ENGLAND: 20 year old, Maria Mahmood might just be the first Hijab donning Miss England since she is all set on competing as Miss Birmingham.
Maria made her way into the semi finals and now is determined to get to the finals. In the event that she wins at this prestigious pageant, she will automatically be on her way to represent England in the Miss World Beaut pageant according to Daily Mail.
According to the 20 year old beauty queen, her family and friends are supportive of her choices although she expects criticism from some “old-timers.”
Earlier, there has been Muslim Miss England but this will be the first time a Hijabi will be participating.
Maria, who is a psychology student won a place in the semi-finals after finishing as a runner-up in last weeks Miss Birmingham which also happened to be her first pageant.
The 20 year old who aspires to be a social worker has also decided to compete in the swimwear round by wearing a burkini.
Talking about her hopes after participating she said, “Muslims are associated with negative things like terrorism. I’m determined to do my bit to challenge those views. It is pretty rare for a Muslim woman to be in a beauty pageant but there’s nothing to stop us from entering. I entered Miss Birmingham and the organizers were delighted to have a hijab-wearing Muslim in the competition.”
