It's Not About the Burqa: Muslim Women on Faith, Feminism, Sexuality and Race

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Contributors: Mona Eltahawy, Coco Khan, Sufiya Ahmed, Nafisa Bakkar, Afia Ahmed, Yassmin Midhat Abdel-Magied, Jamilla Hekmoun, Mariam Khan, Afshan D’souza-Lodhi, Salma Haidrani, Amna Saleem, Saima Mir, Salma El-Wardany, Aina Khan OBE, Raifa Rafiq, Malia Bouattia, Nadine Aisha Jassat MY REVIEW In her essay, Nafisa Bakkar remembers an obsession of finding someone who looks like yourself in an unusual position. Bakkar recounts the time she discovered the CEO of PepsiCo was a woman of Indian heritage. Bakkar looked for every titbit of information that could reinforce the idea that women like her could be successful. Reading this collection, I found many women like me, all of whom have found success in some way. What does it mean, exactly, to be a Muslim woman in the West today? According to the media, it’s all about the burqa. Here’s what it’s really about.”

It’s Not About the Burqa, edited by Mariam Khan Picador

I was left feeling and thinking a number of things after reading ‘It’s Not About the Burqa’ which is why I would especially recommend doing a buddy read with not only friends, but your family too. You’ll find yourself needing to have plenty of discussions once you finish reading, you’ll see. I’d recommend this to late teen readers as well as it captures some of the experiences that they’ll inevitably come to know. Bollywood has changed so much, it’s unbelievable, but it is reflective of India at the moment. I loved old bollywood, kabhi khushi Kabhi ghum, Kal Ho Na Ho, but, no, it’s not the same anymore. I don’t know if I can complain because, now, it is more realistic. Similarly, Saima Mir’s ‘ A Woman of Substance’ – if I can just stop with the starry-eyed dreaming and giggling (vom!) for a second – is one of the most romantic stories I have ever read. Divorce is sometimes and very much a dirty word in my culture, though I’m slowly noticing the tides shifting (more so for the generation before me), and Saima Mir’s journey in ‘ A Woman of Substance’ is one for the silver screen. Her essays showcases that love is possible even after divorce. Honestly, even the coldest of hearts will be melted by this. I even heard Kaz Brekker say, “ Awwwww!” Can you believe it? On the Representation of Muslims by Nafisa Bakkar In this engrossing collection of essays by mostly young British Muslim women, contributors come from all areas of life – law, journalism, human rights, academia, fashion, gay rights and activism. Writers include the public speaker and author Mona Eltahawy, Guardian journalist Coco Khan, the beauty and wellness social media influencer Amena Khan and Malia Bouattia, a former president of the National Union of Students.As much as Islamophobia, another prominent theme that is interwoven throughout the collection is feminism. I have generally been avoiding white feminism because it doesn’t serve me, and the more I inhabit spaces outside of my community, the more I realise that my gender doesn’t seem to be much of the issue, but more so my faith and race. This meant that I wasn’t as passionate as I would have liked to be in the portions where feminism was explored in a Western context, however, Mariam Khan’s ‘ Feminism Needs to Die’ was an essay that I felt has echoed and given voice to my more recent concerns.

It’s Not About the Burqa – Sofearless Book Review: It’s Not About the Burqa – Sofearless

In 2016, Mariam Khan read that David Cameron had linked the radicalization of Muslim men to the ‘traditional submissiveness’ of Muslim women. Mariam felt pretty sure she didn’t know a single Muslim woman who would describe herself that way. Why was she hearing about Muslim women from people who were neither Muslim, nor female? But I remember the aunties. They liked to gather around and compare notes on minor ailments as a leisurely pastime; an opportunity to flaunt their martyrdom and indulge in a touch of the Bollywood melodrama they enjoyed so much. The sweet spot was having a condition that was in no way chronic or serious (that would be a mood killer) but still involved substantial effort to power through. And the more unnecessary that effort, the better.”Years later the state of the national discourse has deteriorated even further, and Muslim women’s voices are still pushed to the fringes – the figures leading the discussion are white and male. Morning Digest | PM Modi, President Biden welcome progress in defence ties; Ukraine war unlikely to end in immediate future: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, and more Another striking piece of writing comes from the journalist Saima Mir in a bracing essay on marriage and independence. At 25, Mir had been married and divorced twice. Her first husband, a Muslim doctor in Mississippi, was 11 years her senior; the couple had met only once before their wedding. Mir was 23 when she married her second husband, also a Muslim. The relationship took the form of a bond of servitude. “A few months in and I was cooking all the meals and cleaning the house, waiting on everyone hand and foot.” Mariam felt that too often, only one narrative of Muslim women was portrayed within the national news headlines, and what’s more, this narrative and the conversation surrounding it are not only being lead by those who are white and male, but they exclude Muslim women themselves entirely.