sister-hood is an award-winning digital magazine spotlighting the diverse voices of women of Muslim heritage.
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When I was 10 years old, my mother used to tell me that being a woman is no different to being a superwoman. She had endured decades of oppression by her husband and in-laws – as women so often do…
I am 38 years old and a proud Ex-Muslim. It has been over 15 years since I unapologetically stopped wearing the hijab. Before that, I had fought battles with it, and against it. This story is about the enforcement of…
On anxiety in Autumn. “perhaps I don’t deserve nice things cause I am paying for sins I don’t remember” – rupi kaur These past few months, I’ve been putting everything down to tiredness or quite frankly, exhaustion. Guilty of always…
My ten-year-old son has become inquisitive about Islam. He is slowly discovering it through my answers to his questions, through books and mostly through the Internet. There is only so much I can tell him though. What I really want…
10am I’ve fallen again. I don’t know what happens overnight. I go to sleep feeling strong and I wake up wanting my life to be over. Is it my period? A part of me knows I will overcome. Yet a…
While scrolling on social media this morning, I came across a speech that I was deeply moved by. It was given by the actress Glenn Close as she was awarded a Golden Globe this year. Her speech was directed to…
Pa·tri·arch·y A system of society or government in which the father or eldest male is head of the family Nothing should deter me from my deen. Yet, for my whole life, I have tried to shut out the opinions of…
There are many terms, labels and adjectives used in talking about abuse. They don’t always capture the issue of the twisted, warped, dysfunctional heart that longs to return to the abuser. Physically leaving an abuser is an achievable, practical goal:…
Love is one of the purest and most powerful of feelings. Expressing feelings in a confined Muslim society is unfamiliar, it is strange in a sense. In many families, using the words ‘I love you’ to parents/siblings can be extremely…
I was fortunate enough to grow up with my mother around, and I know I should be grateful for that. But the reality is that she was never mentally there. I never got to know who she really is –…
I grew up in a predominantly white, middle class town. There were four Asian-Muslim families in a population of approximately 10,000 people. My family was one. Between the ages of four and eleven, I attended a Church of England primary…
Every time I go and watch a movie at the cinema, I see an advert for tobacco which ends with the line ‘Smoking is injurious to your health.’ Like everyone else, I know this is true – but I have…
‘All women are working women… only a few are salaried’ The above slogan for International Women’s Day became popular inside those four walls where women work in silence. International Women’s Day (IWD) is celebrated on March 8 every year. This day…
How like joy to come upon me in remembering a head of hair and the way water would caress it, and stress beauty in the flair and cut of the only witness to my dance under sorrow’s tree. This swift…
Slit my throat yourself before forcing me to marry a man. It’ll hurt everyone less. I am gay. And I am so sorry. Please. …but it is what it is. And can’t change that… Even if I wanted to. Believe…
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.