Muslim Beauty Pageant challenges Miss World contest

Muslim countries choose 'Miss Muslim' .... challenging Miss World
'Assess knowledge, not beauty'

     The Miss World 2013 contest is to be held on 28th Saturday this month with participants from 131 countries including Sri Lanka attracting great attraction the world over. The contest is to be conducted in the island of Bali in Indonesia amidst strong protests from the Muslim public.

     The Miss Muslima Organisation in Jakarta, Indonesia has taken steps to hold a beauty contest limited only to Muslim countries; thus challenging the Miss World Pageant and its final contest was held yesterday. The winner of the contest was 21 year old Nigerian national Obabi Ajibola. Though this contest has been named as a beauty contest, in reality what has been assessed on this occasion was the knowledge that a woman should possess a knowledge about her religion having read the K'ran and also about what a woman should know. For this purpose, the contestants were given a questionnaire on General Knowledge and their answers were published over the internet, after which Muslims belonging to the Islamic faith were expected to give their marks to the answers given. In this respect the contestant who secured the highest aggregate was named 'Miss Muslima'.

    The organisers who have challenged the Miss World Pageant had said that this contest should be assessed not on the aspect of beauty of a woman but to measure how rich she is in the knowledge she possesses about life. Among the final 20 countries in which contestants were chosen were Indonesia, Brunei, Iran, Malaysia and Nigeria.

    While the contest is in progress in Jakarta, the Miss World contest too is simultaneously conducted in Bali islands is the same country amidst strong protests and for that reason the Bikini event and tourist sightseeing had to be changed. Whatever it is, while an Indonesian contestant too participates in this contest   in the Bikini event which was held last week with the body covered with a sarong, this Indonesian contestant Larissa was successful in gaining a position among the final five. In previous years Indonesian contestants had participated in Bikini contests and one of them could be seen on the topmost photo.

    The Finals of the Miss World Pageant 2013 is to be held on coming Saturday.

    The previous news item about the change in the Bikini event with a sarong draped round the body in the Miss World contest because of Muslim protests in Indonesia, from HERE

A collection of photos of the 'Miss Muslima' contest held yesterday, from below