Friday, August 19, 2016

Another Silent Muslim Woman. Maybe She Is Not Allowed to Speak?




Tazeen Hasan
And yes after Ghazala Khizr and Ibtihaj Muhammad, Donald Trump is confronted with another silent Muslim women Dalilah Muhammad. Maybe she wasn't allowed to speak. You tell me? a tweet asked Thursday night. Yet while the debate over the oppression of Muslim women is never-ending in the mainstream news media and stereotypes have dominated the pop culture, this another Muhammad crushed her competitors in the Olympics and struck gold.  Another Muhammad made Americans proud.  And while she didn't get the deserved attention in the media as hijab-wearing Ibtihajaj did,  it is worth mentioning it’s the first time an American woman has won a gold medal in this event. And yes, it is another slap in the face of bigotry, racism and anti-Muslim rhetoric running riot today in American politics and media alike.


 Born in 1990, Dalilah belongs to the Jamaica neighbourhood in Queens county mostly inhabited by Afro-Americans, Latinos, and Asians. Cheering Americans tweeted, "The girl from #Queens is queen of the hurdles"


And it was after two years of struggling with injuries and losing confidence over disappointing results that Muhammad finally won the gold at Rio on Thursday, dominating the race despite a light rain at the Olympic Stadium.

Unlike her namesake Ibtihaj Muhammad, Dalilah did not get any out of the ordinary media coverage. Is that simply because she chose not to sport a Hijab? or Does American media doesn't want to highlight Muslim contribution and loyalty to the state? I came across the news at NBC News (delivered to my inbox) and googled for further information. No mainstream news outlet has headlines for a woman who also brought a gold medal for America until midnight. Wikipedia page of Dalilah Muhammad was not updated with her greatest success and had very little information and links about her. Even Twitter has only 21 tweets with hashtag #DalilahMuhammad.  

 Yet I came across some very interesting tweets.  One was from the controversial American feminist Isra Nomani who embraced her for her revealing outfit.  





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