It's Not About the Burqa: Muslim Women on Faith, Feminism, Sexuality and Race
It's Not About the Burqa is an anthology of frank and insightful essays by Muslim women about the contemporary Muslim female experience.

'Passionate, angry, self-effacing, nuanced and utterly compelling in every single way' - Nikesh Shukla, editor of The Good Immigrant

When was the last time you heard a Muslim woman speak for herself without a filter?

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?

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.

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.

With a mix of British and international women writers, from activist Mona Eltahawy's definition of a revolution to journalist and broadcaster Saima Mir telling the story of her experience of arranged marriage, from author Sufiya Ahmed on her Islamic feminist icon to playwright Afshan D'souza-Lodhi's moving piece about her relationship with her hijab, these essays are funny, warm, sometimes sad, and often angry, and each of them is a passionate declaration calling time on the oppression, the lazy stereotyping, the misogyny and the Islamophobia.

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.

Shortlisted for Foyles Non-Fiction Book of the Year

'Engrossing . . . fascinating . . . courageous' – Observer

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It's Not About the Burqa: Muslim Women on Faith, Feminism, Sexuality and Race
It's Not About the Burqa is an anthology of frank and insightful essays by Muslim women about the contemporary Muslim female experience.

'Passionate, angry, self-effacing, nuanced and utterly compelling in every single way' - Nikesh Shukla, editor of The Good Immigrant

When was the last time you heard a Muslim woman speak for herself without a filter?

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?

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.

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.

With a mix of British and international women writers, from activist Mona Eltahawy's definition of a revolution to journalist and broadcaster Saima Mir telling the story of her experience of arranged marriage, from author Sufiya Ahmed on her Islamic feminist icon to playwright Afshan D'souza-Lodhi's moving piece about her relationship with her hijab, these essays are funny, warm, sometimes sad, and often angry, and each of them is a passionate declaration calling time on the oppression, the lazy stereotyping, the misogyny and the Islamophobia.

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.

Shortlisted for Foyles Non-Fiction Book of the Year

'Engrossing . . . fascinating . . . courageous' – Observer

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

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

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

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

by Mariam Khan

Paperback

$19.99 
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Overview

It's Not About the Burqa is an anthology of frank and insightful essays by Muslim women about the contemporary Muslim female experience.

'Passionate, angry, self-effacing, nuanced and utterly compelling in every single way' - Nikesh Shukla, editor of The Good Immigrant

When was the last time you heard a Muslim woman speak for herself without a filter?

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?

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.

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.

With a mix of British and international women writers, from activist Mona Eltahawy's definition of a revolution to journalist and broadcaster Saima Mir telling the story of her experience of arranged marriage, from author Sufiya Ahmed on her Islamic feminist icon to playwright Afshan D'souza-Lodhi's moving piece about her relationship with her hijab, these essays are funny, warm, sometimes sad, and often angry, and each of them is a passionate declaration calling time on the oppression, the lazy stereotyping, the misogyny and the Islamophobia.

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.

Shortlisted for Foyles Non-Fiction Book of the Year

'Engrossing . . . fascinating . . . courageous' – Observer


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781509886425
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Publication date: 01/01/2021
Pages: 272
Product dimensions: 5.10(w) x 7.70(h) x 0.65(d)
Age Range: 18 Years

About the Author

Mariam Khan (born 1993) is a British writer and activist. She is the editor of It's Not About the Burqa, an anthology of essays by Muslim women. She lives in Birmingham.

Table of Contents

Glossary xi

Introduction 1

Too Loud, Swears Too Much and Goes Too Far Mona Eltahawy 3

Immodesty is the Best Policy Coco Khan 11

The First Feminist Sufiya Ahmed 29

On the Representation of Muslims: Terms and Conditions Apply Nafisa Bakkar 45

The Clothes of My Faith Afia Ahmed 65

Life Was Easier Before I Was Woke Yassmin Midhat Abdel-Magied 79

'There's No Such Thing as a Depressed Muslim': Discussing Mental Health in the Muslim Community Jamilla Hekmoun 93

Feminism Needs to Die Mariam Khan 105

Hijabi (R)evolution Afshan D'souza-Lodhi 115

Eight Notifications Salma Haidrani 127

Shame, Shame, It Knows Your Name Amna Saleem 145

A Woman of Substance Saima Mir 153

A Gender Denied: Islam, Sex and the Struggle to Get Some Salma El-Wardany 171

How Not to Get Married (or why an unregistered nikah is no protection for a woman) Aina Khan O B E 185

Not Just a Black Muslim Woman Raifa Rafiq 199

Between Submission and Threat: The British State's Contradictory Relationship with Muslim Women Malia Bouattia 209

Daughter of Stories Nadine Aisha Jassat 223

Contributor Biographies 236

Acknowledgements 242

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