World Hijab Day is an annual event founded by Nazma Khan in 2013. The event World Hijab Day is an annual event founded by Nazma Khan in 2013. The event takes place on February 1st each year in 140 countries worldwide. Its stated purpose is to encourage women of all religions and backgrounds to wear and experience the hijab. Event organizers describe it as an opportunity for non-Muslim women to experience the hijab.
Criticism of the event
Feminist activist and Muslim reformer Asra Nomani says “as Muslim women, we actually ask you not to wear the hijab in the name of interfaith solidarity,” going on to say, “This modern-day movement spreads an ideology of political Islam.”
Muslim reformer Maajid Nawaz accuses the day as being a “well-financed effort by conservative Muslims to dominate modern Muslim societies,” and says that the event spreads the “misleading interpretation” that the head covering is always worn voluntarily, and that “hijab” purely means headscarf. He also described the event as “worse than passe,” suggesting that the name be changed to “Hijab is a Choice Day”.
