(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - You have to get past what’s strikingly different about Mariam Nawas to grasp how similar she is to other young women her age.
Drive through downtown in the early evening and you might see the 22-year-old running. She’ll be the one gutting it up the Gillham Road hill near Crown Center or striding down Grand Boulevard, Cake or Third Eye Blind blasting on her iPod.
The approximately six-mile run would be grueling for many people. But with her head covered in a hijab, her arms in a long-sleeve T-shirt and her legs in warmup pants?
In this summer’s heat?
“It’s a release,” the fifth-year medical student said. “It’s a part of my day that I look the most forward to.”
And her attire? She acknowledges it’s a bit of an added challenge in the recent 100-degree weather, pavement steamed all day by the sun. But having grown up Muslim, she can’t imagine what it would feel like to run less encumbered.
In some ways, it frees her. She’s certainly not overly concerned with how her body appears to others.
Nawas is just one of a group of athletic Kansas City area young Muslim women who wear the hijab and what they term “modest” dress — long sleeves and pants or long skirts.
But now it’s Ramadan, a month of fasting from sunrise to sunset, so their workouts will be curbed for a while. Too much fear of dehydration, as even water is forbidden during the daily fast.
But otherwise they’re adamant about their health and highly aware of common assumptions about the hijab and their religion.
“There is nothing that I have been stopped from doing because of my faith or how I dress,” Nawas said.
She attended public schools in her hometown of St. Louis and was encouraged by her parents to be active. Her goal is a marathon.
Several of the women are new to athleticism. They completed “Couch to 5K” training last fall and had their first race on Thanksgiving. Now they run together around the Plaza area and Loose Park.
But they’re not immune to the slippery way body image corrodes so many young women’s self-esteem — who is viewed as pudgy, images of what’s beautiful.
Just because other people see little of their specific shape — no Lycra stretch pants, skinny jeans or plunging necklines — it doesn’t mean they always feel positive about their bodies.
Nadine Abu-Jubara remembers being out of shape in college, going to the gym in bulky workout clothes and being sensitive to the more physically fit “cute sorority girls” using equipment nearby.
“I already felt self-conscious, and it was hard to work out alone,” she said.
After graduation, she dedicated herself to changing her eating habits and exercise. She lost 65 pounds. And she found herself surrounded by Muslim women at social gatherings, all eager to learn how she dropped the pounds and brightened her self-outlook.
“We don’t have to be bikini-ready every summer,” the 23-year-old laughed. “But you should be healthy.”
Islam, with words against being overweight, smoking and drinking alcohol, helps with the messaging. Abu-Jubara mixes in an upbeat “girl power” demeanor and a penchant for hot pink.
It’s the color of logos, wristbands and clothing for a nonprofit she founded called Nadoona. The group focuses on helping Muslim women get fit. The motto: “Changing the world, one calorie at a time!”
She’s in Kansas City temporarily but has extended family here. A civil engineer from Orlando, she is working on a road project.
Her cousin, Mariam Saifan of Overland Park, drew Nadoona’s cartoon logo, a smiling, covered Muslim woman standing on a scale, her arms held upward in a V-for-victory stance.
“But it’s not about impressing others,” Abu-Jubara stresses. “It’s how you feel about yourself.”
Considering the backlash against Islam, a healthy self-esteem can be complicated to maintain, far beyond just body image.
Most of the women are hyperaware of the unnecessary anti-Shariah laws proposed in the U.S. and the anger generated by a proposal for a mosque near ground zero in New York.
Yet for the most part, the young women said they don’t feel much outright discrimination in Kansas City.
In nonpublic venues, they might not cover while exercising, such as during the Zumba class Abu-Jubara leads at a south Kansas City martial arts studio.
Hijabs and long sleeves are shed for the hour of dancing to Shakira, K’naan’s “Wavin’ Flag,” and other songs.
But the transformation back happens quickly. With a few deft movements, each recovers herself.
They exchange hugs and air-smack kisses. Then everyone is out the door, energized, if a bit sweaty.
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