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Ilhan Omar

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Ilhan Omar — one of two first  Muslim women to be elected to the US Congress, made history on Thursday, January 3rd 2019, when she wore her Hijab on the House floor.

The request of one of the first female Muslim members of the United States Congress, Ilhan Omar, to be allowed to wear hijab when she is on the floor of the House to vote and give speeches, has been granted.

Daily Mail UK reports that the incoming speaker, Nancy Pelosi, and incoming House rules committee chairman, Jim McGovern, backed Omar in her request and included it in the rules package they released on Tuesday, January 1.

Omar, who is a Democrat, tweeted in November after she was elected: “No one puts a scarf on my head but me. It’s my choice—one protected by the first amendment. And this is not the last ban I’m going to work to lift.”

Republicans will be handing over control of Congress to Democrats after eight years in power.

Omar, will become the first federal legislator to wear a religious headscarf when she’s sworn in on Thursday, January 3.

Omar is joined by Rep-elect Rashida Tlaib of Michigan as the first two Muslim women in Congress.

The Congresswoman from Minnesota was all smiles as she was sworn in on Capitol Hill … where she was surrounded by a throng of supporters, many of whom were also wearing hijabs. Omar’s no stranger to politics — she served in the state legislature before making her historic run for Congress.

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Omar — the first Somali-American in Congress — has also never shied away from her religion in public. In fact, during her victory speech on Election night, she dropped the Arabic phrase, “alhamdulillah” … which means “all praise to God.”

The 37-year-old — who came from a refugee camp in Kenya some 23 years ago — ran on very progressive platforms … such as hiking the minimum wage, universal healthcare and free college tuition.

United States Congress will now allow Muslim women to wear hijab on the floor of the House to vote and give speeches.

 

Credit: TMZ, UK Daily Mail

Palestinian-American Rashida Tlaib and Somali-American Ilhan Omar have become the first Muslim women elected to US Congress.

Tlaib took Michigan’s 13th congressional district in a race in which she was the sole major party candidate. Omar won Minnesota’s strongly Democratic fifth congressional district, replacing the first Muslim congressman, Keith Ellison, who vacated his seat to run in the state’s attorney general race.

Who are Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar?

Tlaib, 42, was born in Detroit to Palestinian immigrant parents.

She made history in 2008 by winning a seat on the Michigan Legislature, becoming the first Muslim woman to do so.

Her campaign platform included pledges to secure a $15 minimum wage, preventing cuts to welfare programmes, such as Medicare and Social Security, as well as stopping tax relief to large corporations.

Omar, who arrived in the US at the age of 14 after fleeing civil war in Somalia, campaigned on a similarly progressive platform, which calls for universal healthcare and tuition-free colleges.

She said her political life began attending local Democratic Farmer Labor party caucuses with her grandfather after arriving in the US.

 

Credit: Al Jazeera