It's Not About the Burqa: Muslim Women on Faith, Feminism, Sexuality and Race

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One issue often overlooked is that religious clothing can excite provocation even within the ranks of minority groups themselves – examples include the radio talk show presenter Maajid Nawaz and the author Ayaan Hirsi Ali – who find currency as self-appointed reformers. The paranoia over Islamic clothing has become a political opportunity to codify laws against European Muslims. Elsewhere, clothing manufacturers such as Nike or Jo LaMode take an apparently atheistic view of religious apparel, while women who are veiled or cover their hair with mitpachats have been accused of monetising their faith or aiding radicalism.

It’s Not About the Burqa – Sofearless Book Review: It’s Not About the Burqa – Sofearless

In her essay, Nafisa Bakkar remembers an obsession of finding someone who looks like yourself in an unusual position. Divorce is sometimes and very much a dirty word in my culture, though I’m slowly noticing the tides shifting (more so for the generation before me), and Saima Mir’s journey in ‘ A Woman of Substance’ is one for the silver screen.

What this frustration is an amalgamation of is the lack of representation in publishing which then turns into this desperate need to want everything represented in a single book. While the idiosyncrasies of each essay show the versatility of thing-essays, the study also seeks to unearth changing attitudes towards things – and thus towards people’s material surroundings in general – throughout time. Coupled with soothing texts from the Qur’an, ‘The Clothes of My Faith’ is a gentle reminder to center ourselves and seek representation from the Almighty first and foremost. It is a collective masterpiece' Helen Carr, BBC History, Books of the Year 'Bulging with brilliant and exciting writing.

It’s Not About the Burqa, edited by Mariam Khan Picador

But while some essays are very good, some others, such as Afia Ahmed’s and Raifa Rafiq’s, pale in comparison. Yet, particularly British and Anglo-Irish literature display a long, albeit so far implicit tradition of texts that can be categorised as ‘thing-essays’: Starting with Jonathan Swift’s “Meditation upon a Broomstick” (1701) and continuing until today, these texts draw broader insights from the contemplation of a material item of daily life. Thank you so much Aquib, I hope you’re staying safe and well, and I really hope that Ramadan went well for you and you were able to get a lot out of it! After her second divorce, Mir retrained as a journalist and joined the BBC; she has since remarried. It’s Not About the Burqa: Muslim Women on Faith, Feminism, Sexuality and Race is a riveting set of essays by multiple voices, each unique.I was left feeling and thinking a number of things after reading ‘It’s Not About the Burqa’ which is why I would especially recommend doing a buddy read with not only friends, but your family too. Also writing about sexuality and Muslim women, Afshan D’Souza Lodhi explores queer spaces as a hijabi woman of colour. From 2008 to 2016, I worked and travelled widely in the Middle East; my doctor, HR liaison and line manager all wore veils.