Aishah
Ajibola Obabiyi, 21, is a 400 level student of the University of Lagos,
UNILAG, Akoka. She recently stormed the global stage with her selection
as the winner of the 3rd edition of the World Muslimah, an annual event
held in Jakarta, Indonesia by World Muslimah Foundation.
She
was born and bred in Ibadan and her parents are devout Muslims, who
groomed their children in the way of Islam. Aishah Ajibola Obabiyi
attended Air Force Primary School, Alakia, in Ibadan, and had her Junior
Secondary School education at Fadhl-Umar College, Adewumi, also in
Ibadan. Her Senior Secondary School education was at Wesley College of
Science, Ibadan.
In a recent interview she has spoken about the competition, while taking exception to being labelled a beauty queen. Excerpts:
About winning the World Muslimah in Indonesia.
It
is rather an annual event organised by World Muslimah Foundation, WM
Foundation, a non-governmental
Muslim organisation that provides a
conceptual model and specific techniques to guide sisterhood among
Muslims so that they could become models in the world through piety,
obedience to Allah’s injunctions and every necessary activity that will
enhance understanding of Islam and encourage members to be confident to
find their essential skills.
The
World Muslimah competition falls under this category and it tries to
acknowledge and appreciate young women who ensure that their hijab is
not a barrier for them wherever they may find themselves.
How Aishah Ajibola Obabiyi entered the competition.
In
2012 I applied to participate in the competition and fulfilled all
conditions but when I was selected, my visa could not be processed on
time to travel down to Indonesia but in April this year, the founder
during one of our interactions reminded me of my participation in this
year’s event and pledged to forward me an invitation. After screenings,
20 of us were invited to Indonesia in September this year for a two-week
workshop where we were trained on the basic tenets of Islam by Islamic
scholars cutting across various professions.
About participation requirements:
Everything
was online but we were also required to make a short essay attached to
our registration form about our hijab experience, Islamic lifestyle,
academic accomplishments and arts and culture. If you are selected to be
among the semi-finalists, you are required to create a
three-minute-video profile to be uploaded on YouTube. The video is semi
documentary movie about contestants’ daily lives and their Al Qur’an
reading proficiencies. A friend helped to make the video which I
uploaded and sent the link to the organiser. But the most important
aspect of the competition which most people don’t know about is that
apart from the workshop, which is similar to Islamic vocation courses we
often attend in Nigeria, we also spent some time with orphans, relating
with them, taking care of them and trying to make them feel alright.
About
100 orphans were invited to the grand finale to vote for their choice,
and believe me, I cannot particularly tell what influenced their
decision because everything was just a surprise to me, even my
participation to that stage was surprising.
It
must surely have been Allah’s choice; so, to be clear about it, the
orphans nominated and chose me and not any panel of judges. I was not
selected based on physical beauty or any of those obscene features
typical of beauty pageants but by some moral inclinations and religious
tenets identified by scholars and orphans. So I was voted the World
Muslimah and not a beauty queen as many would want to believe.
Aishah Ajibola Obabiyi’ message to fellow Muslim students:
As
I have learnt to say that only Allah (SWT) can guide humans, I want my
sisters to strive hard to practice Islam as recommended by Sunnah; that
is, the teachings and practices of prophet Muhammad (SAW).
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