As a Muslim woman who wears Abayas daily, finding clothes to wear to the gym has always been problematic. Once I was ready to get physically active and to make my health a priority, I did what most women would do - went to Google.
The first posts that came up were websites of Modest Activewear, in a lot of countries except South Africa.
That was not the the only challenge, once I clicked on these websites none of the clothes were suitable for a Muslimah who wears Abaya and long dresses not just tops that cover the back while exposing the front of my body.
Dare I say it, these Modest Sportswear options were far from the level of modesty that our Deen prescribes. This, I discovered, was a huge gap in the market.
Sure, there's different types of Hijabis with varying levels of modesty - therefore you'd think that stores would cater also for those Muslimahs who choose to cover more than others.
For 3 whole years, I stopped myself from visiting the gym or even trying any sort of physical activity due to being too afraid to wear anything revealing which would make me uncomfortable and distracted.
Colleagues and friends would invite me to for hiking, running or a jog, cross-fit, one even invited me to play touch rugby - and NO, I said no to them all. I wore a Jilbaab and Abaya daily, Niqaab as well for long time; so I could not ever imagine myself in anything modest enough yet comfortable and breathable for these activities.
I watched myself gain an unhealthy amount of weight due to this procrastination which caused hormonal imbalances. I wondered to myself, how many other women have to go through this? Do Muslim women have to limit themselves this much due to a lack of options? Do Muslim women have to let their health and well-being deteriorate due to this lack of representation and diversity in Activewear and Sportswear Industries?
We are not victims of our limiting environment or victims to what people think or what they may say due to our Hijab and Modest clothing. We can be empowered and most importantly we can empower ourselves!