Muslim women brave wrath of fundamentalists by
competing in Miss England beauty contest
By Cahal Milmo
Published: 03 September 2005

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article309934.ece

When Miss England 2005 is crowned today, the winner
will doubtless give the traditional beauty pageant vow
to promote world peace, cross-cultural understanding
and global travel.

But if bookmakers' predictions are realised, such
ideals will have more than superficial significance.
The favourite to win this evening's final is Sarah
Mendly, a British Muslim whose family fled Saddam
Hussein's Iraq.

Her CV for the contest includes the ambition of
"becoming a peace ambassador between England and the
country from which my parents originate".

Of the 40 finalists, Ms Mendly is one of four women
with a Muslim background, the highest number of Muslim
contestants in the competition's history.

The participation of the four: a professional dancer,
a medical graduate, a telesales worker and a model,
represents a rare collision between the world of
beauty pageants and the issue dominating political and
social debate - cultural integration in the wake of
the London bombings.

For organisers of the contest, part of an industry
that has striven desperately in recent years to
reinvent itself as more than a voyeuristic showcase
for physical beauty, it is an unexpected opportunity
to prove the bathing beauties phenomenon has moved
with the times.

Angie Beasley, who runs Miss England and was the
winner of 25 beauty titles in the 1980s, said: "It is
a multicultural competition reflecting a multicultural
Britain and there is no more important a time to
underline that.

"When I entered competitions, we would turn up in
swimming costumes and high heels. It is not like that
any more.

"The girls have to be talented, clever and beautiful.
It is more like a fashion show. This may be why more
people from ethnic backgrounds are entering."

It may be difficult for those judging tonight's
contest to ignore the public relations potential of
sending Britain's first Muslim representative to the
Miss World contest in China this December, where the
winner will be handed a cheque for £55,000.

Despite being born or having lived here since
childhood, the four women admitted before yesterday's
preliminary round - a talent contest - that they had
been made keenly aware of their "Muslim" status by
recent events. The pressure increased this week when
two Muslim community leaders insisted Islam and beauty
pageants were incompatible and suggested the women
should be considered to have forsaken their faith.

Sonia Hassanien, 22, who owns a beauty salon in
Tyneside, said: "My dad is Egyptian but he came to
Britain when he was 21 and he does not practice his
faith. My parents did not bring religion into my life.
It is great that there are so many Muslims in the
contest. Girls should not be discriminated against if
their parents are Muslim. We were brought up in
England. I feel completely British."

Miss Mendly, a sales representative for the drug
company Merck who as Miss Nottingham was leading a
text message vote for the Miss England title, said:
"There is so much ignorance and prejudice surrounding
Islam. Islam does not advocate the killing of innocent
people in any shape or form, or the oppression of
women. People think: 'How can a Muslim woman enter a
beauty competition?' But the competition isn't about
beauty, it's about who you are."

They are sentiments to which some have taken
exception. Abdul Hamid, vice-chairman of the
Lancashire Board of Mosques, this week criticised Miss
Mendly despite her decision not to wear a swimming
costume at tonight's final in the Liverpool Olympia in
front of an audience of 1,500 people.

"There are plenty of Muslims who don't follow the
Koran, who don't pray and drink alcohol. But they are
not true followers of the Islamic faith," Mr Hamid
said. "This includes taking part in beauty
competitions for money and exposing your flesh to the
world. If she has chosen to take part in this contest,
she immediately goes out of the circle of Islam. This
competition is business-orientated and has no social
significance whatsoever. It not correct for her to
take part."

Hammasa Kohistani, 18, whose parents fled Afghanistan,
is taking part in tonight's final after winning Miss
Maya, a beauty pageant specifically aimed at
contestants from Asia. She said her participation in
Miss England was spurred, at least in part, by the
Taliban's treatment of women: "I want to have my voice
heard for all the women who are oppressed - for those
who have not had the right to speak out or even work
because they live in a male-dominated society."

Dilay Topuzoglu, who was yesterday performing a belly
dance to underline her Turkish roots, said: "It is a
nod to my cultural background. Just because you are of
Muslim origin doesn't mean you have to represent that
faith. I believe religion is just very personal."

Contenders for the crown

* Hammasa Kohistani, 18, from Uxbridge, Middlesex.
(Miss Maya)
Job: Model and design student
CV: Born in Uzbekistan, speaks Russian and Persian.
Has offer of a role in a Bollywood movie.
Ambition: "I would like to make my parents proud
because family means the world to me."

* Dilay Topuzoglu, 21, from Romford, Essex. (Miss
Essex)
Job: Telesales operator
CV: Born in London to Turkish parents, she is fluent
in Turkish. Accomplished belly dancer, without formal
tuition.
Ambition: "To further my modelling career and also
hopefully join the Metropolitan Police."

* Sarah Mendly, 23, from Beeston, Notts. (Miss
Nottingham)
Job: Sales representative
CV: After fleeing Iraq as a child, she attended a
Roman Catholic school. Finalist in a national poetry
competition and holds grade five piano.
Ambition: "To succeed in all I set out to do."

* Sonia Hassanien, 22, from Washington, Tyne & Wear.
(Miss Photographic)
Job: Beauty parlour owner
CV: Won Miss Pears aged five. Fascinated by ancient
Egypt and spiritual healing.
Ambition: "To expand my business into a company. To be
the best I can be."




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