I’m always fascinated by shows about the rights of muslim women, and when a show like this showed us a peek into the life of a British Pakistani and her being a teacher like myself , I had to watch it.
Was her life similar to mine? Was her upbringing like mine? Were her beliefs and values like mine? What else is out there? What am I not aware about?
It was an interesting documentary because it allowed us to see different sides to Islam and culture.
We met with a woman who had left Islam altogether, we even met a group of strong Muslim women who felt completely empowered by Islam. They felt Islam gave them to freedom to work, live life the way they wanted to. And if I’m honest I had to reflect on my own life. Did I feel this way?
Yes, I had been told get an education, but some of that education I fought for. It was preferable for me to get married then feel empowered like these other women. Maybe Islam wasn’t empowering for me?
As the documentary moved forwards we also began to understand Mehreens life, yes she was able to be educated, dress beautifully , go out but she did have a father who would call her constantly. Of course he loves her but Mehreen felt as an adult she should be entitled to more freedom and rightfully so.
This really hit home. Islam wasn’t stopping me from feeling empowered it was culture.
If you have read my other posts you will have just a slight insight on the battles I went through on a daily basis with my family. They hid behind religion and I wasn’t allowed to say or speak out against them.
My mum would often say “you should respect your elders so much that if they say it’s day it’s day, if they say it’s night it’s night even if it isn’t.”
My opinion, my feelings, my likes and dislikes, my dreams and hopes did not matter.
The documentary explained that yes Islam gives you the rights, but does culture allow you to follow it too?
Something very powerful that Mehreen said towards the end of the documentary was yes we do have these rights but are we able to exercise these?
This really hit home, and unfortunately for someone like me no I couldn’t.
Please watch this on BBC Iplayer
Messages like this need to be shared to educate people from all walks of life.
You can follow Mehreen on instagram too:
@queenmehreen
Show her some love. We need more strong independent women like her in this world.
Simply Benish 