My rap ‘Accept Me Please’ holds the most sentimental value to me because this was the first rap that I wrote. When I wrote this, I knew that I wanted to perform it – that’s when I knew that I wanted to be on stage and transform my written poetry into spoken word.
What I often hear from most people is that the spaces I created, are the first time they’ve had to learn about sexual health in a comfortable, comprehensive, non-shameful way. And I think that if this makes me feel happy, it also makes me feel sad, that a lot of women have not had empathy and compassion and information that empowers them to think and learn about their bodies.
Poetry provides a profound way to understand something as elusive as the truth in a world that is designed to mask it- the truth of Islam, the truth of who you really are- so this is why I have taken to this form of self-expression as it helps me to hold onto it. My writing also covers Africa and the politics of blackness as this is such a foundational part of who I am and what I believe in.
It is more heartwarming that we are taking ownership of our past and present narratives and allowing the phenomenal women of the past to shape our present and future. According to Arzoo Ahmed, founder of Muslim Women Histories, “The story of Islamic scholarship is a story of men and women, in which women were left unacknowledged.” TMWT is committed to unearthing and spotlighting the stories of these women and while this is fundamentally the goal of this platform, we will be more focused on producing content centred around celebrating women’s history in women’s history month.
This event celebrates Black (African & Afro-Caribbean) Muslim women who were trailblazer scholars, academics, activists, artists, entrepreneurs, warriors and artists. Through his talk, Ismael challenges the ignorance, misconceptions and negative perceptions in society.
We created a membership club on the Clubhouse mobile app to host and entertain conversations around social issues affecting Muslim women around the world. This is an avenue to meet key influencers, activists and policy shapers and have salient dialogues on diverse issues in real-time. If you haven’t downloaded the Clubhouse app, this may be a good time to do so. Search for TMWT – The Conversation and click on the follow button.
The struggles of Muslim women across the globe cannot be exhausted. What makes the load lighter to carry is community and reassurance that she’s not alone. It doesn’t end there, the wins of Muslim women seem to be magnified when shared with a community. It’s always beautiful and gratifying to sit in the audience and watch the Community bond and connect and let themselves be vulnerable and pick their sisters up — Alhamdulillah.
Having fulfilled all the requirements for the Ribaat Teacher Certification, sixteen women from diverse parts of the world graduated from the Ribaat Academic Institute, a women-only madrasah that offers a comprehensive curriculum of courses in traditional Islamic Sciences, the Arabic language, and the Tajwid of the Holy Quran to women around the world.
Today, Jackie has more than 190 primary patents, 41 of which have been licensed to multinational companies and start-ups in the field of nanomedicine, drug delivery, medical implants, cell and tissue engineering, and medical devices. She remains a powerful inspiration for Muslim women everywhere in the field of science and technology, encouraging many more women to study and work in the ever-growing and important field of STEM.
It is essential to spread more success stories of Muslim women to not only end misconceptions and damaging stereotypes but to reinforce the truth that Muslim women have the unfettered freedom to be whoever they want to be. This month, Time Magazine announced the Next 100 leaders to watch in the world, amongst which are these three powerful Muslim women.
