I belong to a community that has long been persecuted in the very land it helped found. I belong to a community that loves Pakistan against all odds, even when loving it becomes difficult. When I started going to school,…

I sat with my 14 year old daughter in the women’s prayer area of the Grand Mosque of Paris. Everything seemed different; but somehow yet the same. The issues that plagued me in the United States also plagued me in…

It’s been a while now since the ‘Me Too’ hashtag materialised and honestly speaking, I’ve been mulling over the stories I’ve read and heard far longer than I should. Today, I am ready to share the story of someone I…

Celebrity diva Mahira Khan was recently photographed by the paparazzi smoking in a backless dress, with an Indian non-Muslim actor in New York. People in Pakistan got upset. Some claimed she was s***, wh***, no longer a Muslima, and a…

Battling with depression  On the surface I looked like any other Londoner, sitting on a busy underground train; but on this particular day, I guess you would say I put little bit more effort into my appearance. I had woken…

It may seem odd to some of you that words from Mexico may be relevant to this publication; and yet, they are. I am a Mexican national, originally from Morocco. I have worked in many war torn places across the…

On first words and first periods. First words are a lie. We don’t suddenly find words falling out of our mouths as infants. We don’t suddenly gain the ability to make sense. I learned that through spending six months with…

Fighting injustice begins within our own communities. It is true: one person can change the world. It begins with you and your surroundings. It’s time to take a stand for what you believe in and allow your voice to be…

‘Our lives have been ruined, we cannot show our face in polite society, your sister’s marriage prospects were ruined, and your brother has been forever lost. Why did you do this to us? All to have fun roaming around with…

I was born on the west coast of Turkey, in Izmir: one of the least conservative and most secular cities in Turkey. I was registered as a Muslim. That’s how it works in Turkey; as soon as you’re born, your…

After spending some of my pre-teen years in Karachi, Pakistan, I learnt that beauty was simple: fair meant beautiful, hairy meant ugly.  This is an inconvenient truth, that can be corroborated by most South Asian and Middle-Eastern women. The goal…