Do they know I had to rock myself to sleep? Like an infant still growing, still seeking lost love, still cradling herself like a fragile mirror, hoping to glue myself together – alone – even if my skin was sheding….

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…

Being a woman in the Arab Muslim world is not easy. Almost all Arab women of all backgrounds, classes, ages or even religions face some sort of sexism in their life – and I’m one of them. That is not…

Ramadan always brings a mix of emotions for me – relief, excitement, reflection and anxiety that I won’t be good enough to fulfil the requirements that come with the Muslim holy month. Ramadan is predominantly known as a time for…

I still remember the day like it was yesterday. My mother had been diagnosed with late stage cancer. I was feeling utterly disillusioned with the world. I asked my husband to drive us to an isolated beach, somewhere far away…

I used to feel a little anxious around women I felt were too covered up. I can see it again with my kids, either when they walk past the nuns in the convent close to home, or in the women’s…

You struggle, as an ex-Muslim migrant. The anti-migrant lot don’t want migrants. The pro-migrant don’t want ex-Muslims. You are left to yourself, so you have to work – and hard. Proving yourself The people who are impressed enough to call…

A good part of the population are saying goodbye to religion and choosing a life of rationality, reason and secularism in today’s world. From one religion in particular – Islam – young people are increasingly taking a completely different path from…

‘If you don’t define yourself, someone else will.’ That is the tagline on Nadir Nahdi’s Youtube channel, Beni. It makes me think. A lot. It sounds really good: an anthem for the ethnically diverse millennial. But it makes me wonder…

Before I proceed with my personal experience of the gendered division of labour during the era of the coronavirus pandemic, which reflects the microcosm of a single household, I would like to add an important disclosure. The views and characters…

Before Lockdown 2.0, my boyfriend and I went to a comedy show in our local manor in South London. The need to socially distance meant the crowd was intimate – 16 of us squished onto little tables in a cafe,…