With their heads wrapped in scarves, hijab-observing women drape their bodies in long, flowing folds of cloth.

Female athletes, on the other hand, seem to streamline their attire as much as possible. One often sees soccer players ripping off their shirts in victory or volleyball babes in their barely-there uniforms. How could a hijab-observing woman possibly maintain a physically active lifestyle? It seems that Muslim women must choose between their religiously-ordained clothing and sports.

Well, there are a growing number of women who scoff at this ultimatum.

Hijabi Hoops

Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir, a recent high school graduate from Massachusetts, is a talented basketball player — and a hijabi, or hijab-observing Muslim woman. Covering her head, arms, legs on the court doesn’t seem to slow her down in the slightest. She averages 42 points per game and became the first player in her state — male or female, Muslim or not — to score more than 3,000 points in a career.

Read her write-up in Sports Illustrated here.

Headers With Headscarves

Canada has received some attention over their relationship with hijab and sports. In 2007, Asmahan Mansour of Quebec province — then age 11 — was ejected from the soccer field on the grounds of the safety hazards presented by her hijab attire. Her team and four others walked away from the tournament in protest.

The question arises: Does the preventative measure of ejecting hijabi women from sports worth the cost of their marginalization?

“If you don’t accommodate girls like her, then you’re pushing them into isolation, into a ghetto, and I think this is really dangerous,” said imam Salam Elmenyawi, head of the Muslim Council of Montreal.

At the time, extraneous equipment did not seem to have a place in soccer. But now, the 2009-2010 Laws of the Game, as set down by Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), seem to make room for hijab attire:

Modern protective equipment such as headgear, facemasks and knee and

arm protectors made of soft, lightweight padded material are not considered

dangerous and are therefore permitted.

Safe Swimming, Modest SCUBA

While sports like basketball or soccer have their controversies over whether or not hijab attire poses a real threat to players, modifying the already loosely-fitting uniform to “protect modesty” is relatively straightforward. Players often simply wear athletic undergarments like UnderArmour beneath their shorts and jerseys.

But what about water activities like SCUBA-diving and swimming? Athletic undergarments alone are too fitted to comply with hijab requirements and loose, cotton swimwear poses an indisputable danger.

“It can’t be made of cotton. You’ll drown!” says Shereen Sabet, founder of Splashgear. Her company specializes in safe, modest swimwear.

Sabet was raised in a secular Muslim family, and came to practice her faith only after she discovered her passion for water activities. It was in 2001 that she began observing hijab by wearing a headscarf and loose clothing. But she didn’t know how to reconcile her newfound faith with her passion.

“You want scuba diving, but maybe God doesn’t want you to scuba dive,” she recalls telling herself. “But the desire did not go away. I needed to find a solution.”

Divine Intervention

Drysuits already existed, and Sabet found that they were ideal for modest SCUBA-diving in cool waters. But what if she wanted go swimming on a hot day or take a nice soak in a jacuzzi? The drysuit was far too robust for that kind of use.

“What about all these hijabi women?” she asked. “Why do you never see them at the pool?”

After some experimentation with different fabrics, she found a suitable design that does not cling to the figure and allows for maximum mobility when wet.

Sabet says that she has been overwhelmed by the positive feedback she has received from all kinds of women. Many are hijabi, but her services are also appreciated by modesty-seeking women of all faiths.

There exists the opinion that a hijab is a practice oppressive to women. But what these and other active, Muslim women show is that hijab can be as liberating or as binding as the wearer allows.

Read More: Asmahan Mansour, basketball, Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir, burqa, diving, FIFA, headscarf, hijab, Islam, Muslim, SCUBA, soccer, Splashgear, sports, swimming