sister-hood is an award-winning digital magazine spotlighting the diverse voices of women of Muslim heritage.
Category
A woman in my neighbourhood told me about a horrifying event that shocked me; an event that happened to her cousin Rabia. Rabia’s parents’ financial conditions were not good. They earned little: it was insufficient for a comfortable life, but…
He told me it was ‘the lesser of two evils. At least I’m not sleeping around with other women or chasing a second wife.’ I agreed. I knew at the point of marriage that my husband watched pornography. I didn’t…
Give me someone with an air of authority – until recently a turban, beads, and grey hair would have done the job – and I am all ears for my lessons. Unfortunately, this has mostly led to disappointment. A case…
Due to the current high-profile case of the 18-year-old Ex-Muslim woman escaping Saudi Arabia, discussion about female atheists from the Islamic world is becoming more mainstream. Rahaf al Qunun has managed to galvanise social media and the mainstream press in…
My counsellor let her glasses fall slightly down her nose so I could see directly into her eyes. ‘Do you think this is emotional abuse?’ she asked softly, curiously. I’d told her about my latest row with Dave*. I chuckled…
AMMAN – Shrouq was in her late 20s when her brothers had attempted to kill her for reasons related to family honour. She had tried to shield her sister from their axes and knives. Shrouq, now in her mid-50s, recalls…
At the tender age of 14, I, like thousands of other young women, died. Our lives were brutally cut short. Now, we are languishing in the bowels of hell. Our post-mortems reveal that our community was complicit in our deaths:…
Three real-life incidents, which I was a direct witness to, have contributed to shaping my perception of violence against women. One At the age of twelve, I woke up one morning to the news of the killing of my 14-year-old…
I grew up in the Middle East and have lived here all my life. I’m not sure if I can truly call myself a Muslim. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t question the concept of free will, women’s…
“Fifty thousand years before the sky was introduced to the sea, Allah wrote down your name next to me.” To my husband, Fawad, I write these words with an intense earnestness to express my unconditional and utmost gratitude for…
I am revisiting stories from my archives that have left a mark. The story of Baraa Melham shocked Palestinians in the West Bank and revealed how vulnerable and inadequate social services were; not only to monitor and prevent such incidents,…
“I will always be awed by women who are strong enough to walk down the damn street. I’m here because of all of you.” – Gabby Rivera, Juliet Takes a Breath I started wearing a headscarf when I was 13…
Sexual abuse is one of the main reasons why women are held back in the Pashtun regions. Most Pashtuns value their ‘honour’. They don’t want their social status to be threatened. This status is based on the respectability of the…
Recently, I received an invite to join the discussion regarding the upcoming WOW festival in 2019 in London. It led me to reminisce about the festival earlier this year. I had the honour of being asked to join sister-hood in…
I am a British Pakistani, born in London. Both my mother and father were born in Lahore, Pakistan. I can’t speak my mother tongue and I know little to nothing about my ethnic culture. What can I say? They didn’t…
sister-hood is a digital magazine and a series of live events. We create platforms for women of Muslim heritage to speak for themselves, rather than being spoken for or spoken about. sister-hood challenges stereotypes and promotes the fearless, progressive, creative voices of women of Muslim heritage.