RIYADH, April 9, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – The Saudi western city of Jeddah has hosted an unprecedented female fashion show to raise funds for Muslim charities, an organizer said on Saturday, April 9.

“The funds have been allocated to Qur’an memorization programs worldwide,” Marwa Salem Bahmat, the public relations officer of the Holy Qur’an Memorization International Organization’s (HQMIO) women section, told IslamOnline.net.

Bahmat said the show was also aimed at invigorating local clothing industry and encouraging untapped designing skills of many Saudi women.

The event was held in a Jeddah hotel in honor of Her Royal Highness Princess Mashal Bent Muqrin Al-Saud.

It was the third of its kind in the kingdom, but the first to be open to the public.

Established in 2000, the HQMIO is an affiliate body of the Muslim World League (MWL).

Bahmat said all models were dressed modestly but elegantly.

“We wanted to send the message that Muslim women are not out of fashion. We can be fashionable and modest at the same time,” she averred.

The organizer said the event reinforced that not all fashion shows were immodest.

“Our religion has almost covered every corner in life. And our female show responds to those who call for spreading immorality under the cliché of liberation of women,” Bahmat added.

She refused to dub the garments displayed as “Islamic”.

“There is nothing called Islamic and un-Islamic clothes. Clothes that violate Shari`ah are definitely haram (unlawful),” she said.

Bahmat, however, said that the show was “Islamic” in the broad sense of the word.

“It was accompanied by famous Islamic chants and never crossed the limits as we live in a conservative society,” she said.

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