The Vogue France spot on Islam: the hijab arrives on the cover

For the first time in its history, the magazine Vogue France publishes on the cover a woman with the hijab, the Islamic veil. In the shot of the American-Dominican photographer Luis Alberto Rodriguez two Somali models appear, Mona Tougaard And Ugbad Abdiwhich represent, in the intentions of the historic fashion magazine, “a new generation of free and committed modelsBorn in Somalia during the civil war, Ugbad Abdi, the hijab-wearing model, grew up in a refugee camp in Kenya before moving to the United States with her family at the age of 9. 18 years on Instagram as a model scout, she flew to Paris where she modeled for, among others, Valentino, Chanel and Off-White. Abdi speaks openly about her Islamic faith and regularly wears the hijab on the catwalks.

“Proud of our roots”

“IS very important to be proud of your roots. I watch my younger sisters, and girls all over the world, tell me how much they feel when they see a woman who can do what she wants, happy. The image contributes a lot to making people feel seen and heard!“, he claims Ugbad Abdi in the interview given to Vogue France . On her Instagram page, Mona Tougaard adds: “Seeing two Somali women on the cover of Vogue is what I’ve always fought for. Sharing this moment with my friend and sister Ugbad is truly amazing“.

Tougaard added that she was moved by how this cover, destined to make the history of the magazine, since “it could open doors for young girls who feel represented by this number“. He then added:”I can tell you that the little girl in me is bursting with joy for what it means for her not only to have two Somali women hugging on Vogue France, but even more so for the representation of the Hijab on the cover.“. As he wrote a few months ago Revue des Deux Mondesin an article also translated by Sheet, the veil is the symbol of Muslim identity. Until twenty years ago, it was worn by a tiny minority of women in non-Muslim countries (and sometimes even in Muslim countries), while today it has become the official representation of Islam: it is the greatest victory of ‘political Islam. The majority of Islamists, the article continues, can therefore only rejoice at the consecration of their political banner by fashion, inclusive feminism and business.

The “inclusive” turn of Vogue

It is not the first time, actually, that the hijab ends up on the cover of an edition of Vogue: it had already happened in May 2018 with British Vogue, when the model with the veil was published on the cover Halima Adenborn in a refugee camp in Kenya, immortalized together with eight other models of various ethnic groups who represented the “new frontiersIn January 2022, Vogue France posted on Instagram a photo of the American actress and supermodel, Julia Fox, wearing a black scarf tied around her head, accompanied by the caption “Yes to the head scarf!”.

The problem, according to politically correct and Islamists, is that the accessory was worn by a white, non-Muslim woman. The photo was published while the French parliament was in the midst of a discussion on a possible ban on the wearing of the veil by minors in public spaces as well as during sports competitions, sparking quite a few controversies around the magazine, which is now doing everything not to end up in the meat grinder politically correct, in what appears to be a real act of “submission”, to put it in Houellebecq.

The hypocrisy of fashion passed off as inclusiveness

As the historian explains Franco Cardini“we say Islam. It would perhaps be more correct to speak of Islam“. The problem, in fact, is not the Islamic religion tout court, but political Islam which is increasingly gaining ground in Western societies that are increasingly secularized and devoid of values. The objective of political Islam, which does not go well with Western liberal democracies, is, in fact, the application of shari’a Islamic: just think of the so-called “no-go zones” present throughout Europe, from Sweden passing through France, entire neighborhoods where Islamists have managed to impose the shari’a, with all due respect to the fundamental freedoms of women, including that of being able to turn freely without a veil. The Somali model of Vogue France, in fact, is free to wear the hijab on the catwalks and to proudly claim her roots: however, many other women like her, unfortunately, do not enjoy the same freedom.

That the problem of political Islam in France is real is confirmed by the fact that in November 2019 the French government closed as many as 130 clubs, 12 places of worship, three schools and nine associations linked to radical Islamism in Paris. “We fight against political Islamism which suggests that God’s law is superior to that of the Republic“, the then French Secretary of State for the Interior, Laurent Nuñez, explained to the French media, stressing that political Islam, however, must not be confused with the Islamic religion as a whole. segregation of the sexes, to the detriment of women, it is a reality. In some peripheral areas of the French capital, the law is precisely that of the shari’a where the Muslim communities have replicated the ties of the village, the patriarchal structures and the religious practices of their countries of origin and where assimilation – more than integration – has failed. Maybe Vogue should be interested in this too, if it really wants to talk about inclusion.