Muslim Model Writes Emotional Letter About Posing for Controversial Photos

As the fashion industry celebrates Muslim models on magazine covers and the inclusion of a hijab-only runway show, one model is speaking out on what it means to model while Muslim.

In an op-ed for the New Times, Muslim model Andleeb Zaidi writes about her extended family’s journey to come to terms with her chosen career. While Zaidi’s family may have grown to accept her decision to model, she explained, the rest of the world seems to have a lot more work in store.

“My family’s reaction disturbed me deeply because these were educated, well-respected people. Some of them even hold PhDs,” she wrote. “Who are they to look at my clothes and decide whether I am going to heaven or hell?”

Zaidi continued, “Let me be clear: I am not irreligious. But being a Muslim, for me and my parents, has little to do with what I wear and more with who I am at heart. And I’d like to believe that I have a good heart,” Zaidi said.

After her first experience as a professional model during Femina Miss India 2016, “the bikini photoshoot happened and all hell broke loose at home.” Relatives including her cousin-slash-BFF and extended family called her parents — who were already aware and supportive of the competition — to weigh in on Zaidi’s career. But all it took was spending time actually reviewing the work Zaidi was so proud of for her extended family to come around.

While her family may now be able to accept her career, she sadly can’t say the same for the world at large. “Anyway, the storm dissipated back home (although I’m still sure that my relatives tell whoever they can that this is what happens when girls are sent away to study), but there was no running from it on social media,” she writes. Hateful trolls, she explains, accuse her of throwing away her religion, her education, and her culture. She’s using her voice to speak out against shaming and hatred.

As Zaidi’s story illuminates, inclusivity is more than simply adding a few Muslim models to a photoshoot and patting industry insiders on the back. It’s important to understand the journey she took just to get there.

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