Presenter Saira Khan has hit back at a Muslim man who said she “disgraced” him after she revealed her body in a photoshoot.
The TV presenter joined her Loose Women co-stars – including Andrea McLean, Janet Street-Porter and Coleen Nolan – in the photograph, each of them wearing swimwear to encourage women to celebrate their bodies no matter what they look like.
Saira, 46, had confessed to battling against her figure while growing up and spoke about how being raised as a Muslim meant she had the “mentality not to draw attention” to her body.
After shedding her inhibitions for the TV programme’s campaign, Saira and her colleagues were faced with a large amount of praise, but she later took to Instagram to highlight a negative message from a man who criticised her for doing so as a Muslim woman.
Saira said she deals with this “kind of crap” on a daily basis from the “narrow-minded, misogynistic, brainwashed, backward idiots” who tell her to stop calling herself a Muslim, and those who are “threatened” by a woman’s body.
She posted the man’s social media message on Instagram.
Former Apprentice star Saira fired back: “Here we go – I bet none of my other @loosewomen are getting posts like this.
“As soon as I say ‘I’m a Muslim’ then all hell breaks loose – seriously – I was brought up to not judge others – it’s a basic requirement for Muslims – I feel so sorry for people like this who are so threatened by a woman’s body.
“This is not a ‘sexual’ campaign – it’s one to empower women, for us to feel good about ourselves and our imperfections – it’s my choice to do this and if Allah doesn’t like it – let him deal with me – WTF does it have to do with anyone else?”
She continued: “This is the kind of crap I have to deal with daily on social media – I have so many amazing Muslim followers, who support me, but I also have many who keep reminding me ‘I am not a Muslim’ and I should stop calling myself one – well, here’s my answer to that, ‘Go and do one’ you narrow-minded, misogynistic, brainwashed, backward idiots.”
She concluded: “If a woman in a bikini offends your version of Islam – then seriously you should not be looking in the first place.”
Saira followed up with a post on Twitter with a similar sentiment.
In my opinion, controlling what women wear through brainwashing them with a religious rhetoric counts as misogyny – let’s wake up to this
— Saira Khan (@IamSairaKhan) May 1, 2017
Along with the release of the image, photographed by Bryan Adams, Saira told how being sexually abused as a teenager had led to her feeling disconnected from her body.
She said: “I have talked about being ‘touched up’ when I was 13 years old and that experience led to a disconnect between sexuality and my body.
“I have never done a bikini shoot but I’m really excited and honoured to be part of this campaign, and to just be honest with other women about how I am.”