About World Hijab Day
World Hijab Day invites non-Muslims and Muslims who do not wear hijab to don it for one day in solidarity with hijabis to foster religious tolerance and understanding.
World Hijab Day was initiated on February 1st 2013, by New York resident Nazma Khan, a social activist.
At 11 years old, she immigrated with her parents from Bangladesh and became the only hijabi in her middle school. In a speech explaining her motivation for launching World Hijab Day, Khan described discrimination, both verbal and physical, she experienced as a teen, which only intensified after 9/11, when she was a university student in New York City.
It’s estimated that people in 190 countries take part in World Hijab Day every year. WHD has many volunteers and ambassadors worldwide to conduct WHD events in order to bring awareness about hijab. These ambassadors come from all walks of life. In addition, WHD has been endorsed by many world-renowned individuals including scholars, politicians, and celebrities worldwide. WHD has been covered in mainstream news media including New York Times, BBC, CNN, Al-Jazeera, Huffington Post, etc to name a few.
There were many milestones since the inception of World Hijab Day. One of them was the recognition of the day by New York State in 2017. The same year, the House of Commons of the U.K. hosted an event marking the day, where Prime Minister Theresa May also attended.
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