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Muslim beauty contestant says she faces threats

A British woman hoping to become the first Muslim to represent her country in the Miss Universe pageant has gotten "indirect" threats against her life, she told CNN on Thursday.

Shanna Bukhari said she'd received "a lot of support from all communities," but that she got "some hate mail from all communities as well."

"Indirect threats have been made," she said, including video links being posted of men "suggesting things could possibly happen."

While there had been no direct threats against her, she said, "it is upsetting to receive links of certain things that could possibly endanger someone's life."

Bukhari is proud of her origins and her religion, but it's the media that has made her religion an issue, she said.

"My intentions were not to bring my religion into this," she said.

She said she would participate in the swimsuit round of the contest, but would not be "exposing revealing parts of my body."

"I will not be wearing a bikini," she said. "I will be wearing a one-piece swimsuit and a sarong."

The current Miss USA, Rima Fakih, is the first Muslim woman to win that title.

Bukhari will learn May 1 whether she will represent her country at the Miss Universe pageant, which is in September.

- Newsdesk editor, The CNN Wire

Filed under: Culture wars • Muslim

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soundoff (451 Responses)
  1. badrudeen

    ineedtoyouyouremailtomyemailifyoucan favor

    April 15, 2011 at 5:56 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  2. Katie

    SHE won a beauty contest? Really? What was she in a AKC dog show?? Really.

    Reality: Unless you can name each individual killed, your numbers are pointless. How can you say that 8 million people were killed in the Fall of Rome or any other incident you mentioned. the numbers, I'm sure, are excessively exaggerated.

    Religion kills more than anything else though. It is the basis for more deaths than: car accidents, drug use, suicide, murder, tobacco, alcohol or racism.

    April 6, 2011 at 10:12 am | Report abuse | Reply
  3. Ayeesha

    Shanna's duplicitous behaviour is analysed here: http://shannabukhari.blogspot.com/

    April 3, 2011 at 1:21 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  4. catch22

    Why hasn't somebody told her the truth about herself? Im embarrassed for her. She does't have my vote.

    April 3, 2011 at 12:55 pm | Report abuse | Reply
    • Steve

      She looks very plain to me. She would not stand out in a crowd. Not bad looking, but not Miss Universe either. I could picture her sitting in a cubicle down the hall.

      April 10, 2011 at 10:26 am | Report abuse |
  5. D

    It certainly is not nice that she is being treated this way. Then again, it is also no surprise that other contestants are trying to get rid of her.

    April 3, 2011 at 8:47 am | Report abuse | Reply
  6. chinamiddleeast

    she is very beautiful. i hope she wins!

    April 2, 2011 at 2:09 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  7. mohamed

    I think she should stick to her everday job,not beauty contest not her cup of tea,she sound like a man like an older brother.what withe the facial is that a bay make up or what.

    April 2, 2011 at 1:59 pm | Report abuse | Reply
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Dan Gilgoff and Eric Marrapodi, with daily contributions from CNN's worldwide newsgathering team and frequent posts from religion scholar and author Stephen Prothero.