It's Not About the Burqa

Muslim Women on Faith, Feminism, Sexuality and Race

De: Mariam Khan

Narrado por: Mariam Khan, Amna Saleem, Afshan D'souza-Lodhi, Coco Khan, Jamilla Hekmoun, Malia Bouattia, Maya Saroya, Mona Eltahawy, Nadine Aisha Jassat, Nafisa Bakkar, Raifa Rafiq, Saima Mir, Salma El-Wardany, Salma Haidrani

Read by the full cast of authors

When was the last time you heard a Muslim woman speak for herself without a filter?

Shortlisted for Foyles Non-Fiction Book of the Year

'Engrossing . . . fascinating . . . courageous' – Observer

In 2016, Mariam Khan read that David Cameron had linked the radicalization of Muslim men to the ‘traditional submissiveness’ of Muslim women. Mariam felt pretty sure she didn’t know a single Muslim woman who would describe herself that way. Why was she hearing about Muslim women from people who were neither Muslim, nor female?

Years later the state of the national discourse has deteriorated even further, and Muslim women’s voices are still pushed to the fringes – the figures leading the discussion are white and male.

Taking one of the most politicized and misused words associated with Muslim women and Islamophobia, It’s Not About the Burqa is poised to change all that. Here are voices you won’t see represented in the national news headlines: seventeen Muslim women speaking frankly about the hijab and wavering faith, about love and divorce, about feminism, queer identity, sex, and the twin threats of a disapproving community and a racist country. With a mix of British and international women writers, from activist Mona Eltahawy's definition of a revolution to journalist and broadcaster Saima Mir telling the story of her experience of arranged marriage, from author Sufiya Ahmed on her Islamic feminist icon to playwright Afshan D'souza-Lodhi's moving piece about her relationship with her hijab, these essays are funny, warm, sometimes sad, and often angry, and each of them is a passionate declaration calling time on the oppression, the lazy stereotyping, the misogyny and the Islamophobia.

What does it mean, exactly, to be a Muslim woman in the West today? According to the media, it’s all about the burqa.

Here’s what it’s really about.

©Mariam Khan 2019 (P)2019 Macmillan Digital Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

An incredibly important collection of essays that explores the pressures of being a Muslim woman today. These essays are passionate, angry, self-effacing, nuanced and utterly compelling in every single way (Nikesh Shukla, editor of The Good Immigrant)

Essential reading for our times. These essays are funny, angry, hopeful, sorrowful and inspired - and will leave you feeling much the same (Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of The Girl of Ink and Stars)

Refreshing, insightful and occasionally raw, It’s Not About the Burqa is a phenomenal collection of essays by a very diverse range of Muslim women. An absolute must read for anyone wanting to better understand the lives and experiences of Muslim Women in the West. (Akeela Ahmed)

Stories well told

Real and relatable stories, loved how each was told in its own different ‘voice’.

Worth it.