Halima quits Modelling for religious beliefs

Somali-American model Halima Aden took to Instagram to call it quit for the runways. She apologized to her followers because working in fashion has forced her to “compromise her beliefs”.

Aden, who is well-known for being one of the first models to wear a hijab and walk for major fashion labels, shared with her followers some Instagram content explaining the times she had lost touch with who she is (from missing prayer times to being draped with pairs of jeans for a head covering).

“I owe no one but Allah, SWAT, and you all can kick rocks. I can only blame myself for caring more about opportunity than what was actually at stake” she wrote on Instagram Stories

Aden also said: "Never again taking a job that will require me to change my scarf style just to show off a necklace…I’m a hijab-wearing woman!”

In another post, Aden spoke about the feeling that comes from being “a minority within a minority”, adding: “What I do blame the industry for is the lack of Muslim women stylists.” She said this had led to very little understanding of the hijab within the fashion industry.

Opening up about this topic, Halima shared a video with her mother while they were discussing Halima’s future career in fashion or outside, and explained that her mom is her role model and that she wants to exactly be like her.

Aden became famous in 2016 following her turn in the Miss USA beauty pageant. She soon signed to the global modelling agency IMG and made her runway debut at New York fashion week where she walked for Kanye West’s Yeezy and Maxmara.

However, followers had different opinions about Halima’s choice, but sure thing is that top model Naomi Campbell explained in a comment how proud she is of the young hijabi for “Staying true to your integrity”.

Also, the Libyan American journalist and activist Noor Tagoori with more than 500 K followers on Instagram also posted about this in an Instagram post, in support of Halima’s decision.