The World Health Organisation has now recommended face coverings for indoor spaces  to stem the transmission of the novel coronavirus. This is the reason for the regulation applied in the UK from the 24th of July, which requires people to…

Picture this: a 15 year-old Shamima Begum from Bethnal Green, East London, straight A student studying for her final GCSE exams, well-liked by her peers and teachers, falls prey to grooming and is recruited by sophisticated ISIS propagandists, along with…

People who fetishize ex-Muslims are not our allies. You may be wondering what I mean by ‘fetishize ex-Muslims’. I am drawing on some observations coming from a few ex-Muslims who are either vocal or involved in activism. Ex-Muslims – and…

In recent years, Indonesia has seen an increase in female terrorism. The case I remember most was the story of Dian Yuli Novi, a former Indonesian migrant worker who had intended to perform a suicide bombing at the Presidential Palace…

‘Mummy, why is Scary Spice scary?’ The context: The Royal Wedding approaches. These are very exciting times for me, because I have heard that the Spice Girls may well be reunited for the ceremony in May. The Spice Girls were…

Some people, including Human Rights Watch’s Director Ken Roth and politicians like Rabina Khan have taken the opportunity of a global pandemic to defend the burqa/niqab by comparing it with mandatory face mask rulings used in the fight against Covid-19….

A wave of feminism is sweeping across the Middle East and North Africa region. Part of this wave is created by anonymous feminists from their social media accounts. Celebrities are also riding the wave, enjoying being celebrated as feminist activists…

The false equivalence of masks and veils The unprecedented outbreak of COVID-19 has challenged human attitudes. Our lives are dictated by the new uncertainties; we are developing new habits. We have been pushed into isolation, while wearing masks and maintaining…

One in three start-ups in the Middle East and North Africa region is founded or led by a woman, which is a much higher percentage than in Silicon Valley. Women in Arab countries make up for 34-57% of STEM graduates,…

In France and Canada, it is now mandatory to wear a face mask in public. Yet in both countries it is still unlawful to wear a niqab or burqa in public. Presidents Macron and Trudeau have effectively mandated that Muslim…

A few weeks before the lockdown, while the Conservative party were in the midst of developing their post-Brexit points-based immigration system , the Home Secretary Priti Patel stated that those earning less than £25,000 annually were in ‘low-skilled’ jobs and therefore not…

A recent article on the BBC entitled ‘Ethnic Minorities ‘a third’ of COVID-19 Patients’ outlines the racial aspect of health inequalities within the UK. Similar articles have been published in other news outlets, including the Guardian and Al-Jazeera. This article provides a…

Yesterday on International Day of Families, Muslim women around the world were asking, If not now, when? The gendered impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has dredged the many injustices and discriminations women face in the family to the surface. The…

The sound of a woman hitting a nail firmly on the head A couple of days ago in Parliament, Rosena Allin-Khan, the newly appointed Shadow Minister for Mental Health, was told by Matt Hancock, Health Secretary, to ‘watch her tone’….

A new wave of feminism is sweeping across the Arab region. A strong and unprecedented wave of feminist activism is inundating the Middle East and North Africa with the help of social media platforms, especially Twitter. Many accounts on Twitter…