sister-hood is an award-winning digital magazine spotlighting the diverse voices of women of Muslim heritage.
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I am 42 years old. I am a middle-class Pakistani woman of Pashtun, Punjabi and Sindhi origin, born and raised in the Persian Gulf. Since I was a little girl my gender presentation has confused people, especially men. With my…
Swara is the practice of giving your daughter or other female relative in marriage to an enemy in order to make peace and end feuds within and between families. It’s a historic part of Pashtun culture. Parveen‘s marriage took place…
My father probably doesn’t know what the word feminism means. He has possibly never heard of it. My father is a Pakistani man who grew up in the 70s. His school had no tables or chairs, so students would sit…
Dear Brother, The walls of our house on the estate were thin. Growing up there meant regularly waking up in the dark, hearing Anni (my sister-in law) muffling her cries through the floorboards above me. As the crying went on,…
Whenever I got beaten badly it was because I was having a ‘lesson’ in reading the Koran. Muslim children are expected to finish reading the Koran by the age of seven. I didn’t. Every time I mispronounced a word I…
‘It is commendable that you are organising this, but… women will not show up.’ ‘Why not?’ ‘Well, it is so far. And what do women have to do with hearing new ideas?’ I have been working on TEDxShekhawati, Rajasthan’s first TEDx…
You probably think we’re having the time of our lives in this picture. Well – not exactly. Let me tell you the story of how we ended up there. I am with my friend Nasiem. I dragged her along with…
Over the years, I’ve followed a path from being a moderate religious conservative towards being a fully-fledged liberal, as I like to call myself today. The journey was not an easy one. I came to learn that people around me…
On meeting for the first time, one of the first questions a Bangladeshi will ask is ‘Bari kothai?’ The enquiry ‘where is your home?’ asks so much more than for a postal address. The answer can potentially contain information about the…
The team at sister-hood requested that I write about my legacy. I did not understand the word: my mother tongue is Arabic, not English. I looked it up, and found that it means a gift, or a message, handed or…
I am 28. My father used to physically abuse me, and when I sought help from the authorities I ended up locked up in the Dar Alhimaya ‘protection home.’ Technically, it’s a prison. I will only be allowed to leave…
Just hearing the news makes it hard to breathe. Like everyone else, I want to shut my ears whenever the word Syria is mentioned. Switch stations on the radio; turn off the TV and pretend it isn’t happening. But unlike…
A memoir marking 11 years / Like the sky / my beloved is everywhere / but next to me / – rupi kaur I remember the day my Nani died. It was a cold January morning. I was putting my…
Like most people growing up in Libya, my social circles were restricted. I spent most of my time around relatives or friends of my parents. This was during a period when most of our social interactions took place in our…
I had a pivotal moment when I was 16 at a sharing session run by inspirational women. This event gave me an idea of how to progress; how to work on myself in such a way that I could improve…
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.