A ballerina and tap dancer from Texas, Hiba Awad is anxious to prove “how versatile and unique a Muslim woman can be.”

Michelle Yim, a network engineer, skis, swims, body surfs, rides motorcycles – all while wearing the hijab.

Nadia Afghani, left, and Nadia Chohan make up Hijabi Deafness, a Muslim punk rock/hip-hop band.

Asma Azim, a step-grandmother from Pakistan, has been a manager of mechanics and a truck driver for more than a dozen years. She said her male contemporaries treat her with respect – especially when they discover she can repair her own engine.

Nousheen Yousuf said the practice of tae kwon do “taught me to treat daily prayers as a real meditation, where the focus is on my relationship with God.”

No matter how different they may look from other beachgoers, Sama Wareh, left, and Aurelia Khatib believe in doing what they love, including surfing.

Nosheen Cassim, a part-time makeup artist and full-time mother of two, was born and raised in Illinois, but has been threatened by strangers who told her to “go back to where she came from."

Atlanta-based Mariem “Punchenella” Brakache (5-5, 1KO) is a former IBA Junior Middleweight Champion, boxing coach and renowned trainer.

Whitney Schreider went from being a cheerleader at her Georgia high school to a convert to Islam. “When I found out why women in Islam wear modest clothes and hijab,” Schreider said, “I wished that every woman would follow the Islamic attire.”

Senior team leader Renee Abdul Hadi manages a Target store in Deerfield, Mich.

Former engineer Sara Brownlow-Kim home-schools her six children and helps her family run the 22-acre Sienna Ranch in Lafayette, Calif.

Scholars teach that Islam encourages sports and physical activity for all, wrote Sayed. The prophet Muhammad is said to have invited his wife Aisha to a foot race.