All 24 countries I either lived in or visited for a short period have exposed new personality traits in myself, revealed specific weaknesses or difficulties, and allowed me to reflect on the impact I have on other people’s lives.
TMWT X MUSAWAH: Conditions, Not Conflict – Are Love and Marriage Contracts Mutually Exclusive?
Marriage Contract conditions can safeguard women’s rights within and outside the home… Marriage contracts can become an easy tool to equalise power between partners.
Collective and Isolated: The Realities of Muslim Women’s Activism
What makes it more difficult is that the attitudes of Muslim men and lots of Muslim women always run contrary to the egalitarian values of Islam that you have told non-Muslims about. So it feels like we’re just making things up to protect this religion and make it look good. This is in addition to being sidelined by close friends and family for believing that you, as a Muslim woman, have God-given rights. People constantly try to ostracise you, telling others to avoid you if they want to keep the faith. Being an activist feels really lonely.”
Representation We Can Trust: The New ‘Super-Hijabi’ Movie Has Us Taking Charge of Our Own Narratives
‘Super-Hijabi’ is the kind of representation Muslims can trust. It is an unapologetically Muslim superhero movie that features a young Muslim girl as its main character. According to Muslim Kids TV, “‘Super Hijabi’ is the kind of movie that has been missing in mainstream media and we are here to fill the gap.”
‘What Ramadhan Means to Us’: 8 Muslim Women Share the Joys and Challenges of Ramadhan
I’ve never actually experienced much of mosques during Ramadan. Where I live, there aren’t any big mosques that cater well for women, except for one. I went to one iftar and it was nice to be around other people. Our eid prep starts very early! Usually we’ll make sure the big thing (clothes/presents) are done well before Ramadan.
The Soul of an Artist: In Conversation with Zainab Dahiru
Art enables me to express my creativity and add beauty to the world through beautiful designs, and every time I look at my art, I reconnect with it in a beautiful way. My art is what it is at that moment and what it will be thereafter. There are challenges, and there will always be, especially if you are trying to monetize your work and trying to get yourself out there as an artist. But don’t get deterred by these challenges.
When Poetry Meets Activism: In Conversation with Aminah Rahman
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.
Soukeyna Osei-Bonsu on the Intersection of Writing, Social Activism and Decolonisation
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.
Her-story and Her: An International Women’s Day Poem
What a way to
Drown out the her-stories of History.
How they
Deemed her legacies unworthy,
Then they
Severed the lineages of our identity.
And they
Removed our communities agency.
Community, Sisterhood and Empowerment: In Conversation With Fatimah Maitambari, Founder of “Tea Dua Love”
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.