While men from our community stare at any scantily dressed girls, it is actually the women who urge us to be more decent. When these men see us hanging out with our male friends, it is the women who afterwards shout at us that we…

Many, if not most, ex-Muslims experience honour-based violence and/or abuse. The official definition of ‘honour’-based violence is that it is a crime which has been committed to protect or defend the honour of the family and/or community. In the case…

It was in April, 1990 when my mother was diagnosed with cancer of the gallbladder. Wouldn’t you know it? She’d have an oddball type of cancer. Mom went through chemotherapy during one of the hottest summers in one of the…

One pillar of Islam that my mum strictly adhered to was the difficult but humbling act of fasting.  Unfortunately, at the point that it became obligatory for me to fulfil this religious duty, the lunar Islamic calendar was displaying summer,…

I am so utterly done with being required to defend Ramadan to Muslims and, quite often, non-Muslims alike. The script goes, ‘Oh! You cannot eat all month!’ ‘From sunrise to sunset,’ I reply.  Then comes: ‘What if you get hungry…

‘It is your road and yours alone. Others may walk it with you, but no one can walk it for you’ – Rumi Loneliness can cause a deep sadness that weakens your physical and spiritual health. I first realised how…

Some people believe a woman should be covered from head to toe in order to prevent unwanted gazes or attention from men. I have several issues with this sentiment, one of them being that the full burden, blame and responsibility…

As a Muslim woman living in New York City, I’ve experienced alarming, commonplace animosity. I’m often blitzed with verbal attacks. I have engaged in staring contests with strangers who looked at me as if I were an insect to be…

Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world. There are just under 2 billion Muslims in the world. However, we don’t always acknowledge that within those millions, each Muslim holds a different, personal meaning of Islam. Globally, Muslims in…

Within Muslim society as a whole, one of the many topics that does not get discussed, and which could lead to a very dangerously unhealthy situation, is depression. I could sit here and give you the American Psychological Association’s definition…

Pakistan has a rich history of women’s participation in the political and social spheres. The Pakistani movement for independence from British colonialism (1940-1947) saw women participating as actively as the men. The Aurat March was so necessary and long overdue.  This…

As a Pakistani woman, I have only ever brought one man to my house to meet my father. It was because I thought he might be the one I would marry. It turned out he was a jerk, so we…

Despite the current emergence of an activist feminist movement, formed in response to the election of Donald Trump, there seems to be a strange rift being created between women. We are at each other’s throats, and struggle to find common…

Pashtun culture insists upon a strict gender regime, separating women from men. Women are not permitted to compete with men, or even to speak with them. When women have to go out of their homes, for instance to the market,…

Although the common perception is that Saudi Arabia is religiously homogenous, it is actually diverse in its religiosity and religious practices, despite the state’s efforts to present a unified image of its Sunni Muslim identity. The existence of a Shi’a…