She Speaks We Hear

#TraditionallySubmissive – An Interview with Dr Sukaina Hirji

Last month the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, wrote in The Times newspaper that a significant number of British Muslim women could speak little or no English language. He wrote: “Consider this: new figures show that some 190,000 British Muslim women — or 22 per cent — speak little or no English despite many having …

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No One Can See You

  Every stranger. Every person. Every human. Every hair. Every contour. Every wrinkle. Every ignorant line. She searched their faces in earnest, would it be him, could it be him, could it be them. What was it that drove them to such cowardice  and evil? She was afraid. The fear could be seen on her …

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Hate

by Nazia @25nazia Last week* I felt like my back had broken. Every night I slept in pain. Feeling stiff, disjointed, sore and disillusioned I would awaken. I tried not to be a recluse and hibernate my way through this agony and began surfing social media because its entertainment as well as educational, right? I …

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The Darker the Berry the Sweeter the Juice

by Hafsa Guled @QUESADILLABABY The first time I hated my skin color was in the ninth grade and it was just after biology class. We were in the brightly lit hallway, goofing off when we saw two of the upperclassmen leaving the bathroom while adjusting their make-up. The louder one, Mariam, whom I both admired and …

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Intersections (a Poem from the Maldives)

by Aisha Hussain Rasheed @ishahr Maldives is a small island nation in the Indian ocean known for its scenic beauty. What most people don’t know about the country is that it is young democracy where the first democratic elections were held in 2008. The first democratically elected government was forced to resign due to police …

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For Almost 30 Years I Wore A Headscarf

For almost 30 years I wore a headscarf. For almost 30 years I believed it was an integral part of my faith and I would be disobeying god by not wearing it. For almost 30 years I believed that if I didn’t wear one, I would be constantly harassed and pursed by men – my …

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The Writer Woman (Thoughts on ‘Black Milk’ by Elif Shafak)

by Roszeen Afsar @Roszeen In my previous piece, ‘The Unwritten Woman’, I highlighted the need for women of different backgrounds to write about their experiences,  here I want to focus on women writing as a profession. The idea for these two blog pieces really came into my mind when I picked up a book called ‘Black …

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It’s Because You’re Ugly

Setting the scene. It’s breakfast. We all silently munch away. Silence is broken. “Did you know that another girl has taken her hijab off” The Females pipe up. Sighs Tuts “And from such a respectable family” More sighs More tuts I stuff another piece of toast in my mouth. Best keep quiet. The Misogynist of …

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All Women Who Cover Their Heads Are Nadiya Hussain

Nadiya Hussain. There you go – crystal clear. If I had written it, nobody would have believed me. Nobody could see her skill. Nobody can see past the fact that she wears a headscarf. Muslims and non-Muslims alike. If this isn’t the proof then nothing is. When you wear a headscarf – nobody can see …

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10 Reasons Why We Want Nadiya To Win

Only if you have been living on another planet would you have not heard about the Great British Bake Off, the television show which has the taken the UK by a storm. Ahead of tonight’s final, we thought we would list ten reasons why we think finalist Nadiya Hussain is awesome and should win! She …

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