If Theresa May is serious about “global Britain”, a post-Brexit political and social climate should moderate its obsession with how a minority of Muslim women dress and instead embrace the ethical and economic opportunities presented by the global sharia culture.

It’s Not About the Burqa’, edited by Mariam Khan Review: ‘It’s Not About the Burqa’, edited by Mariam Khan

Taking one of the most politicized and misused words associated with Muslim women and Islamophobia, It’s Not About the Burqa is poised to change all that. Here are voices you won’t see represented in the national news headlines: seventeen Muslim women speaking frankly about the hijab and wavering faith, about love and divorce, about feminism, queer identity, sex, and the twin threats of a disapproving community and a racist country. Funny, warm, sometimes sad, and often angry, each of these essays is a passionate declaration, and each essay is calling time on the oppression, the lazy stereotyping, the misogyny and the Islamophobia. Moving, witty, enlightening and empowering - this is an anthology that, regardless of what walk of life you come from, should be considered compulsory reading. 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.The writers cover a panoply of subjects, including immigration, mental health, terrorism, divorce and feminism, as well as veils. In one fascinating essay, Sufiya Ahmed, whose mother divorced shortly after she was born, finds insight in the sixth-century life of Khadija bint Khuwaylid, a successful 40-year-old merchant who married the 25-year-old prophet Muhammad: “It was the disparity between the life of Khadija and the lives of some modern British Muslim women, still repressed under cultural rules in the 21st century, that inspired me to become a women’s rights activist.” The book provides a collection of diverse experiences and opinions, a refreshing change from the staid representation in the mainstream media of the Muslim community as a monolith. But while some essays are very good, some others, such as Afia Ahmed’s and Raifa Rafiq’s, pale in comparison.

It’s Not About the Burqa – Edited by Mariam Khan Book Review: It’s Not About the Burqa – Edited by Mariam Khan

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 It’s Not About the Burqa is a timely collection of essays by Muslim women in the U.K. — poets, writers, journalists, lawyers, engineers, researchers – on a panoply of subjects ranging from clothing and sex to marriage, divorce, discrimination, immigration, mental health and representation.

Thank you so much Aquib, I hope you’re staying safe and well, and I really hope that Ramadan went well for you and you were able to get a lot out of it! May Allah guide you always and allow you to stay close to Allah (SWT). Ameen.