For Samia Benchaou, modesty has never meant blending in. The Moroccan-Danish stylist has built a global audience with bold colour, unexpected layers and an approach to hijab styling that treats fashion as a space for creativity and self-expression.

Host Mai Habib talks with Samia about finding fashion later in life, drawing inspiration from both her Moroccan and Danish roots, and refusing to shrink herself to fit expectations of what a Muslim woman should look like. They also explore the fashion industry’s blind spots, the assumptions attached to the hijab, and why Samia has stopped trying to prove she belongs in spaces that weren’t built with her in mind.

Links & Resources

• This was just one example of Muslim art that sparked curiosity and a great conversation. There is so much more to see at the Aga Khan Museum. Support the Museum's vision to impact lives and contribute to more inclusive and peaceful societies. Go to agakhanmuseum.org to plan your visit or make a donation.
• Follow Samia Benchaou on Instagram for more of her colourful looks, creative layering and modest-fashion transformations.
• Read more about Samia in her profile on People Magazine.
• Check out more episodes in full video.

Samia Benchaou is a Copenhagen-based Moroccan-Danish stylist and content creator known for her bold, colourful approach to modest fashion and hijab styling. After joining social media in 2019, she built an international audience around inventive styling, confidence and self-expression. Her work has been featured by outlets including People and Vogue Scandinavia.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS

00:21 Intro to This Being Human and stylist Samia Benchaou

01:40 Finding fashion—and a new career—later in life

05:39 Dressing boldly and using fashion as self-expression

06:59 Getting creative with the possibilities of modest fashion

09:11 Moroccan colour meets Danish minimalism

12:43 Navigating online hate and misconceptions about Muslim women

15:38 “I’m just here for the fashion”: hijab, choice and the pressure to explain

16:25 Making space for Muslim women in the global fashion industry

19:25 The overlooked market for modest fashion

21:13 Wearing the hijab as part of her identity—and encouraging younger Muslim women to be proud of who they are

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What does it take to bring new life to a city without erasing what made it special in the first place?

In Esna, a historic city along the Nile, architect Kareem Ibrahim and his team have spent years finding out. Their approach starts not with buildings, but with the people already there: local craftspeople, business owners, traditions and knowledge that can easily be overlooked when cities are redeveloped.

In this episode of This Being Human, Mai Habib speaks with Kareem about the long, sometimes messy work of earning a community’s trust, and how that process helped transform Esna into an award-winning model for heritage and tourism in Egypt. They also trace the unlikely story of Okra, a cooking competition that grew into a women-run restaurant attracting visitors from around the world. It’s a conversation about what can happen when preservation means more than protecting old buildings—and when the future of a place is built from what is already there.

*The Museum wishes to thank Nadir and Shabin Mohamed for their founding support of This Being Human.*

Guest Bio

Kareem Ibrahim is an Egyptian architect, urban development expert, and co-founder and CEO of Takween Integrated Community Development. His work spans heritage conservation, inclusive urban revitalization, community development and urban policy. In 2025, Takween’s Revitalization of Historic Esna project received an Aga Khan Award for Architecture for its approach to preserving the city’s heritage while supporting local economic and community development.

Links & Resources

• This was just one example of Muslim art and culture that sparked curiosity and a great conversation. There is so much more to see at the Aga Khan Museum. Support the Museum's vision to impact lives and contribute to more inclusive and peaceful societies. Go to agakhanmuseum.org to plan your visit or make a donation.
• You can find more about Takween Integrated Community Development and its projects online and on Instagram.
• For a taste of Esna, be sure to look into Okra, the restaurant in Esna entirely operated by local women.
• Check out more episodes in full video.

Key Moments

00:21 Intro to This Being Human and Egyptian architect Kareem Ibrahim

01:40 The city of Esna’s historical significance

04:16 Peeling back layers: what it takes to support an award-winning revitalization project

08:23 The importance of inclusion and community in consensus building

13:31 MasterChef Esna: enabling and empowering local women through gastronomy

20:41 Esna as a model for the future of Egyptian tourism

23:32 Developing and supporting areas in need

28:47 Kareem Ibrahim’s closing remarks on creating human impact

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What ties an 8th-century mosaic in the Dome of the Rock to a contemporary abstract carpet? For Islamic art historian Christiane Gruber, that question has driven three decades of research—pushing her away from the idea of a single "Islamic art" and toward a field defined by plurality and contradiction.

In this episode of This Being Human, Gruber joins host Mai Habib to read political meaning into sacred ornament, and to dismantle a persistent myth: that the Prophet Muhammad has never been depicted in Islamic art history. She traces how these depictions evolved from detailed faces to veiled figures wrapped in flame, and closes on her newest research interest—eco-Islamic art —and why stewardship and sacred water feel more urgent now than ever.

*The Museum wishes to thank Nadir and Shabin Mohamed for their founding support of This Being Human.*

Guest Bio

Christiane Gruber is the Mehmet Ağa-Oğlu Collegiate Professor of Islamic Art History in the History of Art Department at the University of Michigan, and founding director of Khamseen: Islamic Art History Online, a free digital platform for teaching Islamic art and visual culture. Her research spans medieval to contemporary Islamic art, with a focus on figural representation, depictions of the Prophet Muhammad, and book arts. She is the author of several books, including The Praiseworthy One: The Prophet Muhammad in Islamic Texts and Images (Indiana University Press, 2019).

Links & Resources

• This was just one example of Muslim art and culture that sparked curiosity and a great conversation. There is so much more to see at the Aga Khan Museum. Support the Museum's vision to impact lives and contribute to more inclusive and peaceful societies. Go to agakhanmuseum.org to plan your visit or make a donation.
• Explore Khamseen: Islamic Art History Online, Christiane Gruber's free digital platform for teaching Islamic art.
• Learn more about Christiane Gruber and her research at the University of Michigan.
• Read more in Anna Gade's Muslim Environmentalisms: Religious and Social Foundations, referenced in the episode's discussion of eco-Islamic art.

Key Moments

0:21 Introduction to This Being Human and Christiane Gruber

1:16 What comes to mind when we think of Islamic art

6:13 Moving beyond the idea of one "true" Islam

8:16 Reading political and religious meaning into the Dome of the Rock

10:50 The surprising history of depicting the Prophet Muhammad

13:52 The poetry behind the facial veil and the halo

18:57 Picture vs. picturation: representing the more-than-human

20:42 The Rose of the Prophet and the Sunnah of representation

22:19 Founding Khamseen, a "COVID baby"

25:07 Eco-Islamic art, from the Kaaba to climate change

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.