Halima Aden, the Somali American model, has announced that she’s leaving modeling, because the industry is forcing her to stray away from her religious beliefs.
The 23-year-old has appeared on the cover of British Vogue, Vogue Arabia and Allure.
Writing on Instagram, she said the coronavirus pandemic had given her time to stop and think about what her values are as a Muslim woman.
“Being a ‘hijabi’ is truly a journey with lots of highs and lows,” she said.
Talking about accepting modelling jobs that went against her religious views, she said: “I can only blame myself for caring more about opportunity than what was actually at stake.”
She added that problems came from there being a “lack of Muslim women stylists” within the industry who could understand why wearing a hijab was so important.