"I'm Dina Torkia - vlogger, hijab-wearer, Muslim." "Obviously." "This is the story of my time as a contestant in a Muslim beauty pageant in Indonesia." "Oh, Dina, you're so kind." "No, I just really want to win." "'You're probably thinking." "Muslim beauty pageant how weird is that?" "'" "Just smile." "This camera, just smile." "'And you'd be right.'" "So nice." "'It was weird.'" "Eeeeeennaaaaaaa!" "'Because this wasn't just a pageant." "'It was a two-week boot camp.'" "This is like I'm going into the Army or something." "No!" "'Which challenged my view of Islam...'" "I'm really freaked out right now." "I don't feel a good vibe." "'.." "And tested me more than anything I'd experienced before.'" "Stop crying." "They're just lunatics." "The Grand Final of the World Muslimah Awards... '18 Muslim girls from all over the world...'" "I need help!" "You just say "Samoneh!" and no-one help me!" "'.." "But only one would be crowned World Muslimah.'" "I feel really annoyed, Prima." "'Trust me, you have never seen a pageant like this.'" "They called you already." "What the hell have I done?" "Assalaamu Alaikum." "Hi, g..." "I can't do that." "I can't say "Assalaamu Alaikum." "Hi, guys."" "Just relax." "You don't sound your normal upbeat self." "I'm married to a man." " That's good." " No, I can't put that in." " Yes." "And he's called Sid." "Come on, put your face in it." "Come on." "Oh, man, my nose looks massive." "OK, so I'm going to sit, then." "Should I move the table there a bit and then I sit..." "'Today, I'm making my entry video for the competition.'" "People are just going to see your little face, there." "OK, so then we should do it like this, then." "'It's supposed to show me as a good Muslim.'" "What about this, then?" "Dina is applying for Muslimah World 2014." "It's like Miss Universe but hijabis, basically." "Actually, it's nothing like Miss Universe." "There certainly aren't any bikinis." "In Islam, women are supposed to be modest but there are different interpretations of what that means here in Britain - let alone in different Muslim countries." "Oh, we should do that thing, you know, that follow thing." "Yes." "Definitely." "Hold my hand." "Yeah, so, which hand does it work on?" "'My dad's Egyptian, my mum's English and Sid is Pakistani.'" " I look like a midget." " You're not in it!" "'I'm a fashion designer." "'For me, the hijab doesn't need to make you look plain 'and boring - it can look amazing.'" "Hey Miss Fatty-Fatty." "She's so stupid." "'I've been sharing fashion tips with other hijabi girls 'for the last five years." "'And now my channel online has over 150,000 subscribers 'and I sell my clothing line around the world.'" "I think she's got a chance, you know." "I think she's got a chance." "She could win!" "'My name is Dina Torkia, I'm 25 years old...'" "I'm hoping this competition is a chance to shout about the good things that Muslim women bring to the world." "Me and Sid spent all night editing the video." "People will be able to choose their favourite contestant online, and those with the most votes will get through to the finals in Indonesia." "Fingers crossed." "Go, Dina!" "Dina!" "Definitely Team Dina!" "Hashtag." "Team Dina!" "Vote for Dina, everybody!" "891 likes and 13 dislikes, so let's find the 13 ones that don't like it." "I posted the audition video on my social media sites - and as usual it got negative comments from people who thought it wasn't properly Islamic." "You're going to look at the hate comments but there's thousands of the other comments where people are like, "Oh, yeah, great job, blah-blah..."" " Yep." " But you're not going to look at that." "Some conservative Muslims don't like the audition video because I've used music in the background." "Rasulullah said, "The people of my Ummah will drink wine" ""calling it by other than its real name, merry will be made for them" ""through the playing of musical instruments" ""and by the singing of female singers."" "I'm not singing, so what's your point?" ""Allah will cleave the earth under them" ""and turn them into apes and swines."" "Oh." "OK." ""Music grows hypocrisy in the heart just as water causes" ""the crops to grow."" "What's that got to do with anything?" "What's really hurtful is that the negative comments come from British Muslims." "I get a lot of comments saying, "You know what, your two inches" ""of hair are sticking out, you're a bad role model."" "That kind of thing." "They don't look at the bigger picture." "OK, I'm starting to look like a frump now, what is this?" "'Like, I'm not out partying, drinking, clubbing, 'doing drugs and putting that online, am I?" "'" " Oh, crap." " I have to do what she's doing." "So even if young girls are wanting to copy me it's not exactly a bad thing that they're doing." "You know what I mean?" "From talking to friends like Rima and girls who contact me online," "I'm really aware of the struggles faced by young Muslims in Britain." "Hello." "Yeah, of course." "Nice to meet you." "I am Dina, what's your name?" " Humairah." " Humairah?" " I'm such a big fan of you." " Really?" "Oh, thanks." "'It's easy to feel set apart from the mainstream, especially 'if you wear the hijab." "'And if, at the same time, you're getting criticism about how 'you dress from within the Muslim community, you can 'start to really get confused about how you're meant to fit in.'" "How are you doing?" "I've just met Dina Torkia." "Yeah." "We have just done that, yeah." "'If I get in to World Muslimah, it's going to really make me 'question my relationship with Islam." "'I'll find out how women from different countries 'deal with these things 'and hopefully come back stronger in my faith.'" "I have an e-mail from info@worldmuslimah." ""Dear Sister, congratulations!" Oh!" ""You have been selected to be in the final round for the fourth" ""annual World Muslimah Awards" ""that will be held in Jakarta on November 9th to 22nd."" "It was great to be selected as a finalist but as I read more" "I began to realise that the judging was a bit unorthodox." "100 orphan kids as the honorary judges!" "They're the judges." "The orphans are the judges." "Every year, in a show of their Islamic principles, World Muslimah gives the casting vote in the final to 100 orphan children." "...from Nigeria!" "CHEERING AND APPLAUSE." "But it was another aspect of the competition which I found most nerve-racking." ""All finalists require to recite al' Koran in beautiful harmony" ""with exquisite technique and tajweed."" "So I have to recite Koran on the stage live in front of everyone." "Yeah." " And be judged on it, there and then." "That's so embarrassing." " Why not, innit?" " Assalaamu Alaikum." " Assalaamu Alaikum." " Hi, sister." "Are you OK?" " Good, Al-hamdu." "How are you?" " Looking forward to your lesson?" " I cannot wait." "'It was time for me to brush up on my Koran-reading skills.'" "I've told her that you are a brilliant reciter and..." "Why would you say that?" "...that you are going to be absolutely fantastic when you go over to Indonesia." "'I have worn the hijab since the age of 12 'and I've never stopped practising Islam." "But recently," "'I haven't had a lot of time to keep my knowledge of the religion fresh.'" " Assalaamu Alaikum." " Assalaamu Alaikum." "'I'm worried I will be out of my depth among the other competitors.'" " This is Ustadah Solit." " Hello." "I'm Dina." "Our lead Koran teacher." "Masha'Allah." " Assalaamu Alaikum." "Nice to meet you." " Nice to meet you." " You have a Koran with you?" " No, don't you have Korans?" " You have come without a Koran for a Koran lesson?" " Obviously not." "That is like going to football without a football kit." "I was going to bring my Koran but then I thought, there'll be..." " There's one over there." " Right, can I just pick one?" "'The Koran has Quranic Arabic, so when you read the Koran 'it's not like you are just talking Arabic.'" "Is that OK?" "'I don't know how to read it in beautiful harmony.'" "Who's starting first?" " Oh, so, you want me to read?" " Yes." " Right now?" " Yes." " OK." "Are you sure?" " Yes, yes." "Definitely." "This is not "teh" - "toh"." "If I stop you." "How long have you been learning the Koran?" "Well, I haven't been learning." "It's just when I was younger and then..." " Yours is slightly less..." " I don't know the rules in that stuff." "In the counts." "I don't know how many counts." "This is why you should have brought your Koran with you." " So continue reading?" " Yes, please." "Again, please." "Look at your own one." "'Basically, there's the words and then there's little drawings on top 'of each letter which tells you how to pronounce that letter, 'so you have to know all the rulings for that and it's really difficult.'" "Mm-mm." "Please stop." "There are mistakes in there." " Shall I start that bit again?" " Yes, please." "It's really, really stressful because you're putting yourself on a platform to represent Muslim women from the UK." "If I'm not the level that people expect of me then that's going to be disappointing for people." "Or people would be like, "You made UK Muslims look crap."" " Masha'Allah." "That was so much better." " Aw!" "I thought it was a great lesson." "She was a bit hard on me though." "Me and you think we're all right and then you go to this lesson" " and you're like, "Oh, crap!" "I'm awful."" " Yeah." " Yeah." "Oh, my God, Wallahi, this is really enormous." "Oh, my God, this is actually really awful." "Wait, wait, wait." "'It's the night before we travel 'and to be honest, I'm feeling pretty nervous.'" " Shall I get on top of you?" " No!" "Yo, man!" "This isn't very Islamic." "True that." "I've been to Indonesia twice before for my fashion business." "It has the largest Muslim population of any country in the world." "Oh." "That's a cool skirt, Sid." "Everywhere you look, people are wearing hijabs and I've always felt like it's somewhere I fit in." "But I really don't know how conservative things will be here compared to home." "Bule means foreigner." "And they keep saying it." "Like, I don't know what you're saying." "None of the girls will have any of their husbands or brothers or any of their family with them, which means I obviously can't have." "Sid in the same place, cos he'll be the only man." "Oh, this is so heavy!" "'Islamically, I've been taught women aren't supposed to travel 'alone without a chaperone.'" "Aw, I'm leaving you now." "'So it was a surprise for me that this 'was happening as part of an Islamic competition.'" "Stop crying." "You're crying." "Are you going to miss me?" "Obviously." "I'm actually really, really sad about leaving Sid, which sounds really lame, cos we've been married for just over a year." "Although, most of the time, he's annoying as hell, obviously I'm going to miss him." " Text me when you get there." "OK." "Bye-bye." " Bye." "Has it dried?" "Have I got foundation streaks?" "'Since we got married, 'we haven't been apart for more than two or three days.'" "Aww, so sad." "'But for World Muslimah I have to live with the other finalists 'for an assessment period of two weeks, ending with the Grand Final." "'I was travelling to Bogor on the outskirts of Jakarta.'" "Guys, we're just on the way to Miss Muslimah World." "Oh, my God, did you see the lightning?" "Oh, my God, did you hear that?" "This is the craziest rain I have ever seen in my life." "It's a sign." "It's a sign this competition is not blessed." "I was beginning to get an uneasy feeling about my first night without Sid." "Oh, sorry, sorry." "You stay with another four contestants." " Four?" " Yeah, four." "So in one room is five." " Right, so there's five people in this room." " Yeah." " Oh." "So you're sharing..." "Oh, it's not single beds." "A shared bed?" " Yeah, shared bed." " Shared bed?" " Single beds here." " Oh, can I go in that one?" " Yeah, I don't know." " Is someone in there?" " You can..." " Let me see." "Yeah, there's someone in that." "So I have to share a bed with another girl?" "Like, no gap in between beds?" "Like, leg touching?" "Yeah, it's up to you." "No, I don't want to touch legs!" "How is that three people in here?" "How?" "How?" "It's two spaces." " So one, two, three..." " That's a joke, mate." "That ain't happening." "I'm putting my suitcase here." "I'm claiming the sofa." "Right now." "Yeah, yeah." "No." "I'm claiming the sofa, I'm claiming the sofa." "OK." "I've got to just vlog this, right now." "I just have to do this right now." "Hi, guys." "So, basically," "I just got to where the Muslimah thing is happening." "There's like a mini apartment and five girls have to share one apartment." "And I'm in this room." "And there's just one double bed for three people!" "One, two, like someone in the middle." "That's not happening." "What the hell have I done?" "!" "All I really wanted to do was go to sleep but that didn't seem like an option." "Hello!" "Assalaamu Alaikum!" " I'm Malaysia..." "I'm from Malaysia." " Are you a contestant?" " Yes." " Yay!" "Me too!" " Yay!" " I'm Dina, nice to meet you." " Hi." "I follow your YouTube." "Oh, cool!" "Thanks." "You look amazing." "Did you guys just get dressed up today?" "Yeah, you have to get dressed too." "You have to get dressed like that for the photo shoot." "Oh, everybody's doing a photo shoot?" "Today." "Oh, there's Langston." "Oh, it's good to see a familiar face." "What's up?" "OMG!" "'Langston is a photographer I've worked with before.'" " For Dina." " Oh, lovely." "Is that a skirt, what is it?" "What about my scarf?" "Is this a scarf?" "This is a hijab." "Guys, so I am in, like, somebody's room, where I have to change into this outfit." "Like, I just got here and then I have to do all this crazy stuff." "Not feeling the scarf and how it's sort of on, but it's one of those easy scarves that you just sort of slip on, so I don't really like it." "(Anyway, now I have to go and do a photo shoot." "Oh, wow." "Lovely." "Let's go." "I think I can just about cooperate for one day, that's it." "Langston, what do you think of the new style, bruv?" " Wow!" " New style." "Do I look like an Indonesian, bruv?" " How do you like it?" " I fucking hate it!" "Do you feel comfortable?" "What do you think?" "What do you think, knowing me, what do you think?" " Good?" "That was a real laugh." " Cool, cool." "I was surprised we were expected to do so much on the first night." "So I will be your godmother, OK?" "Whether you like it or not." "'And as Puan Jay, Secretary General of World Muslimah, detailed 'the next few days, things weren't looking much better.'" "According to this schedule, all of you have to wake up at 3.00 in the morning." "OK?" " Tomorrow?" " Wake up and do your prayers and recite Koran." "I mean to keep you strong, to be a Muslim woman." "As a Muslim, actually, it's good." "So I just got here and I only have five hours of sleep before I have to wake up." "Try to have a good rest." "It's a hundred times crazier than I expected." "So now I am just thinking, "Oh, my God." "Shit." ""Mama, Sid, help me." "Somebody help me."" "Because you guys can't help me." "So like, I'm completely alone." "We were up at 3.00 to pray and by the time the sun rose, we were dressed and ready for our first big assessment." "It's 6.30 in the morning." "These are all the contestants that have arrived." "'We are all ready to get on a bus...'" "Morning!" "'.." "To go and have a medical.'" "World Muslimah is a truly international event, with eight Indonesian girls and ten from other countries." "We were about to have a medical check-up." "The next World Muslimah, we were told, would need to be healthy to fulfil their duties in the coming year." "Can we not get the weight on the camera, please?" "Press and photographers had shown up for this weigh-in and so too had the founder of World Muslimah, Eka Shanty." "This is about body, mind and soul." "Ahh." "If you are not healthy, you cannot share with the healthy mind as well." "So we have to ensure that our finalists are in healthy condition." "I really don't want to get the needle thing and I really don't want to piss in a box." "I really don't want to do that." "Dina Torkia, your turn." "Your turn." "Women supposed to be well educated and highly appreciated." "Oh." "Shit, shit, shit." "My duty in World Muslimah is to empower them." "No seriously, I'm going to have a panic attack." "Is she going in?" "Is she going in?" "Ow!" "Ow!" "So their potential, their capability will be enriched..." "OK." "But I'm not getting naked." "No naked!" "...and they will become a new role model for our own society." "Oh, my God!" "This is insane!" "I can't do this!" "I literally can't do it." "Come on, I know you can do it." "The medical check-up was a complete nightmare for me." "But things were about to get even worse." "They told us they would analyse our personalities and psychological traits and that this would feed into our final score in the competition." "You have 225 number." "They called it "the psycho test"." "Which one?" "A or B?" "You're not going to believe these questions." "("I like to participate in a discussion about sex" "("and sexual activities."" "(You've got that choice," "(or, "I like to predict how my friends will do in various situations."" "(What the actual F?" "This makes no sense." "(I'm thinking of just circling any old shit" "(because I'm pretty sure this means nothing." "(I can't even... in my head." "(Do you like to read books about sex or do you like to have friends?" "(Sex or friends?" "I was beginning to have my doubts about the competition but the next day brought a different kind of challenge for the contestants." "World Muslimah is not just a pageant, it's a charitable foundation." "Oh, my God, girl scouts!" "And Eka had arranged for us to visit one of the poorest areas of the city." "Around a quarter of Jakarta's population live in slums like this." "That's about five million people." "It is about the ideal Muslim." "I've been thinking about how to portray." "Lady Diana in an Islamic personality." "Are we getting on that?" "Are we getting on that?" "No way!" "'We were in Kampung Muka, a slum area in North Jakarta." "'We'd been told to record our experiences to see how we 'reacted to the poverty we saw around us.'" "This thing feels so wobbly." " Hi." " Hi." "And he's going to push us." "He's pushing us." "Really, we should be walking like everyone else." "Now we look spoiled." "Is this an experience, just for us?" " This is the thing." "This is just for us!" " Hi." "No, it's bad because we should be walking." "He's pushing us." "That's bad." "We were being led into one of the poorest parts of the slum by a local charity." "Supported by World Muslimah, they try and improve the opportunities for women there." "I'd seen slums on my travels before." "Assalaamu Alaikum." "But I'd never had the chance to actually visit someone who lives in one." " Oh, she sells birds." " Birds." "Her husband makes 100,000 per week." "That's £20 a month." "I wasn't expecting to be so lost for words." "Dina, you can ask something." "I will translate for you." "OK." "You just... you just look at her." "I haven't got any questions right now." "'I could see for myself, how awful things were for her.'" "Then I wanted to give her money." "Everyone's just like on the way out." "So I was just like, "Oh, thanks for having us round." ""Assalaamu Alaikum, kiss-kiss." And then gave her the money." "Then she really, really got really emotional." "I don't want her to cry." "It's so stupid that we cry." "We had spent three days in Jakarta and I was beginning to feel quite confused about how the activities so far added up - so they could judge the competition." "Next day, we were all on the move to another city where the final would be held." "It was an eight-hour train journey from Jakarta to Yogyakarta, and a chance to get to know some of my fellow contestants." "Hi, guys." "It's me and Miss Iran, Sama, on the train to Yogya..." " Don't do it." " Not this, this is really rude in Iran." "I'd made a new friend in Miss Iran." "You'd have thought she'd be more conservative, Islamically, than a Brit like me." "But it turned out that in one way our views were surprisingly similar." "Let's sing it together." "Bruno Mars?" "Really?" "Oh, my God." "She's going to sing Bruno Mars." " Who's going to sing?" " She is." "♪ When I compliment her She won't believe me" "♪ And it's so, it's so sad to think That she don't see... ♪" " Are you singing along?" " I love it." "I knew karaoke was popular in Indonesia but to be honest, I was pretty shocked to see women singing in public as part of an Islamic competition." "♪ .." "When I see your face... ♪" "From what I've been taught, you shouldn't sing in front of men because your voice, is part of your, in Arabic, "Awra"." "♪ .." "Just the way you are... ♪" "I wear the hijab and I cover my body in front of men, because it's my "Awra"." "♪ .." "When you smile... ♪" "And your voice is part of that." "It's just one of your adornments that you have to conceal." "Singing with the hijab on in public just wouldn't happen in England." "♪ .." "Just the way you are... ♪" "In Iran, hearing a woman singing is forbidden." "So, er, it was strange." "Dina!" "Dina!" "Dina!" "Dina!" " Ain't happening." " Not going to work." "Look, in England, this never happens!" "I can't sing." "No." "Conservatives say, perhaps, "This is haram, this is forbidden in Islam."" "♪ And then a hero comes along... ♪" "When I consult with the Islamic scholars today, then we find out, if you want to talk to kids, you have to talk in the kids' way, so we try to make it more casual." "And I believe Allah will forgive me." "The girl in the bikini is not Islamic at all." "The girl in the bikini is not Islamic at all." "The girls' singing on the train was making me question some of the religious attitudes I've grown up with in Britain." "Oh, no, no-one look at the boobies." "Our cultural views are oppressed ones." ""Oh, my God, I would never do that." ""I would never do that in front of people."" "Well, why not?" "So, it is oppressed." "What is the big deal?" "They were still modest." "Like, am I just being judgmental myself?" "Five, four, three, two, one." "Guys, we're going on a massive walk with a bunch of school kids and they're all singing a song." "Day one in Yogyakarta, and time for the first of many photo opportunities, this one at an ancient temple called Prambanan." " What religion's that?" "Is it for Buddhism?" " Hindu." " Buddhism?" " It's Hindu." "We were each assigned our own liaison officer, who was a volunteer from the city." "My LO was called Ajeng." "And at first, I thought she was just there to help me out and tell me a bit about the sites." "So, is that a god?" "No, it's only the Guardian of the Gate." "Come on." "Let's go through here, girls." " Let's walk through here." " Really?" "Yes, it's amazing." "Why are we not going through here?" "'I was starting to relax and enjoy myself.'" "This is so cool, look." "Come with me, it's a little bit scary." "It's a bit creepy, isn't it, because there is nobody here." "Why is there nobody here?" "Are you not a bit freaked out?" "Oh, shit, I'm not allowed here." "Oh, shit." "Why?" "Because that is not open." "But does it open usually for the public?" " It does?" " Let's go." "So I haven't done something completely forbidden." "That's all right, then." "I couldn't get my head round how all this was fitting into the competition." "How were all these activities being scored?" "After a while, it began to dawn on me that Ajeng was watching our every move." "Could it be that our friendly liaison officers were actually undercover judges?" "Are you going to score us?" "Are you doing that?" "Shall I just sit down quickly?" "Score you like... as a judge or...?" "Are you?" "Are you scoring me?" " Should I tell you?" " Yes, you should." "They told you that you are supposed to let us know everything." " Really?" " Yeah." " Not everything." " No." "Really." " No." "Well, you just let me know anyway by your answers." "So you're going to be scoring me, right?" "I don't know." " Bye." " Bye." "World Muslimah had taken over a whole village for the next task." "They wanted to see how we would cope out of our comfort zone, so this would be our home for the night." "All the girls were divided up amongst the villagers." "Assalaamu Alaikum." "Assalaamu Alaikum." "Should we take a tour of the house?" "Let's have a house tour." "The house belonged to a sweet old couple." "But their son also lived there." "I was being asked to stay overnight and that was a problem for me." "Prima, I'm coming to check out..." "to check out your room." " What?" " There is a man." " Yeah." "'Islamically, I've always been taught a woman shouldn't stay 'in another man's house without her chaperone - 'which for me, meant Sid.'" "Hello." "Sid?" "Oh." "Hello?" "'I decided to ask his opinion.'" "Sid said, "You can't stay there." "That's someone's house." ""F-dat!" "And who's the old man?"" "That's what he said." ""Yeah, right, Dina." "It doesn't matter." "That's someone's house." ""I don't want you staying there."" "Hmm." "Shit." "I am sorry that you have to... through this..." "to go through this." "No, I can't stay." "No way." "He's going to get really thingy." "I knew Ajeng was scoring me but I didn't care." "I hoped I wouldn't be marked down for sticking to my principles." "She tried to respect her husband." "If your husband said no then you cannot do anything because a wife should follow her husband, right." "I respect that." "Oh, my God." "It's so nice to see you." " Samoneh, you're here?" " It really is very nice to see you." "Did you miss me?" "'I went to see Sama, to find out what she was going to do.'" "Hello." "Just visiting." "'Turned out that there were no men in the house she was staying in.'" "They see." "They see here..." "Alaikum Salaam." "Assalaamu Alaikum." "'And that's when things started to get really weird." "'Out of nowhere, a whole group of children turned up.'" "Who are all these kids?" "Assalaamu Alaikum." "Oh, she's not into it." "'It looked like we were supposed to entertain them.'" "Assalaamu Alaikum." "I was getting suspicious." "All through our stay I had been wondering about the orphans, the ones who were the final judges of the competition." "My name is Eeeeeennnaa!" "Could the organisers have sent these kids in as undercover orphan judges?" "Close your eyes." "Close your eyes." "Hello!" "How are you?" "Where's your..." "Ask them where they live." "Are they orphans?" "Can you ask them in a good way?" " Erm..." " Ask them... ask them what does..." "Ask them..." "What does your mum do?" "What does your dad do?" "Ask them, "What does your dad do?"" " What?" " I don't know." "You don't know what?" "It's irritating them, probably, the question." "It's irritating them?" "OK." "Sorry, guys, don't get irritated." "I'm really freaked out right now." "Like really, really freaked out." "I don't feel a good vibe." "I feel like they're really exploiting kids, just to try and make us look like good Samaritans." "At dinner, it became clear that this was all part of a stunt to test our kindness towards children." "World Muslimah had wheeled out 50 undercover orphans." "They had deliberately concealed the fact that these were one half of the jury for the competition." "Of course, the finalists will ask, like, "Who are these children?"" "They should not know that the children were the orphans." "We really want to know whether they love kids or not." "For me, this wasn't fair on the children." "They'd been taken from their home to be photographed playing a part in a beauty pageant." "I was beginning to have my doubts about how the competition was being run." "But the end of the road was in sight." "And finally there was a challenge I could get my teeth into..." "Shopping!" "OK, I have a task for you to do today." "We want you to buy three gifts for the old folks in the old folks' home." "In this envelope with your name, there is 150,000 rupees." "That was about £7.50 but I knew in Indonesia it could go a long way." "Ask how much one of these shirts is." "Would an old man wear that?" "Maybe I'll get them a hair band to make them feel young again." "It's actually chess, is it?" "How much is it?" "'I was looking around for gifts for these old people 'and the gifts were horrible.'" "Maybe I should turn up with a budgie." "OK." "I want to know..." "I want to find out how much the birds are." "The birds?" "I want to buy one bird, because that would be nice for an elderly man." "Ahh, you know, that's really creative." "Maybe some other person will buy clothes or food." "Yeah, yeah." "So stop telling everyone." "Shhh." " Let's go find the birds." " It's, like, our secret." " Yeah." "How much is the bird?" "Ahh." "It's twice." "Twice of our budget." " It's 300,000?" " Yeah." "Do you want a bargain?" "Bargain?" "I want a bargain." "Of course I want a bargain." "I want to give you 150,000 for it." " I mean..." " 200 without the cage." "No, no, with the cage." "I need the cage." "Maybe we can change the cage." "OK, show me his cheaper cages, then." "It needs to be 150,000." "He said, "It's OK!"" " What, 150?" " Yeah." "OK, let's go down to 100, then." "No!" "I should really start from the bottom, shouldn't I?" "The bird cost me all the money in the envelope but I still had two more gifts to buy." "So I had to cheat and spend some money of my own." "Oh, Dina!" "You're so kind." "No." "I just really want to win." "We had been told that the home we were going to was mainly Christian." "They'd chosen it in order to show that Muslims can live in harmony with people of other faiths." "What did you buy?" "Hijab." "Oh, they're not hijabis." "Shit." "'Some of the girls seemed to have forgotten this.'" "Oh, my God!" "They told us this area is mainly Christian." "Oh, my God, I'm glad I bought a bird." "I bought a towel as well, for when they wear the bikini to the beach." "I bought a towel." "Great." "I completely accommodated." "Look, guys, I got a bird." "This is going to be such a fail." "I wish I could speak Indonesian." "But me, English." "Can't talk." "She really likes it!" "She said she likes it." "Yeah." "It's going to be her friend." "Exactly, that was my plan." "She's so happy with it." "Oh, really?" "Oh, good!" " It's cute, right?" " She's smiling." "Hello, do you want some snacks?" "Sorry to interrupt." "Would you like a sweet?" "Hello." " Oh, you don't like it?" "Oh, yeah." " She doesn't have teeth at all." "You don't have teeth." "My bad." "Should have got lollies." "My bad." "My bad." "I bought nuts for toothless women." "Some of them have teeth..." "'We were never told our scores on these tasks, 'but I felt pretty proud of my performance.'" "It's peanut." "'I sat and spoke to old women." "I even kissed them.'" "They all had really bad peanut breath." "It turned out that was the last task." "Now there was only the final to go." "There was lots of preparation going on for the live show, including the rehearsals for the task I dreaded most - the Koran recitation." "But I needn't have worried, it turns out we were going to record it and mime it on stage." "So, for me, the pressure was off." "But then the Islamic teacher showed up with more information about the judging." "He seemed to be saying that the orphans were now the main judges for the whole competition." "It sounded really unfair and Sama seemed like she'd had enough." "What is the reason of doing that?" "They should be a part of judging but not, like, give the whole judge to them." "OK." "You know, you have a right to judge everything." "Because they can't." "Before we knew it, everyone was getting involved." "I think that the judging should be fair." " The judging should be for real." " OK." "I don't want to..." "The prize is already given, before even the show." "I want to talk to everyone." "Everyone - all the 18 contestants." "Can we all, just the finalists..." " Can we just have a kind of talk, please?" " Yeah, we should." "Without Lucy and Fiona." "...being recorded." "The camera crew were sent outside the room." "In all the excitement, I'd forgotten Sid was due to arrive." "You all right?" "You've got no shoes on." "What's wrong?" "I missed you so much." "This competition is fucking crazy." "I missed you." "Fucking hell." "I so missed you." "It's really hot, you know." "I thought I'd wear a hoodie but, you know..." "You always wear a hoodie." "Yeah." "Because the aeroplane was cold." " You all right?" " Yeah." "Fucking hell." "Stop crying." " They're just lunatics." " Why?" "What happened?" " No." "Nothing right now." " What's going on?" "Everything's good right now." "We're having a really good meeting about cancelling the live show." "We think we're going to cancel the live show but then we might not." "Oh, my God, it's so good." "It's so good to see you." "What's wrong?" "No, no." "What happened?" " You've grown taller." " What happened?" "Basically, everyone in there is threatening that they're going to boycott the Grand Final because nothing is Islamic, nothing is right." "All we've been doing is photo shoots." "Oh, my God, you look really good." "Come on, take the hoodie off." " What the heck?" " I missed those." "Get off." "Go to the... right side..." "In the end, all the girls decided we'd invested too much in the competition not to see it through." "But I heard I was in trouble with Eka." "Dina Torkia is a unique person." "It seems like she's hard to please." "She was accusing me of stirring up the other contestants." "Could this be the end for me in the competition?" "You expose yourself as a rebellion." "But this is... this is like..." "But I think..." "What do you mean, rebellion, because...?" "I just want to reassure you that we're not out to make anything look bad." "If I come in here and I'm questioning everything, it's not because I'm against it." "The only thing that I need of you, please talk to me directly." "I'm going to be honest with you, you're not an easy person to talk to." "I don't find it easy." "Dina Torkia always keep asking why this and why that." "In Asia, for Asian women, for example, they're willing to shut their mouth and then keep silent, even though they are not OK." "I don't think it's bad if girls are expressing their opinions about..." "It's not a bad thing, you don't need to take it in a bad way." "But that's not giving women a platform to be who they are and express..." "'The way they're going about things makes me 'think that their idea of the ideal Muslim woman is somebody 'who's just quiet and does as she's told.'" "We just want to make sure that the winner is somebody who is going to be able to represent the Muslim women perfectly because you are looking for the Muslimah..." "'What the hell is the ideal Muslim anyway?" "It's different to everyone." "'We've got different opinions 'when it comes to speaking your mind about things.'" " OK, I should go now." " OK, go, go, go, go, go." "OK, bye, nice talking to you." "Nice to meet you as well." " Assalaamu Alaikum." " Thank you very much, bye." "See you tomorrow, guys." "Unless..." "Am I disqualified yet?" " What?" " Am I disqualified?" " No." " See you tomorrow then." " No, you still have to wear your heels." "Hey, hey, shake hands first, OK." "That means you didn't get disqualified, OK." " See you later." " Bye." "She's so funny." "I left the meeting with the judges on good terms, and I hoped there would be a positive outcome for the final night." "Hi!" "Hello!" "And then at the rehearsals Miss Trinidad and Tobago turned up." "Dina!" "It's so nice to meet you." "What took you so long?" "'After all we'd been through in the last two weeks," "'Miss Trinidad and Tobago just strolled in the night before 'looking all fresh and lovely, 'only to be judged on the glamorous night.'" "Hey, selfie, selfie." "Five minutes more!" "Five minutes more!" "From Ramayana Ballet, Prambanan, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, the Grand final of the World Muslimah Award 2014." "'Over the past two weeks, 'our lives had been consumed by this competition, 'and now the eyes of the world were upon us.'" "I forgot where I am!" "I forgot where I am!" "'We'd finally be finding out how we measured up 'in the eyes of World Muslimah and the all-important orphans.'" "And now, please welcome, from the United Kingdom, Dina Torkia." "APPLAUSE Whooo!" "Things were about to become very real." "Almost half the girls were to be eliminated in the first round." "In no particular order, ladies and gentlemen, the first finalist in the top ten is Tarannum Tasnima from Bangladesh!" "Please step forward." "Ben Guefrache Fatima from Tunisia!" "Dina Torkia from United Kingdom." "Yeah, Dina." "And let's welcome the next one in the top ten..." "After all the knocks I'd taken in the competition," "I was pleased to get into the top ten, but I could sense there was something weird about the judging." "My faith in the competition was about to be dealt a final blow." "Ladies and gentlemen, the last but not least finalist to make it through to the top ten Nabalah Chi from Trinidad and Tobago." " Congratulations, congratulations." " There you have it." "The ten finalists out of hundreds that have applied." "That's not really fair." "That's not fair at all." "Did you see Dina's face?" "She's so shocked." "I can't believe it." "I actually can't believe it." "How's that?" "That's so rude." "She turned up yesterday, like." "That's so unfair." "I actually can't believe that." "Miss Tobago fucking arrived last night." "Are you kidding me?" "That's so bad." "I'm so annoyed." "Congratulations!" "Well done!" "Obviously, I'm happy for Miss Bangladesh." "All the international contestants got through, but only one of the eight Indonesians made it." "It was too much of a coincidence and seemed like a bit of a fix." "If these were British girls, I'd expect a riot." "So annoyed." "They didn't put Prima through." "Are you kidding me?" "I feel really annoyed, Prima." "I feel really annoyed." "You didn't get through and the girl who arrived yesterday got through." "Why are you just so..." "Why are you just taking it?" "What's wrong with you?" "It's not normal." "'I was really angry." "'But as far as Eka was concerned, there was no problem at all.'" "Perhaps it sounds very unfair but we have a more scientific aspect this year." "We have the doctors and judges." "Unfortunately, we have just only one crown." "At the end, they are all the winners, actually." "Yes." "I need help." "You just say "Samoneh" and no-one help me!" "For the ten who got through, the show had to go on." "They called you already!" "I see I don't have shoes, I see I don't have my sash here." "Tell the designers to consider there are large-sized girls here." "The show went on for hours and the orphans in the front row were obviously knackered." "How are they going to let the orphans pick us?" "They're bored out of their brains." "They're just going to pick the one who gave them a lollipop or something." "'While we were answering the judges' questions and rattling through our 'speeches, there were a few girls in the front row that were fast asleep." "'But now the fate of the remaining contestants was in their tiny hands." "'We were brought back on stage so the judges could name the 'two final candidates for the orphans to pick from.'" "Please give us two names to be selected by the children." "Tunisia." " Tunisia!" " A big round of applause." "And the second is Nazreen from India." " Nazreen." " Nazreen from India." "I was out of the competition." "And now it was time for the orphan jury to pick the new World Muslimah." " The kids will be holding the button." " They are getting ready now." " Yes." " Getting a hold of their buttons." "Who will be chosen by the children?" "Satu, dua, tiga... 49 and 51!" "Congratulations, Tunisia!" "Ben Guefrache Fatima, you are the next..." "you are this year's..." "You are the new World Muslimah 2014." " Congratulations!" " Congratulations!" "Although the judging had been completely nuts, the competition ended up with a good winner." "Miss Tunisia is genuine, funny and clever." "I think she's a great role model." "Congratulations." "I will ask you something..." "Always keep in your pride Palestine, Gaza, Syria and all Muslims who suffer all over the world." "It wasn't beyond my expectations." "But when I realised she spoke in Arabic and then she called for the free Palestine, then we understand this year the winner met our mission." "Sid." " What a relief." " Oh, my God." "I went in hoping that it would help me with my faith and all that." "It did help me, religiously, a little bit, just not in the way I thought." "You know what it taught me?" "That I'm a very honest person, and that, Islamically, is a very good thing, you know?" "Are you going to stay in touch with me?" " Insha'Allah." " Are you really?" "You have to tell me what your duties are as a Muslimah." "'I was really scared before I entered this competition 'that I'd be shown up as a bad Muslim." "'But in Indonesia, the Muslim girls are more liberal 'than me when it comes to some things, and in others they're not." "'Our cultures are so different 'and, for me, that makes it pretty much impossible for any 'competition to judge who's a good Muslim and who is not.'" "I'm so British next to these girls." "I don't know what it is but it's in me." "I really didn't realise how British I am." "My British side just came roaring out of nowhere." "Sorry for the abrupt change of scenery, guys." "♪ I'm in England" "♪ England, England" "♪ Na-na!" "♪" "Home, where the people are rude and the customer service is shit!" "Love it." "♪ When I see your face" "♪ There's not a thing" "♪ That I would change" "♪ Cos you're amazing" "♪ Just the way you are. ♪"