Miss England 2018: Muslim student first ever to compete for title wearing hijab

A 20-year-old law student is about to become the first ever beauty queen to walk down the catwalk in a hijab to compete for the title of Miss England.

Sara Iftekhar, from Huddersfield, hopes to take the Miss England crown when she competes for the title at Kelham Hall, Nottinghamshire, next week.

The Muslim student, who often shares photographs of herself wearing traditional Muslim dress to her social media accounts, reportedly shared a selfie to her now deleted Instagram account with the caption:

Wowwwwwww!!!! I can’t even comprehend how amazing it felt for my name to be announced as a finalist in the Miss England Finals 2018! Alhamdullilah. 

It was an incredible experience and something which I will never be able to forget. The opportunities which I have received with being a finalist in Miss England are opportunities which I would never have thought of and will forever be grateful for.

Ms Iftekhar, who the Daily Mailreports started her own business at the age of 16, is also using the high profile she's gained with the beauty pageants to raise money for the charity Beauty With Purpose using a GoFundMe campaign.

The charity raises money for disadvantaged children and youngsters across the world, and is also the official Miss World charity, which the competition encourages all applicants to raise funds for.

On the fundraiser's page, she writes:

Beauty with a purpose has been raising money for the past 46 years.

It helps local and international organisations in order to help unprivileged children around the world.  

They have raised money for the Cleft Palate Teams in South America, Sri Lanka and Russia, alongside carrying out fundraising tours in order to support the abandoned and neglected children in Vietnam.  

They have also worked alongside Nelson Mandela and Jackie Chan in order to increase the financial aid of those affected by the Asian tsunami. 

She continued:

I participated in Miss 2018 in order to to show that beauty doesn't have a definition, everyone is beautiful in their own ways, regardless of their weight, race, colour or shape.

The final of the competition, which will be held at Kelham Hall, Nottingham on Tuesday, will see 50 ladies from across the country compete to win the title of Miss England. The single winner will then progress to the overall finals held in Sanya, China, to compete for the Miss World 2018 title.

Good luck Sara!

HT The Daily Mail

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