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.
As my work slowly evolved from being just a hobby to something more commercial, I’ve had more need to be discovered. No one can know what you’re capable of if they don’t see it. For someone that’s a social recluse like me, it has been tough. I used to be shy and anxious about sharing my work, I still am but I have coping methods now.
What motivated me is knowing that there are many myths about sex and these myths need to be dismantled. I also know there are many toxic negative beliefs about sex within the Muslim community and these beliefs actually go against the nature of Islam so this motivated me to put things right.
I learnt early in life through watching my mother, observing the men in our family and around us, that sometimes girls and women just have to roll their sleeves up, tackle the hard stuff and get things done. I come from a community of broken homes, so all I ever saw growing up was women playing both roles.
Muslim women telling our own stories is empowering and necessary, since we’re all aware of the perverse misrepresentations that can occur when our stories are told by others. If you look at the great cultures and societies throughout the history of the Islamic tradition, you will find a strong history of artists, craftspeople, and distinct artistic styles.
Coming to terms with the truth that it will never be enough, no matter how much I do, renders me powerless. But now, it just makes me want to do my part even more while resting in the knowledge that other humans are holding up their ends of the sky.
Freecycling is an act of sustainable conscious living, and it challenges the concept that the act of giving is not only a Top-to-bottom activity done between the haves and the have nots, but can be done by people within the same class as well.
