“My hijab empowers me to prove everybody wrong” | In Conversation with Jenna Maghaireh

Jenna Maghaireh plays WA/WD for Sheffield University Netball Club. Photo: Jenna Maghaireh

Participating in sports and physical activity during the holy month of Ramadan can be a challenge for Muslim athletes. But it’s not impossible. To celebrate International Women's Day, Misc Blog speaks with Sheffield University Netball Club (SUNC)’s Jenna Maghaireh, known on court as Jet 2, to discuss how she balances faith and sports, as well as growing in her identity as a female Muslim athlete.

How important is your faith to your daily life?

My faith is really important to me. I've always been Muslim but as I grew older, I started to discover it more for myself and implement more personal things throughout my daily life like focusing on my daily prayers and community feelings.

Why is fasting important to you?

Fasting mostly has two main parts. The community sense, in knowing that Muslims all around the world are all doing the same thing, brings us all together. From a religious perspective, food and drink is a necessity of life. Taking that away really puts everything into perspective in how fortunate and grateful we are for what we have. But it also proves that, if you put your mind to something, you can definitely achieve it.

You're on the first team for SUNC. How do you balance your faith with netball, particularly during Ramadan?

I'm quite fortunate that training is quite late from 8pm to 10pm - specifically this year because Ramadan comes forward every year so I can break my fast, rest, and eat before training starts. On a day like today where I've got a game and will be fasting, I just make sure that I've eaten a lot of carbs the day before to make sure that I’ve got slow energy release. In terms of prayer times, I try reschedule my time around to make sure that if I know one of the prayer times is during the game, I make sure that I get that in beforehand or afterwards.

What role do your teammates play in supporting you during Ramadan?

I'm very fortunate that as a club everyone is so inclusive. I do feel like netball isn’t the most diverse of sport sometimes but I've been really lucky at Sheffield. Everyone's so understanding. Everyone's always like, “What time can break your fast today?” or, “Did you wake up in the morning?” One of my teammates even came with me yesterday to the uni Iftar, a breaking of fast, which was really nice.

One of your teammates is also a Muslim. How nice is it to have someone else on your team who you can relate to?

It is great. In the whole club, there is only two of us who are Muslim and to have that person in my team is such an honour. It’s so nice to have that conversation, to be able to understand each other and check up on another. Although everyone [on the team] is so understanding and try to ask as many questions as possible, having someone who's been through it and has the same beliefs is very, very nice.

What misconceptions about Muslim athletes would you like to correct?

A lot of people think that Islam is something that is forced upon people. It is a choice that we make ourselves and has made me a better athlete. Since getting close to my faith, I'm more willing to learn, more hopeful, and more faithful. There's been a lot about fans not being too happy with the football stopping during the time where people are breaking the fasts. Instead of thinking, “Why has the game stopped?,” think, “They're actually still trying to perform to the best of their ability, whilst also keeping that side of themselves.”

One of the five pillars of Islam is charity. As the club Charity and Volunteering Secretary, how has your faith influenced the role?

We do quite a lot of volunteering with younger children. Last year, we had a school come in and there were a lot of Muslim girls. They said to me it was the first time that they’ve seen a girl with a hijab on playing netball. To be able to have that influence on people and inspire people is something that I really enjoy.

What does your hijab mean to you?

Growing up, I never saw anybody that looked like myself or was in a position that I was in. It did place doubts in my head that I can't do it […] Women are held in such a high regard in Islam and to be able to represent and implement that in my daily life is so important. Just because I decide to cover myself more doesn't mean that it stops me from doing what everyone else can do and it actually empowers me to prove everybody wrong.

Sunday is International Women's Day. What does it mean to you to be a female in sports?

It is part of my identity. I have always played sport and always been Muslim, which I'm very grateful for. To be able to go on the court and represent [Muslim Women] in such a high intensity game like Varsity, and have people see that we can do anything that we put our mind to, is such an important thing.

What message would you like to give other Muslims women who may or may not play sport?

If you don't play sport, I would definitely recommend giving it a go. There's so much variety out there and you will find something. It doesn't have to be intense, just put yourself out there and you’ll be pleasantly surprised. For those [who do play sport] keep going. Whenever I see somebody put themself out there, I'm like, you know what? Good on you.