Exercise for Muslim women: Two sisters share their tips

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From choosing what to wear to where to train, Husnaa and Tayyibah share their story.

The earliest memories sisters Husnaa Mota, 21, and Tayyibah Mota, 27, have of exercise are sports days and PE classes in their Coventry primary school. At this point, they had no inhibitions; being Muslim wasn’t a concern of theirs, nor was 'wearing a hijab - something which wasn’t common within our friends'.

But over time, they became increasingly aware of the barriers to exercise they, as young Muslim women, faced.

Their bodies changed as they became curvier, and they both found it difficult to marry Islam’s religious principles around modesty - women are encouraged to cover their bodies with loose garments, leaving only their face and feet exposed - and their love of exercise.

‘It was a struggle finding appropriate clothing that you felt both comfortable and modest in at the same time,’ says Tayyibah. ‘Women’s clothing is made to fit your shape and didn’t follow the way we dressed.’

Although Islam doesn’t restrict women from exercising in public, many Muslim women like Tayyibah and Husnaa face challenges like a lack of representation in sport, exercising in co-ed spaces as working out around men is often discouraged for the sake of modesty, and the practicalities of choosing clothes that cover their hair, chests, legs, and arms, and do not accentuate their bodies’ shapes.

In the last year, Husnaa started going to a co-ed gym, but she didn’t make the decision lightly, weighing up whether exercising in a co-ed gym would contradict her faith.

‘It took some time for me to decide that I would go to a mixed gym,’ Husnaa says, but she decided her health was her priority, and she signed up. For a while, she trained there wearing leggings and a baggy hoodie dress - an outfit she was comfortable in at the time, but after reading the Koran - the sacred Scripture of Islam - in greater depth, her appreciation for modesty as ‘protection' for Muslim women (women are told to cover their heads with a veil, as a garment protects them from harm by covering her beauty) increased, and she felt the need to adhere to this value more acutely.

‘Now I wear trousers and a baggy hoodie when I go to the gym,’ she says. ‘I literally have one outfit I wear. I wash and dry it every single day. It’s the only thing I feel comfortable in.’

Another barrier the pair faced was grappling with how they were seen in their community.

In lockdown, when the only way to see each other was on socially distant bike rides, Husnaa remembers feeling self-conscious cycling through Coventry to meet Tayyibah.

‘On the roads, everyone could see me, and it felt a bit awkward,’ Husnaa says, explaining that they have never once seen another woman wearing a hijab while cycling.

‘When we started cycling, people were looking,’ Tayyibah recalls. ‘You just know you’re getting judged. Sometimes, people laughed. But you have to get past that point. During lockdown, cycling was the only way we could see each other, so we were forced to get over how we felt, and the more we did it, the more comfortable we became.’

Cycling is something they now do frequently (Husnaa cycles to work daily and Tayyibah for an occasional ride), but the sisters are most passionate about hiking. After their father passed away from injuries sustained in a car accident when Husnaa was 11 and Tayyibah 17, hiking gave them peace and healing even in the midst of tragedy. Their brother encouraged them to hike as a way to raise money for charities. Initially, they were raising money for Water Wells Charity with Islamic Relief in memory of their father, but they went on to raise money for different Muslim charities like Human Appeal and Islamic Relief.

‘As Muslims, we’re taught that charitable acts bring you rewards in the afterlife,’ Tayyibah explains.

Finding modest and comfortable clothes to hike in proved difficult. ‘It was a struggle to find appropriate hiking clothing,’ Tayyibah remembers. ‘I didn’t own any hiking gear or clothing. You needed to be wearing the right gear like waterproof jackets, waterproof overalls, and base layers. They’re all tight-fitting, so I literally lived in all of my brother’s clothes. They were bigger and baggier.’

It frustrated her that there wasn’t more appropriate hiking clothing for Muslim women, but Tayyibah came to accept it as the norm, and continued to hike in her brother’s loose fitting clothing.

‘I didn’t care how I looked in men’s clothes,’ she says. ‘It’s about being modest - that my hair is covered and secure, that my hijab isn’t going to fall off, and that I feel my clothes aren’t going to fall off.’

The sisters now share their hiking journey on Instagram, where they call themselves the Junglee Joggers (‘junglee in our language means crazy, we’ve always been crazy,’ they tell me), and they receive messages ‘all the time’ from other Muslim women, thanking them for representing female Muslim hikers.

‘Being Muslim in Britain – you’re just portrayed negatively,’ says Tayyibah. ‘People think that because you wear a hijab that you can’t speak the language, or that you’re oppressed, or that you’re timid and don’t have a voice. When you put yourself out there, you are breaking a stereotype.’

Both sisters agree that when you see people ‘like you’ in the outdoors, you’re more inclined to follow suit and do the same – a fact proven by the number of Muslim women who have tried hiking since scrolling through Tayyibah and Husnaa’s IG feed. One woman recently messaged the sisters for advice on starting her own hiking group for Muslim women in her local area. Another got in touch to ask what hikes were going on, sharing that the sisters’ IG had been the catalyst for her committing to regular hikes. Several have simply said how much pleasure it has been to see two Muslim women outside having fun.

‘We never intended to influence or shape anything with our Instagram account,’ says Tayyibah. ‘We just wanted to share what we do. We didn’t think about the impact.’

If their followers aren't thanking Tayyibah and Husnaa for representing female Muslim hikers, they’re asking practical questions about clothes to wear and how to pee outside.

‘The issue with peeing outdoors is about being seen and keeping clean,’ Tayyibah says. ‘In order to pray five times a day, we have to be in a state of cleanliness all the time. If you’ve been for a wild wee, it’s about cleaning yourself. We always have water bottles or foldable silicone cups with us, do our business in a safe space away from the path, and wash clean.’

Turns out, they’re inspiring other religious beliefs to explore nature, too.

During lockdown, Husnaa and Tayyibah noticed several ethnic minority outdoor groups emerging, like Muslim Hikers and Black Girls Hike, as well as women-centric groups, such as Merrell Hiking Club, which was set up with the aim of bringing representation, inclusivity and accessibility to the hiking world.

‘Hiking groups are a great platform for minority groups to meet and start hiking,’ Tayyibah says. ‘They allow Muslim women and other ethnic groups to take part and feel comfortable, and they open up a conversation about the lack of diversity in outdoor sports like hiking, especially in Muslim communities and for Muslim women.

‘It’s more secure and safe to hike as a Muslim woman in a group, especially when it’s their first time,’ she continues. ‘The groups create a space for women to feel they are part of something.’

Now, both sisters feel that hiking supports their faith, as opposed to contradicting it.

‘We were taught that our Prophet would go to Mecca, over the valley and mountains, to contemplate and meditate,’ says Tayyibah. ‘It’s where he received revelation.’

By getting outside, they feel they enter into the contemplation modelled for them by the Prophet.

‘Whenever we see the sky, the trees, the mountains, and the earth, we recognise that God created it and for us to appreciate it,’ says Tayyibah. ‘It brings you peace.’

‘Taking care of our bodies is worship,’ Husnaa says. ‘You’re being grateful for your body, which is a gift, and increasing your strength. It’s showing thankfulness to God for giving that to you. Me going on a hike is a form of worship, because I’m following in the footsteps of our Prophet.’

Recently, Tayyibah and Husnaa have noticed a number of activewear brands are also becoming more inclusive.

Husnaa swears by Puma’s Modest Wide Leg Track Pants, while Puma also stock a Modest Activewear Training Hoodie that Husnaa uses for both hiking and the gym as it’s both loose and long.

‘If you roll the track pants up, they’ve got material underneath so they’re not see-through, but they’re still breathable,’ Husnaa says. ‘They’re flared and the material is really nice.’

Tayyibah is also a fan of Berghaus’ waterproof rain jacket that ‘cinches you at the waist’ so you ‘don’t feel frumpy.’ And Berghaus makes an activewear hijab that the sisters love as it’s lightweight and stays in place.

Both of the sisters also cite Imaan Active, a brand founded by Misbah Mogradia, a Muslim woman who couldn’t find modest exercise clothing that felt good, as one of their faves.

There’s still a way to go, but if there’s one thing Tayyibah and Husnaa want you to take from this, it’s that exercise is for everyone.

‘Barriers are coming down, and it’s important for everyone to exercise,’ Tayyibah concludes. ‘The outdoors is for everyone. There are no exclusions or exceptions.’

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