Reviews
It's Not About the Burqa: Muslim Women on Faith, Feminism, Sexuality and Race by Mariam Khan
locoemsky's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
paperbookmarks's review
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
This is a powerful and well-written collection.
lindsloveslit's review
informative
reflective
4.0
It's Not About the Burqa was an incredibly insightful collection of essays by a diverse group of Muslim women. Most of the essays were composed by British women of Pakistani or Indian heritage, but their voices, experiences, and perspextices still varied greatly. There were essays by folx who choose/do not choose to wear their hijab, divorcees, mothers, married women, and members of the queer community represented throughout.
It was an important book that shared different perspectives from a group of women that tend to be silenced and ignored. The essays were organized well. Common themes throughout that tied the individual essays together were misogyny, representstion, sexuality, faith, and race.
Read this if you enjoy:
- enriching your understanding of Muslim women
- themes of misogyny, representstion, sexuality, faith, and race
- reflective, insightful essays from a diverse group of women
It was an important book that shared different perspectives from a group of women that tend to be silenced and ignored. The essays were organized well. Common themes throughout that tied the individual essays together were misogyny, representstion, sexuality, faith, and race.
Read this if you enjoy:
- enriching your understanding of Muslim women
- themes of misogyny, representstion, sexuality, faith, and race
- reflective, insightful essays from a diverse group of women
sunniestories's review against another edition
5.0
It's Not About the Burqa is really a rather brilliant book. Like, the type of book that I feel everyone needs to read.
I am not Muslim, and so I can't especially speak to whether or not these stories are an accurate portrayal of Islamic life (and the book doesn't claim to speak for all Muslim women either), but I feel like it gave a real eye-opening look into the lives of Muslim women. After all, this is a group whose voices are very much quietened in British society, whose existences are highly politicised, and yet whose perspectives are rarely brought to the forefront. A book like this is an important starting point to allow for Muslim women to have the seat the table that they are so often denied.
I particularly loved the diverse voices found in this one book alone - black women, members of the LGBTQ+ community, feminists, mothers, married women, divorcees, women who choose to wear the hijab and those who don't - what was presented here certainly wasn't a monolith of views.
I found myself relating to many of the stories through my own struggles as a black woman, whilst recognising that such difficulties may be similar but are also very different.
My favourite pieces in particular were The Clothes of My Faith by Afia Ahmed, and Hijabi (R)evolution by Afshan D'Souza-Lodhi. Both essays were so powerful. And across the 17 stories found in this book, a multitude of topics were broached: being a feminist, representation of Muslims in the media, cultural appropriation, mental health stigma, sexuality, race, just to name a few. It was an incredibly educational read that I highly recommend to everyone.
I am not Muslim, and so I can't especially speak to whether or not these stories are an accurate portrayal of Islamic life (and the book doesn't claim to speak for all Muslim women either), but I feel like it gave a real eye-opening look into the lives of Muslim women. After all, this is a group whose voices are very much quietened in British society, whose existences are highly politicised, and yet whose perspectives are rarely brought to the forefront. A book like this is an important starting point to allow for Muslim women to have the seat the table that they are so often denied.
I particularly loved the diverse voices found in this one book alone - black women, members of the LGBTQ+ community, feminists, mothers, married women, divorcees, women who choose to wear the hijab and those who don't - what was presented here certainly wasn't a monolith of views.
I found myself relating to many of the stories through my own struggles as a black woman, whilst recognising that such difficulties may be similar but are also very different.
My favourite pieces in particular were The Clothes of My Faith by Afia Ahmed, and Hijabi (R)evolution by Afshan D'Souza-Lodhi. Both essays were so powerful. And across the 17 stories found in this book, a multitude of topics were broached: being a feminist, representation of Muslims in the media, cultural appropriation, mental health stigma, sexuality, race, just to name a few. It was an incredibly educational read that I highly recommend to everyone.
maliablue's review against another edition
3.0
3,5 Stars
Some of these essays were a solid 5 stars, others remained a little superficial for my taste. But super interesting and insightful overall.
Some of these essays were a solid 5 stars, others remained a little superficial for my taste. But super interesting and insightful overall.
girlreading's review
4.0
A superb and much needed collection of essays written by Muslim women as they deep dive into a range of topics including but not limited to race, sexuality, faith, marriage, gender, mental health and the need for feminism to be intersectional.
Each essay is written beautifully, giving new and diverse insight into what it means to be a Muslim woman and perfectly portraying how no one person’s experience can sum up the experiences of all.
A true must read and the audiobook, with the majority of essays being narrated by the authors themselves was wonderful.
Each essay is written beautifully, giving new and diverse insight into what it means to be a Muslim woman and perfectly portraying how no one person’s experience can sum up the experiences of all.
A true must read and the audiobook, with the majority of essays being narrated by the authors themselves was wonderful.