Hala Shiha ( ar, حلا شيحة; born 23 February 1979 in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

) is an Egyptian actress best known for portraying the main roles in ''Snakes and Ladders'', and ''Lost in America''. She officially retired from the entertainment industry in the 2005, after she decided to start wearing the hijab. The following year, she made a brief comeback to star in a role with her hijab. Her decision to start wearing the hijab and retire from the entertainment industry at such a young age and so soon in her career caused controversy. It sparked a massive debate in Egypt about the veil and the decline of

secularism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on Secularity, secular, Naturalism (philosophy), naturalistic considerations. Secularism is most commonly defined as the Separation of church and state, separation of relig ...

within Egyptian society and among Egyptians. On August 8, 2018, Shiha announced her return to acting after photos of her were posted in social media without a veil. She later quit acting in 2021 and wears hijab.

Biography

Hala Shiha was born in

to an Egyptian father the international acclaimed painter Ahmed Shiha and a Lebanese mother who is also an artist. She is the eldest out of four daughters, including Hana Shiha. Shiha is A Muslim. She shocked the entertainment world when she announced her resignation for the second time in her career, the first time was in 2003, because she decided to "recommit herself to Islam". Originally, deciding to wear the hijab in 2003, Hala had taken off her Islamic scarf known as hijab after wearing it for a period of eleven year's amidst objection from family and members of the acting world. She returned to wearing it in 2005 once she declared she was planning to quit acting. On August 8, 2018, Hala Shiha announced her return to acting and also she removed the hijab. She has married Moez Masoud in February 2021. In July 2021, Shiha criticized

Tamer Hosny Tamer is a Turkish given name and surname. It means ''Competent soldier'' in Turkish. In Arabic (written as تامر), the name is more closely related to Tamr (as in dates). Persons Given name * Tamer Abdel Hamid, Egyptian football player * Tamer ...

for posting intimate scenes from their film ''Mesh Ana'' (''This Is Not Me'') during the

Hajj The Hajj (; ar, حَجّ '; sometimes also spelled Hadj, Hadji or Haj in English) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried ...

period. She also criticized art in general which prompted the Egyptian Actors Syndicate headed by Ashraf Zaki to write her off.

Filmography

* 2000 Leih Khaltny Ahebbak * 2001 El Selem Wel Teaban * 2002 Lost in America * 2002 Sher El Oyoun * 2002 El Lemby * 2004 Arees Men Geha Amneya * 2005 Orido kholaan * 2005 Ghawi Hob * 2006 Kamel El Awsaf

References

HighBeam

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shiha, Hala 1979 births Living people Egyptian Muslims Egyptian actresses 21st-century Egyptian actresses