Europe's top court handed down a ruling on Tuesday that allows employers to ban workers from wearing any "visible religious symbols," including the hijab.

This means a woman wearing the religious headscarf can be denied a job simply because of how she dresses.

While the European Court of Justice's ruling would technically apply to all religious symbols, including Christian crosses, the Hindu bindi (red forehead dot) and the Jewish kippah, the specific cases brought before the court featured Muslim women.   

The ruling specifically addressed a Belgian woman working for G4S Secure Solutions. She was banned from wearing the headscarf as part of a company policy barring all visible religious symbols. Another case involved a French woman who works in IT. She was asked to remove the hijab after a client complained. 

Throughout Europe, Islamophobia is on the rise, with populist anti-Muslim politicians rising to prominence. The hijab has been a particular point of contention in several European countries, with France and other countries attempting to issue or issuing bans on the religious garment. 

Many have taken to social media to criticize the ruling. 

Perceptions of Muslims vary significantly from country to country throughout Europe, with the most negative sentiments arising in Eastern Europe. But negative sentiments are also on the rise in countries such as the United Kingdom, Spain and Italy.  

While right-wing Western leaders have sounded alarm bells at the influx of Muslim immigrants, Muslims are only projected to account for 10 percent of Europe's population by 2050. 

Saudi women are shattering stereotypes time and again, and this time it's in sports.  

Saudi dentist Mariam Saleh Binladen just broke a new record after becoming the first person to swim across the Dubai Creek and Dubai Water Canal. 

Binladen's journey began on Friday and ended nine hours and ten minutes later, when she completed the 24-kilometer marathon. 

"I am thrilled and delighted to become the first person to complete a 24km swim along the wonderful, yet challenging, Dubai Water Canal," said Binladen, according to The National. 

The challenge was held in collaboration with the Dubai Sports Council, the Dubai Maritime City Authority, the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority and the Dubai Police and Marine Rescue. 

Binladen started her journey at the Dubai creek entrance in Al Shindagha and ended it at the Al Ghubaiba station. 

"It was a very challenging experience indeed, given that my preparation time was extremely short, barely one month of preparations to make this event happen," she added.

In 2016, she became the first woman, and the third person in recent history, to successfully swim 101 miles (162.5 km) of the Thames River in the United Kingdom. 

Aiming to inspire more women to participate in athletics and to raise awareness about the plight of Syrian refugees, Binladen completed the endurance swim over 10 days. 

"I wanted to show that a young woman from Saudi Arabia can achieve a lifelong ambition, whilst at the same time raise awareness to bigger causes, particularly the plight of thousands of suffering Syrian orphan refugees," said Binladen, according to PR Newswire.

Binladen has done her fair share of humanitarian work over the years.  

She started the "Dr. Mariam Dental Clinic" in Jordan's Al Azraq camp - providing thousands of refugees (55,000 refugees reside in the camp) with free dental care -- the first-of-its-kind facility in the region.

"Many of these children have no family, no support network, no one to care for them. As a young woman from the Middle East, I was moved to do all I can to help those in need. 

The dental clinic is a necessary, but also a wonderful facility for the orphaned children in Al-Azraq Refugee Camp. As a dentist from the region, I am humbled to see something so close to my heart open its doors to those in need,” she said, according to Arab News.