Skater Uktis: Embracing Faith and Achieving Success in the Skateboarding World

Even during the rise of skater girls in the 90s and early 2000s, intersectional safe spaces for women of color within the niche sphere of female skaters were scarce. However, the representation of hijabi skateboarders has become more prominent in recent years, thanks to high-profile campaigns by brands like Nike and films such as ‘Skater Girl’ on Netflix. Despite this increased visibility, the portrayal of Muslim women on skateboards often contrasts the image of an “oppressed object” with a “liberating vehicle” or, more cynically, aims to capitalize on the Muslim market. Skater Uktis, a pioneering group of Muslim female skaters, is redefining these narratives by promoting a genuine blend of faith and skateboarding, fostering a supportive global community.

The Founding of Skater Uktis

Skater Uktis, a global crew of Muslim female skaters, aims to change this narrative. Hafsah Mohammed, a member of the Skater Uktis’ head team, explains, “As many people may know, the current skate scene is very much the opposite of what our target audience is and what our sisterhood consists of — Muslim women. Some of our team members have mentioned that they have attended skate parks and were greeted by stares and mild hostility. But this is just another motivation for us to keep the movement thriving and occupy spaces unapologetically”​.

Hafsah, along with Amna Z and a small group of their university friends in London, established Skater Uktis just before the pandemic. It was a way to bring Muslim sisters together over a shared love of skateboarding, both online and in open-air spaces. Inspired by the need to create a safe space where Muslim women felt confident and nurtured by other Muslim women, the movement quickly expanded internationally. The project now spans over 20 countries including Norway, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Australia, USA, Canada, Nigeria, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Tunisia, Iraq, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, and Thailand​ (About Her).

Global Expansion and Community Building

Platforms like Zoom were instrumental in facilitating this setup, allowing people from any location in the world to join and share their lived experiences with fellow Muslim women. Skaters around the world are now encouraged to find their local Skater Uktis rep to become a member and attend upcoming meet-ups in their country of residence.

What makes the Skater Uktis movement stand out is that they deliberately avoid tokenizing Muslim women on skateboards or seeing it as a “progressive” escape from Islam. Instead, they define themselves as an “organization that merges the worlds of Islam and skateboarding to foster personal development and cultivate exceptional leaders”. They aim to implement Islam in everything they do.

Merging Faith and Skateboarding

Hafsah stated, “We wanted to combine faith and skateboarding as a means of ethical leadership for Muslim women across the board. We are taught by our beloved Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) that we should strive to do things with Ihsan (excellence) and to be in spaces that help us grow our leadership qualities. You need mental, as much as physical resilience to persevere in this sport and a lot of this comes from prayers”.

Skateboarding humbles you in the sense that, no matter how skilled you become, you are bound to make mistakes, trip, and fall. Similarly, it’s inevitable for humans to sin. The urge to give up whenever you’re not immediately good at something new is tempting, but it is essential to persevere if you want to nourish both personal and spiritual growth.

Online Spiritual Sessions

On top of skating meetups, Skater Uktis regularly runs online spiritual sessions to bring Muslim women together to strengthen their faith and boost their iman. The crew embodies the spirit of resistance by co-organizing the “Skaters against Genocide” coalition bloc, skating to protests, and voicing their support for Palestine, Sudan, Congo, and all communities suffering from genocide​.

Achievements and Recognition

Recently, Skater Uktis has achieved notable recognition. They have been highlighted by big sporting brands such as Vans Middle East in their ‘Keys to the Kingdom’ campaign and Reebok’s ‘The Invitation Surrounds You’ campaign. They were featured in Vogue Arabia and participated in the BFI Southbank’s Dialled In ‘Unbound Archives’ series, among other significant platforms.

As Skater Uktis continues to grow, it remains committed to its mission of merging skateboarding with Islam to foster leadership and personal development among Muslim women worldwide.