Somali-American teen just made history after becoming first to wear hijab in MISS USA pageant

By: Abdikadir Ukash

On a lively Saturday night during the Miss Minnesota USA pageant, burkini-clad 19-year old Halima Aden sauntered on stage; standing in sharp contrast with the other 44 women, most of whom donned revealing bikinis during the pageant’s signature swimwear segment.

Halima wears wears a full-body dress at the local beauty contest./ Photo/ Star Tribune

To her advantage, Halima happened to be the first contestant to introduce herself to the audience.

Among the audience was her close family members and distant relatives who came to the event in solidarity with Halima who assured her mother that she would not compromise her Islamic values.

“Halima is bilingual,”  Denise Wallace, pageant executive co-director announced as Halima sashayed infront of the event judges.

“She speaks fluent English and Somali, and history is her favorite subject…She’s making history tonight.”

Halima is a fashion rebel of sorts: ““I just want to go on as myself,” she told the Star Tribune adding, ““When you have a lot of women in our state that do wear the hijab, we should be able to see that everywhere.”

Minnesota has the largest Somali population in the US and there has never been a hijabi model who participated in the local pageant.

Halima said she is proud of her decision to represent the Somali and the Muslim community in the competition.

Born in Somalia, Halima moved to the US when she was 6-year old from the Daadab refugee camp in Kenya.

On trying to express her culture at the backdrop of Trump victory and unconfirmed reports of attacks on hijabi women in the country, Halima maintains that her decision to contest is purely out of frustration to prove that a woman can be beautiful without going semi-nude.

“I could have stopped and waited, but for a long time to see someone dressed like me, or look like me and noticed that it was not happening.

“So I reached out to the director (Miss Minnesota USA) and showed her pictures of Muslim women dressed in burkini and I asked her if it will be alright to wear,” she told the Huffington Post.

“The media sometimes portray covered women as oppressed and we don’t get to see the beautiful side of their lives,”

“I support my daughter,”Rukia Aden, Halima’s mother said.

“This was something new to me. I’m very happy to live in the United States where people are free and can wear what they want.”

“It was her choice and I’m happy with what she chose,” she added.

In the Saturday night beauty contest, Halima was the center of attention because she was, in her small effort, redefining the concept of beauty while disrupting the mainstream checklist of a “beautiful woman”.

“I don’t see women like me (in the pageants) and the media generally advocates for change in dressing for you to look and be considered beautiful and that is not true,” the freshman at St. Cloud State University said.

Halima went all through to the semis and her dressing was the talking point of the contest.

Meridith Gould, 22, of Minneapolis, was crowned 2017 Miss Minnesota USA. She will compete at the televised Miss USA pageant in 2017.