{"id":3872,"date":"2019-05-03T16:32:33","date_gmt":"2019-05-03T20:32:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/?p=3872"},"modified":"2019-05-03T16:32:33","modified_gmt":"2019-05-03T20:32:33","slug":"muslim-supermodel-halima-aden-breaks-barriers-sports-illustrated-swimsuit-issue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2019\/05\/muslim-supermodel-halima-aden-breaks-barriers-sports-illustrated-swimsuit-issue.html","title":{"rendered":"Muslim Supermodel Halima Aden Breaks Barriers in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_3873\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3873\" style=\"width: 700px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/89\/2019\/05\/HalimaAden.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3873\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/89\/2019\/05\/HalimaAden.jpg\" alt=\"Myles Kalus Anak Jihem\/WikiCommons\" width=\"700\" height=\"475\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3873\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Myles Kalus Anak Jihem\/WikiCommons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Halima Aden recently made history as the first Muslim model to wear a hijab and burkini in Sports Illustrated magazine.<\/p>\n<p>Aden spoke with CNN following becoming the first contestant in Miss Minnesota USA to wear a hijab and burkini. She reached the pageant\u2019s semi-finals.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are so many Muslim women that feel like they don\u2019t fit society\u2019s standard of beauty,\u201d Aden told CNN in 2016. \u201cI just wanted to tell them it\u2019s OK to be different, being different is beautiful too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This isn\u2019t the first time she\u2019s made history. She was one of three black hijab models featured on the cover of Vogue Arabia right beside Ikram Abdi Omar and Amina Adan.<\/p>\n<p>She also broke barriers in British Vogue as the first hijabi woman on the cover.<\/p>\n<p>The Somali-American model grew up in Kenya\u2019s Kakuma refugee camp before she moved with her family to the US when she was seven.<\/p>\n<p>Her Sports Illustrated shoot was photographed by Yu Tsai at Kenya\u2019s Watamu Beach.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" style=\"background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);\" data-instgrm-captioned=\"\" data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/Bw2W3qfhEfJ\/\" data-instgrm-version=\"12\">\n<div style=\"padding: 16px;\"><a style=\"background: #FFFFFF; line-height: 0; padding: 0 0; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; width: 100%;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/Bw2W3qfhEfJ\/\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"padding: 19% 0;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-top: 8px;\">\n<div style=\"color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;\">View this post on Instagram<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"margin: 8px 0 0 0; padding: 0 4px;\"><a style=\"color: #000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/Bw2W3qfhEfJ\/\" target=\"_blank\">Don\u2019t change yourself .. Change the GAME!! Ladies anything is possible!!! Being in Sports Illustrated is so much bigger than me. It\u2019s sending a message to my community and the world that women of all different backgrounds, looks, upbringings&#8230; can stand together and be celebrated. Thank you so much @si_swimsuit &amp; the entire team for giving me this incredible opportunity.<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;\">A post shared by <a style=\"color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/halima\/\" target=\"_blank\"> Halima<\/a> (@halima) on <time style=\"font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;\" datetime=\"2019-04-29T18:21:59+00:00\">Apr 29, 2019 at 11:21am PDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\" async=\"\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Aden felt representation was important. She always wanted to inspire those who felt they weren\u2019t represented that anything is possible.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGrowing up in the United States, I never really felt represented because I never could flip through a magazine and see a girl who was wearing a hijab,\u201d she shared in a behind-the-scenes video. \u201cDon\u2019t be afraid to be the first.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This moment has been a dream come true, not only being able to grace the cover of the magazine but to be able to shoot it in Kenya where she grew up.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI keep thinking (back) to sex-year-old me who, in the same country, was in a refugee camp,\u201d Aden told Sports Illustrated. \u201cSo to grow up and live the American dream [and] to come back to Kenya and shoot for SI in the most beautiful parts of Kenya \u2013 I don\u2019t think that\u2019s a story that anybody could make up.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Halima Aden recently made history as the first Muslim model to wear a hijab and burkini in Sports Illustrated magazine. Aden spoke with CNN following becoming the first contestant in Miss Minnesota USA to wear a hijab and burkini. She reached the pageant\u2019s semi-finals. \u201cThere are so many Muslim women that feel like they don\u2019t&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":565,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[890,1015,1016,1017,1014],"class_list":["post-3872","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-inspiring-celebrities","tag-breaking-barriers","tag-halima-aden","tag-muslim-models","tag-muslim-supermodels","tag-sports-illustrated"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Muslim Supermodel Halima Aden Breaks Barriers in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Muslim Supermodel Halima Aden Breaks Barriers in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Halima Aden recently made history as the first Muslim model to wear a hijab and burkini in Sports Illustrated magazine. Aden spoke with CNN following becoming the first contestant in Miss Minnesota USA to wear a hijab and burkini. She reached the pageant\u2019s semi-finals. \u201cThere are so many Muslim women that feel like they don\u2019t&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2019\/05\/muslim-supermodel-halima-aden-breaks-barriers-sports-illustrated-swimsuit-issue.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Inspiration Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-05-03T20:32:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lesli White\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/files\/2019\/05\/HalimaAden.jpg\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Muslim Supermodel Halima Aden Breaks Barriers in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"nofollow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Muslim Supermodel Halima Aden Breaks Barriers in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue","og_description":"Halima Aden recently made history as the first Muslim model to wear a hijab and burkini in Sports Illustrated magazine. Aden spoke with CNN following becoming the first contestant in Miss Minnesota USA to wear a hijab and burkini. She reached the pageant\u2019s semi-finals. \u201cThere are so many Muslim women that feel like they don\u2019t&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2019\/05\/muslim-supermodel-halima-aden-breaks-barriers-sports-illustrated-swimsuit-issue.html","og_site_name":"Inspiration Report","article_published_time":"2019-05-03T20:32:33+00:00","author":"Lesli White","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_image":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/files\/2019\/05\/HalimaAden.jpg","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2019\/05\/muslim-supermodel-halima-aden-breaks-barriers-sports-illustrated-swimsuit-issue.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2019\/05\/muslim-supermodel-halima-aden-breaks-barriers-sports-illustrated-swimsuit-issue.html","name":"Muslim Supermodel Halima Aden Breaks Barriers 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