Contributors

Tasnim is a London-based speech and language therapist and avid reader behind Show Morethe Instagram page @reads.and.reveries where she shares book reviews and recommendations, current reads and the all too frequent new additions to her bookshelf.

Zainab Shamis-Saleem is Montessori teacher, wife and mama based in West London UK. Show MoreShe is a trained graphic designer and after working for a design agency for many happy years, she retrained to work with young children. She founded The Montessori Studio in 2015, which runs consultancy and workshops for parents and teachers who want to know more and do more to enable their child’s natural path. Visit her website for more info and blog, or catch her on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/themontessoristudio/).

Il-haam is a freelance writer and English teacher. She has worked at universities in Show Moreboth South Africa and Turkey. She is interested in Sufism, fragrance compositions and making sense of the world around her. When she’s not listening to reggaeton, eating caramel with a spoon or stroking cats, she dreams of returning to the great love of her life, Istanbul. IL-HAAM ENSURES THE EDITORIAL INTEGRITY OF HIKAAYAT AND FINDS SYNERGIES IN OUR COLLECTIVE CREATIVE SPACE.

Shameelah Khan is a documentary filmmaker and lecturer at AFDA University in Show MoreJohannesburg. She is also co-director of “Odd”, an online arts magazine and is currently completing a Masters in film, researching the representation of Muslim women in cinema.

Interested in themes and politics of identity, home and belonging. Sana Ginwalla is Show MoreZambia-born photographer with origins in India and Myanmar. Upon completing her undergraduate in Photography in 2017, she co-founded Everyday Lusaka – an online platform and stationary business that shares photographs of Lusaka to positively counter stereotypes of Africa. During her Honours in Curatorship at the University of Cape Town in 2019, she created an archive called The Studio Stool which houses a collection of found and submitted photographs made in Zambia that would not usually be recognised in the state archives.

Samsam is a blogger based in Melbourne who started her blog and YouTube Show Morechannel to share all things related to motherhood. She documents her journey in at attempt to connect with other mothers along the way and constantly tries to juggle working full time and being a mum to an active 4-year-old son.

Farah is a UK-based linguist (South Asian languages), editor, Show Morewriter, and academic writing coach. She is currently playing with ways to disseminate her PhD and current research to an academic and public audience in a meaningful manner.

Farah Hernandez is a mother, ceramicist, Show Moreartist, training doula and life enthusiast.

Aaliyah is a budding visual anthropologist, who has an Show Moreinquiring mind into all things extraordinary and mysterious. A keen eye that sees and finds the beauty in everything “ordinary”. She has an enduring love affair with the cities of LA and London and just about everything in between. She is keen to inspire others to courageously cultivate unique styles that transcend conventional wisdom because it sucks anyway. She is a millennial who experiences true freedom in her faith.

Rahima Brandt became Muslim at the age of 23 Show Moreand has never looked back. She has worn many hats, businesswoman, wife, mother to three wonderful young women, director of a college for Muslim women and is currently a fabric design creative. She believes in the power of zakat and awqaf to restore the deen and is a founder member of the Local Zakat Initiative. Phoebe Riley is an artist, designer and occasional writer living in London.

Sabriyya Shaw is a 20 year old psychology student, who enjoys studying the Islamic Sciences Show Moreand volunteering in her community. Her passion is to bring herself and others closer to God and His Prophet, through inspiring them to find their own personal connections with the Creator. She also enjoys family time, cooking, reading, traveling and watching movies in her spare time. She hopes to go into the field of spiritual counseling or teaching once she finishes her studies.

Koketso Omar Masombuka is an essayist born and bred Show Morein South Africa’s administrative capital of Pretoria. He is interested in using history, psychology and Sufism to better illuminate contemporary issues.

Maliya is a Kashmiri/Pakistani poet. She is a writer and Show Morehas an Instagram account dedicated to human rights and Islam. When she is not writing a world news article, Maliya can be found writing Islamic poems. Some of her inspirations are Allama Iqbal, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, and Mahmoud Darwish.

Saqib Faruk, 20, is an Aerospace engineering student, a creative writer and Show Morea philosophy enthusiast. He believes that fiction is the window through which we can ponder deeply over the horizons of human existence and emotions. Faruk has been writing fiction for the past 3 years and is presently working on his debut existential novel.

Aisha Yusuff is a Biochemist and book reviewer, with a focus on Show MoreAfrican and Muslim literature. Her works can be found on her bookstagram @thatothernigeriangirl, as well as on digital platforms like ReWrite London and The New Arab. Follow her on Twitter @allthingsaeesha  .

Yacoob Manjoo is a writer, blogger, and communications professional. Show MoreHis book of poetry and reflections, Let it Flow, was published in early 2020, and his work has also appeared on various Islamic platforms, including ProductiveMuslim.com.  He blogs at https://dreamlife.wordpress.com .

Sobia is a student from Kashmir who currently works as a Show Morewriter and speaker for mental health awareness and suicide prevention. She writes on happiness, sadness and depression (where most of our sadness comes from).

Aysenur Ljatif is a Primary & Secondary Islamic School Librarian based in Melbourne,  Show MoreAustralia. who is currently studying counselling. She has been mentoring young Muslim women in her community for 10 years and has also taught Quran and Islamic studies to primary aged children at The Emir Sultan mosque. She is obsessed with anything sweet, picture books and loves reading novels and about history. Gardening in the veggie patch is her thing, her own way of embodying holistic connections of the mind body spirit with the land.

Sister Daijah is an Afro-American Muslim who came to Islam Show Morein March of 2018. Having to navigate what a “Muslim identity” is for her, she is putting in time and effort into knowing more about her Afro-American Islamic Heritage. She is now dedicated to spreading the knowledge to everyone she can, especially Black/African Muslims. She has a background in Finance and Banking, but is now pursuing her passion to be a teacher, inshaAllah.

Jamal Mehmood is a writer based in London. His work has been featured Show Moreat Magma, BBC, Popula and Media Diversified. He has been shortlisted for the Outspoken Prize for Poetry in Film, won the national Poetry Rivals in 2016, and is an alumnus of the UniSlam post-emerging cohort of poets. Follow his work at www.jamalbhai.com

Awais Hussain is the founder of the Mirpur and Dadyal Heritage Society Show Moreand is an avid researcher of the genealogy and history of the Mirpur region of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. He has previously collaborated with the Australian Historical Society, as well as contributed to numerous heritage and language documentation projects. He is currently studying Linguistics at the University of York, UK.

The Ecstatic Exchange is a collective dedicated to preserving and promoting the work Show Moreof the American poet Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore (1940 – 2016). Abdal-Hayy said of his craft, “For me the province of poetry is a private ecstasy made public,  and the social role of the poet is to display moments of shared universal epiphanies capable of healing our sense of mortal estrangement – from ourselves, from each other, from our source, from our destiny, from The Divine.”

Hamza Mbuyane is a creative and lecturer of geopolitics currently Show Morebased in Cape Town, South Africa. 

This documentary involved the local Muslim community of Show Moreand was an intiative of Shukry Adams, Aaliyah Ahmed, Aqeeda Domingo, Shakeel Garda, Imraan Jeeva, Shameelah Khan and Nkazimulo Moyeni.

Ray Lacina is a Professor at Delta College near Saginaw, Michigan, Show Morewhere he teaches a variety of English courses. In 1991 he married into a Hyderabadi (Indian) family which has tolerated him reasonably well for the last 27 years. He’s written all his life, starting with his first poem in the first grade. He lives in Michigan with his family.

Arthur K. Richards is a husband, father and teacher of the religion. Show MoreHe is a graduate of English Literature and studied in Egypt under the tutelage of Islamic Scholars from the Al-Azhar Mosque, Mauritania, and West Africa. He specializes in Islamic Jurisprudence and works full-time as the Growth Marketing Manager for the tech startup and crowdfunding website LaunchGood.com He writes regularly on his blog forthosewhobelieve.com and on Instagram, @arthurkrichards_

Rizwan spent his early career in corporate recruitment and then Show Morerediscovered his passion for the arts in Granada, Spain. Since 2005 he has culturally led small to large arts organisations and projects for 15 years. More recently he was a producer with Manchester International Festival, supporting world class art and developing grass roots engagement projects throughout Manchester. He is currently Engagement Manager for Bruntwood and Artistic Director for Salaam Festival – the worlds first international festival of exploring and making new Islamic art and culture scheduled for July 2022.

Soukeyna Osei-Bonsu is an African writer and poet born in Bordeaux, Show MoreFrance and based in London, UK. A SOAS Anthropology and International Relations graduate, her work explores African belonging and identity as well as Tasawwuf / the spiritual dimension of Islam. Soukeyna is involved in Black activism and runs several projects for the Black community in North London. She is co-founder and EIC of MZAB magazine a quarterly online publication which explores adventure, culture and spirituality and author of the chapbook ‘All The Birds Were Invited To A Feast In The Sky’ released with Lote Tree Press. In her spare time she has a keen interest in global healing practices, ritual and film production.

Raees Mohammed is an entrepreneur, a translator at the High Court, Show Morea strategist, and author of “The Road to Tarim”.