Meet Halima Aden, a 19-year-old Somali-American hijab wearing model

In 2016, Halima competed in the Miss Minnesota contest

She shot to fame and was talked about immensely after becoming the first Miss Minnesota contestant to compete in a hijab and burkini.

Halima Aden makes history as the first woman to compete wearing a burkini during the Miss Minnesota pageant @StarTribune pic.twitter.com/QEJWToIFC1

— Leila Navidi (@LeilaNavidi) November 27, 2016

Halima Aden has been challenging stereotypes by being a hijab-wearing model, to begin with. It’s unusual for our society to associate people who observe the hijab with modeling. Halima is challenging that mindset by paving her path into the world of modeling.

After making her way into Vogue Arabia’s June issue…

…she has now become Allure Magazine’s first Hijab wearing cover model

The entire look – with her donning a red, blue and white hoodie, complete with her hijab – is fierce, bold and comes off as extremely empowering.

Amongst the widespread and rampant wave of Islamophobia that the world seems to be engulfed in, a Muslim model being on the cover of Allure is a pretty big deal. The cherry on top is the fact that the cover reads, ‘This Is American Beauty,’ implying that the hijab has a place in the West to become an accepted standard of beauty. The fact that the cover also calls Halima a ‘Destroyer of Stereotypes’ further validates her efforts of challenging the existing mindset (not that any validation was needed, of course.)

Here she is, absolutely slaying the look

Halima herself tweeted out her excitement over the cover

From Refugee camp to the cover of @Allure_magazine ! Thank you for the opportunity of a life time ! I am so beyond grateful ❤️ pic.twitter.com/BBv8NUFwUF

— Halima Aden (@Kinglimaa) June 20, 2017

Undoubtedly, people are pretty excited about this

Black. Muslim. Somali-American.
Halima Aden doing her thang ??. pic.twitter.com/XjyJtTLbi6

— Hassan (@hassanprg) June 20, 2017

She is considered to be ‘redefining the idea of modest style’

How @Kinglimaa is redefining the idea of modest style on the runway. https://t.co/gsgAXKurGT

— Vogue Magazine (@voguemagazine) June 16, 2017

And people are all for it

Seeing Halima Aden take over the world brings me joy. #BlackResistanceJoy pic.twitter.com/yW5CwAIRce

— boqor riya. (@hausofriya) June 19, 2017

Talking about her wearing the hijab, Halima says that wearing it is how she interprets religion. However, she accepts the fact that there are women who are Muslims who don’t wear the hijab, and that’s something that cannot be forgotten. She also believes her hijab protects her from body shaming.

Halima Aden making it to such a huge platform is extremely inspiring. It gives hope to all those hijab wearing and non-hijab wearing Muslim women and serves as a source of empowerment. More power to Halima and we hope she keeps slaying and inspiring Muslim women all over the world.

Cover images: Allure Magazine