Muslim Bikini Model Maryam Basir Sees No Conflict Between Her Faith and Her Career

It seems that CNN is following a pattern. Whenever they post something that could put Islam in a negative light, they also post something to show how diverse, reformed, and Westernized Islam is. Yesterday, CNN posted an article and a video about a poor Afghan teenager named Gul Meena, whose brother tried to hack her to death in a brutal "honor" attack. CNN also immediately posted a video about a Muslim bikini model, who sees no conflict between her faith in Allah and her career as a bikini model. The takeaway message? "For everyone who feels like judging Islam because of all the girls getting hacked to death by their families, not so fast! Islam is diverse and tolerant, as the following video about a devout Muslim bikini model proves." Of course, the takeaway message requires us to ignore the obvious. Bikini model Maryam Basir's family disagrees with her career choice, but there's nothing they can do about it, because she lives in the United States. If a Muslim girl were to choose the same career in Afghanistan or Pakistan, her family would have her killed. In other words, Basir is only able to make her own choices because she lives in a country with a non-Islamic legal system.

Does anyone else ever wish that reporters would ask more interesting questions? For instance, wouldn't it have been interesting if Alina Cho had asked for Basir's interpretation of various Qur'an and Hadith passages concerning women? For more on women in Islam, click here.