In Manhattan, the Mark Garrison Salon has a new hijab friendly private room devoted to their female Muslim clientele. Stylist Dina Hasanovic is Muslim, and says of her clients, “We speak the same language. I understand their needs. If they need to pray for 10 minutes, we stop and I show them where to go.”
The private room is where women who wear the hijab feel comfortable getting their hair done as men are not allowed in the area.
For observant women, like 24-year-old special-ed teacher Imam Rashid, the hair salon has made a tremendous difference in their life. “In high school, my [non-Muslim] friends would tell me they’re getting a blowout, and I was like, ‘I want that.”
