women gyms where they can practice safely.
Yet, the situation is different in Croydon, South London, thanks to Husna Ahamed’s fitness classes, where cameras and mics are off as standard, Muslim women have been able to exercise during the pandemic.
“It’s about creating a safe space where women can exercise without barriers. The pandemic has changed things and I offer all my classes online. Women who have never exercised before are taking part, losing weight and getting fitter,” Husna, 48, told InYourArea.co.uk.
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Husna has been working as finance officer/manager at an academy and studied for her degree in Business Studies at London South Bank University.
Going Online
After coronavirus shutdown, she started to share personal fitness recommendations. Later on, she decided to go online in workout classes for Muslim women.
“There were a lot of technical difficulties at the start but we managed to work things out together. I used to feel that I was just talking to a screen so I asked a few people to put their videos on so I could relate to other people in a better way. Now we just leave them off,” Husna added.
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According to Sport England, only 18 percent of Muslim women take part in sports, compared to 30 percent of the total female population.
And five years before, the figures were as low as 12 percent – indicating a rise in Muslim women taking up sport and fitness.
In contrast, the figures for Muslim men taking part in sport do not fall below the average for British men as a whole.