<p><b><i>It's Not About the Burqa</i> is an anthology of frank and insightful essays by Muslim women about the contemporary Muslim female experience.<br><br>'Passionate, angry, self-effacing, nuanced and utterly compelling in every single way' - Nikesh Shukla, editor of <i>The Good Immigrant</i></b><br><br><b><i>When was the last time you heard a Muslim woman speak for herself without a filter?</i></b><br><br>In 2016, Mariam Khan read that David Cameron had linked the radicalization of Muslim men to the &lsquo;traditional submissiveness&rsquo; of Muslim women. Mariam felt pretty sure she didn&rsquo;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?<br><br>Years later the state of the national discourse has deteriorated even further, and Muslim women&rsquo;s voices are still pushed to the fringes &ndash; the figures leading the discussion are white and male.<br><br>Taking one of the most politicized and misused words associated with Muslim women and Islamophobia, <i>It&rsquo;s Not About the Burqa</i> is poised to change all that. Here are voices you won&rsquo;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.<br><br>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.<br><br>What does it mean, exactly, to be a Muslim woman in the West today? According to the media, it&rsquo;s all about the burqa.<br><br>Here&rsquo;s what it&rsquo;s really about.<br><br><b>Shortlisted</b><b> for Foyles Non-Fiction Book of the Year</b><br><br><b>'Engrossing . . . fascinating . . . courageous' &ndash; <i>Observer</i></b></p>