Patriarchy in the Muslim community is a topic that should be given more opportunity for discussion, believes Nabeela Iqbal, founder of the Sisterhood Initiative that is lobbying for change for women in the Muslim community and all women in general who do not get equal opportunities due to religious practices and longstanding cultural rituals. “I [...]

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Sisterhood opens up discussions on unchartered topics

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Nabeela Iqbal

Patriarchy in the Muslim community is a topic that should be given more opportunity for discussion, believes Nabeela Iqbal, founder of the Sisterhood Initiative that is lobbying for change for women in the Muslim community and all women in general who do not get equal opportunities due to religious practices and longstanding cultural rituals.

“I was 18 when I got a chance to tour the island with a diverse team from the organisation Sri Lanka Unites, to build peace and reconciliation. One of my mentors taught me that, ‘communities in general are not homogeneous; within each community all of them are different. It is really important to have intra-faith community discussions so that people within the community speak to each other’. This was the idea that motivated me to go ahead with my initiative,” says Nabeela.

An undergraduate at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura and past pupil of Methodist College Colombo 3, Nabeela has been volunteering in many peace building and advocacy platforms. An ‘advocate champion’ with the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS), she is currently leading the revision of the Senior Girl Guides Association handbook curriculum- the Rangers toolkit, ‘to make it more progressive and proactive by including modules in civic engagement, reproductive health and empathetic leadership etc.,” she says.

Founded in January 2020, the Sisterhood Initiative works towards creating spaces for Muslim women in Sri Lanka to come together and share their experiences, engage in curated discussions and to find a sense of community among each other. The topics range from personal issues to community level issues that women don’t get a chance to talk about.

“To engage in discussions is the main objective here at Sisterhood – by doing this at a community level we are immediately raising awareness on cases of injustice that Muslim women who have different realities around the island face. Further to this, as a community when other people recognize us, it breaks this stereotype of ‘what a Muslim woman is’. We are engaging, we participate, we are willing to learn and do more in society,” said Nabeela.

Importantly, they have non-Muslim members who work with them. “They really support our work and are very vital to the work that we do. When they participate with us, it is motivating and makes us stronger. They teach us their practices and their cultures,” said Nabeela. On Poson poya, for instance, they had a virtual learning experience – an educational interfaith discussion.

Sisterhood Initiative had planned to have the Colombo discussion every month but with the pandemic they were only able to have an event in January and a regional workshop in Kandy in February. Meanwhile they have been having virtual conversations through webinars and ongoing discussions through social media with their members. “It is not my favourite as not everyone can be part of the discussions due to limited resources and so on, but surprisingly there was a massive outcome,” says Nabeela.

A Sisterhood awareness programme in progress

Virtual sessions conducted during the lockdown included Understanding Hate Speech, A conversation between a Catholic and a Muslim (post-Easter attacks), Women’s Political Participation and Learning about the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Law (MMDA), followed by a different series under the theme ‘Online Conversations and Learning’. This included Learning about Fasting during Ramadan and Eid Festival, Menstrual Hygiene and a special fundraiser for World Menstrual  Hygiene Day with the Jasmine Foundation (Trincomalee) to donate sanitary hygiene products to local women.

“In my opinion, the conversation between a Catholic and a Muslim with regard to post-Easter attacks was very important because a country needs to heal after a conflict. This conversation included a Catholic who had lost a friend and through this person’s grief we were able to communicate the  feelings that were involved, which included racism, ” explained Nabeela.

All sessions were mentored and conducted by professionals, Hyshyama Hamin and Maryam Azwer from the Muslim Personal Law Reforms Action Group (MPLRAG) and Nethmini Mediwala for the Women’s Political Participation Conversation among them.

Sisterhood Initiative plans to continue their work in Akurana, Puttalam, Sainthamaruthu, Matale, Trincomalee, Gampola and engage with men too.

“There have been several people who have given massive feedback about how secure they feel being in this community to the confidence they are gaining. Many non-Muslims who have been a part of the discussions say that they are getting to know a lot of things that they didn’t know exist in society. This is really important for us. Especially referring to the MMDA conversation, many including married women had no idea about the general legal aspects in a Muslim marriage,” said Nabeela.

“Women started to stand against violence and abuse at home after we taught them about the law,” she adds.

The Sisterhood Initiative would like to acknowledge the support of Thevuni Kotigala, Sithy Thahera Salam and Shaheela Mohideen.

Their Sisterhood, now counting 196,  is growing and those interested could get in touch with the team through sisterhoodinitiativelk@gmail.com and follow them on their Instagram handle @sisterhood.initiative for more updates.

 

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