From Al-Jazeera
Founder Deeyah Khan hopes to challenge stereotypes by featuring articles from a broad range of voices.
by Anealla Safdar
A woman is excluded from her father’s funeral. A feminist removes her headscarf for a day. A Uganda-born singer and social worker from Norway questions her identity. An internationally renowned Egyptian author makes a strong case for harnessing creativity in the face of patriarchy.
These are just some of the articles that launched a new digital magazine, sister-hood (sister-hood.com), which is aimed at spotlighting the diverse voices of Muslim women.
Founded by Deeyah Khan, an Emmy-award winning filmmaker and activist, the magazine went live on Monday after several months of work.
Al Jazeera spoke with Khan about the perception of Muslim women in the media and the aspirations of sister-hood.
Al Jazeera: Why did you launch sister-hood?
Deeyah Khan: I wanted to challenge the public impression of women from Muslim heritage as victims, or as potential radicals, or mothers of extremists. I also wanted to make a broader categorisation of what it means to be of Muslim heritage, to reflect the true diversity.
sister-hood is for all women and girls of Muslim heritage, regardless of age, ethnicity or sexuality. Devout Muslims, cultural Muslims, former Muslims and agnostics are all welcome to contribute and participate; all sects and denominations are welcome. Whatever their differences, they can speak to their common experiences of growing up in Muslim families and communities, of experiencing what it is to be considered Muslim in the world today.
Women of Muslim heritage are always in the news – as victims, as “jihadi brides”, in innumerable pieces on the hijab. We are endlessly spoken for, and spoken about. It’s time we got to speak for ourselves. If we can’t get heard through mainstream media outlets, then it’s time to build our own.
We cover hard-hitting geo-political realities, the impact of western military policies as well the more intimate experiences of love, loss and honour in the lives of women. We are interested in receiving multimedia content. We love the written word and we are also interested in poetry, videos, art and music – and all other forms of creative expression.
Al Jazeera: How is the magazine produced and funded? Is there any commercial gain?
Khan: sister-hood is produced by Fuuse, my independent media and arts production company.
I am funding this myself with proceeds from my film work and a small grant from the Norwegian Freedom of Expression foundation Fritt Ord. Beyond this, all of the work is currently done by volunteers. We aim to continue as a non-profit project and do not wish to gain commercially.
Our integrity and independence of voice is dear to us and we will not accept any restrictions upon our freedom of speech.
We need to be able to expose the hypocrisy and double standards of the international community that may speak of human rights, while supporting oppressive governments and bombings and strengthening oppressive leaders despite the negative effects on the lives of women. We want to be able to criticise religious extremism as well as extreme capitalism and the perpetuation of violence in the name of both.
As the icon Nawal el-Sadaawi says in her article: “We live in a world dominated by [a] capitalist, imperialist, colonial, patriarchal, religious, military spying system, where one percent of the population of this world own everything, and 99 percent own nothing. Millions are killed by violence under the name of religion, family, honour, nation, democracy, and obedience.”
