Ameera Hashwi, From Michigan, Made History By Becoming The First Woman In A Hijab To Be Awarded The ‘Miss Wayne County’
New Age Islam News Bureau
16 August 2025
• Ameera Hashwi, From Michigan, Made History By Becoming The First Woman In A Hijab To Be Awarded The ‘Miss Wayne County’
• US Treasury Sanctions Iranian Firm Over Hijab Biometric Surveillance System
• No New Law Yet, But Nancy, Malaysian Minister, Calls For Possible Strengthening Of Anti-Bullying Measures
• UN: Afghan Women, Girls ‘Especially Vulnerable’ Under Taliban Rule
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/michigan-woman-hijab-awarded-county/d/136513
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Ameera Hashwi, From Michigan, Made History By Becoming The First Woman In A Hijab To Be Awarded The ‘Miss Wayne County’
Aug 16, 2025
By Shuvrajit Das Biswas
Ameera Hashwi (center), after her win, now has a spot on the Miss Michigan pageant, and will have a shot at Miss America.(X/@OliLondonTV)
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Ameera Hashwi, from Michigan, made history by becoming the first woman in a hijab to be awarded the ‘Miss Wayne County’ beauty pageant title in Dearborn Heights.
“Hello, my name is Ameera. My service initiative is Step Up and Serve, and I am your new… Miss Wayne County,” Hashwi shared in an Instagram post.
Step Up and Serve – Hashwi's chosen platform – focuses on encouraging physical fitness while empowering communities through service. Notably, Dearborn Heights is a Muslim-majority suburb in Detroit.
Who is Ameera Hashwi?
Hashwi works as an attorney at Seward Henderson PLLC from February 2025, as per her LinkedIn profile. Prior to this, she was a law clerk with NORMA Group, where she had two stints – a short one of three months in 2022, and another of 8 months in 2023. In between, she clerked for The Cochran Firm in Detroit.
The 25-year-old has also been a data entry specialist for Zoom Ride and a law clerk at Fairmax Law. She began as a legislative intern for Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
Hashwi studied at Wayne State University, where she pursued a degree in economics. Then, she studied law at the Wayne State University Law School. Her student profile from Wayne State University notes “In her free time, she enjoys reading and spending time with her friends and family.”
Ameera Hashwi's win sparks backlash online
Hashwi's win has sparked backlash online, with one X user commenting “If all the places in the US that would be conquered by Islam, I NEVER thought it would be Michigan! Perhaps that was part of the plan?” Another remarked “A hijab should be an automatic disqualification! There’s no symbol that displays the mistreatment of women more than a hijab!”
Laura Loomer, conservative political activist commented “Gross.”
However, not everyone was as unappreciative, with Lauren Mroczek, Miss Greater Kalamazoo 2025, praising Hashwi on Instagram, saying “Ameera, you are a groundbreaker and change maker!! Even though I just met you this weekend, I know you have a heart full of love for Wayne County, and you will be such a bright light! Your smile and heart are contagious!”.
With Hashwi's win, she now has a spot on the Miss Michigan pageant, and will have a shot at Miss America. While Hashwi is the first woman in a hijab to win the beauty pageant, she follows in the footsteps of Halima Aden, who, almost a decade back, became the first contestant to wear a hijab throughout, when she participated in the Miss Minnesota USA pageant.
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US Treasury Sanctions Iranian Firm Over Hijab Biometric Surveillance System
Aug 16, 2025
The U.S. Treasury has sanctioned an Iranian software company that developed the facial recognition surveillance tools used by Iranian authorities to monitor whether women are complying with mandatory hijab laws.
The Pasargad Arian Information and Communication Technology Company, known as FANAP, developed the Behnama facial recognition system is used by Iran’s law enforcement agencies and the Morality Police, the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced last week.
“Since its inception, FANAP and its subsidiaries have diversified their information technology activities with the backing of the Iranian government to develop surveillance technologies for the Iranian police state,” says the agency.
The Treasury also sanctioned FANAP director Shahab Javanmardi, who has “strong links” to the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS), as well as FANAP’s many subsidiaries.
The holding company, operating under Pasargad Bank, specializes in developing financial technologies for Iranian banks. This includes designing banking and payment hardware, producing and maintaining ATM and secure transportation of cash and high-value assets.
In 2023, a hacktivist group named GhostSec claimed they had exposed 26GB of FANAP’s data, including the source code of the Behnama facial recognition system. The system was initially deployed across branches of Pasargad Bank, according to the group.
Other systems that were uncovered include BehCard, a face biometrics system for printing ID cards, a car GPS and tracking system called BehYab, as well as a number-plate recognition system called BehKhan.
During last week’s sanctions wave, the U.S. Treasury designated 18 entities and individuals connected to Iran’s attempts to evade financial sanctions. Aside from FANAP, this includes the RUNC Exchange System Company, in charge of developing Iran’s Cross-Border Interbank Messaging System (CIMS), and Cyrus Bank, found to be secretly owned and staffed by the sanctioned Iranian financial institution Parsian Bank.
“Treasury will continue to disrupt Iran’s schemes aimed at evading our sanctions, block its access to revenue, and starve its weapons programs of capital in order to protect the American people,” says Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
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No New Law Yet, But Nancy, Malaysian Minister, Calls For Possible Strengthening Of Anti-Bullying Measures
16 August 2025
KUCHING, Aug 16 — The government should consider reviewing the need to strengthen existing laws to address bullying, said Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri.
She said that although amending laws is not under her ministry’s jurisdiction, she is prepared to discuss the matter with the relevant authorities.
“There may not be a need to enact a new law. However, in light of recent bullying cases, it may give us new ideas to explore possible improvements to existing laws,” she told reporters after attending the Gempak Inspirasi @ Sepagi Bersama PPWS 2025 Programme here today.
Nancy said the matter would be raised during the Cabinet meeting.
She was responding to calls from the Anti-Bullying Act Movement (GAB) for the government to introduce a specific law to comprehensively address bullying.
It was reported previously that GAB Secretariat chairman Wan Azliana Wan Adnan said drafting of the proposed act had been initiated since 2022, but no concrete progress had been made so far.
Meanwhile, Nancy said there is currently no need for a new law, as bullying is already covered under the Penal Code (Amendment) Act 2025 and the Criminal Procedure Code (Amendment) Act 2025.
Both Acts, which aim to address bullying more effectively and comprehensively, including cyberbullying, were passed in the Dewan Rakyat on Dec 10, 2024, and in the Dewan Negara on Dec 16, 2024. — Bernama
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UN: Afghan Women, Girls ‘Especially Vulnerable’ Under Taliban Rule
Aug 16, 2025
by Siyar Sirat
Women and girls in Afghanistan remain especially vulnerable, and more than half of the country’s population is in need of life-saving assistance four years after the Taliban’s return to power, the United Nations said.
UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told reporters this week that the Taliban have imposed a set of restrictive policies that bar women and girls from education, the workforce and public life.
“Humanitarian assistance for women and girls — who otherwise have no access to essential services and support — is a lifeline,” Dujarric said. “The continued presence of humanitarian workers in Afghanistan is itself a vital form of support.”
Citing the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), he warned that rising numbers of returnees from neighboring countries are deepening the crisis. Since the start of this year, 1.7 million Afghans have returned from Iran and Pakistan, most with limited ties to local communities and struggling to find shelter and economic opportunities.
Host communities inside Afghanistan also lack adequate services and resources, Dujarric said. To help meet these needs, the UN Central Emergency Response Fund recently allocated $10 million, with additional funding from the Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund under review.
“Following severe funding cuts, more resources are urgently needed to ensure people’s needs are met,” he said.
Humanitarian groups are also preparing for another wave of returnees after Pakistan set a Sept. 1 deadline for Afghans holding temporary registration cards to leave the country.
Meanwhile, nearly all provinces in Afghanistan have experienced below-average rainfall this year, with drought warnings issued across the north, northeast, central highlands and western regions, according to OCHA.
Dujarric said Afghanistan’s Humanitarian Response Plan for this year remains critically underfunded, with only $624 million received of the $2.4 billion required — just 25 percent of the total.
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