This is an article I wrote for the Redbridge Muslim Newspaper (February 2009)

I for one am an aptitude believer in all these self development courses, so was very excited to finally see one tailor made for Muslim woman.

 Aimed at Redbridge Muslim woman, and a crèche it was perfectly up my street.

On the day I arrived stressed, clutching my daughter and over one hour late. Our body clocks always fail us on a Friday! Not a good start but lucky for me the topic was de-stressing oneself.

Following this was the inspiring role models, which for me was by far the best session of the day.  First on stage was Rashda Mahmood, a development manager at HSBC Amanah Finance.

Rashda a natural born speaker, and clearly in her comfort zone, had her audience captivated. She had arrived from Pakistan at the age of two, attended Walthamstow secondary school, where she chose her 4 A-levels: 2 of which were Urdu- simply to prove her Urdu teacher wrong after she said she’d never get a GCSE in the subject, and Geography because it meant her spending a week in the Isle of Wight.  Thereafter from humble beginnings as a bank clerk she worked her way up to the esteemed position she asserts today.

Every inspiring sentence she spoke was followed by a note of good humour which left the audience in hysterics, and made my wonder why she had not been head hunted by comedy group ‘Allah made me funny’ to be their first comedienne.   The modern day superwoman she is, she’d easily fit it into her schedule alongside her 9 to 5, director of an afterschool madrassa ‘AMMA’, school governer, and mother to two girls.

As I work in investment banking too, she had me utterly enthralled; I had found my new super role model!

Next was Eiman Munroe, a graduate physicist from Imperial college, she had worked in actuary for 3 years, then got married, and found her business ‘Loop cards’ whilst on maternity leave!  She talked us through her pointers for success and during the Q & A was inundated with questions on business.  I couldn’t help thinking her next business move needs to be providing courses for women with new business ideas.

Extremely curious to know how both Munroe and Rashda husbands’s view their lifestyle considering they spend little time in the home, Rashda said ‘I would not be who I am today had it not been for my husband’ and Munro echoed the same response. 

So is the other side of the coin to the phrase ‘Behind every successful man is a woman’ also that ‘Behind every successful woman is a man’, or is it as Islam teaches, ‘Marriage is a partnership’.  The Nikkah is not based on equality, but promotes justice between the spouses’.

By the afternoon it was beginning to dawn on me that the attendees were mostly all successful professional mothers.  As the afternoon speaker said, she felt she was ‘preaching to the converted’. 

Although I continued to learn great new tips and facts, and left feeling elated having made talented new friends, I did feel the absence of the huge Redbridge Muslim population that would have benefitted immensely almost to the point of it being a life changing experience, had they attended.  An example are the ladies I attend the Sunday session at the Ansar with, who a few weeks ago were asking what is happening in Gaza.

The movement of Muslim woman has begun, and they have broken away from the stereotype of ‘oppressed’ and ‘chained to the kitchen sink’, but what about the men?  I can think of maybe 10 women successful in deen, career and family, for every male counterpart.

Consequently, my message to the absentee women, and the men, is if there’s an ‘Inspire’ course near you, you absolutely must attend!

Short of ideas of activities for your family this half term?

Well, the British Museum is putting on a great list of persuits inspired by Middle East.

Create a cityscape around the walls of the Great court, or learn Persian dances with Sima Madanipour, I’m sure the kids won’t get bored.

Don’t forget to visit the magnificent Islamic world (Room 34) collection at the back of the Museum and I also recommend Assyria: Lion hunts, Siege of Lachish and Khorsabad (Room 10).

For directions and visiting times go to:
http://www.britishmuseum.org/visiting.aspx

This is an article I wrote for Emel magazine (May 09 issue)

Cineform, a day of films, workshops and inspirational women, triumphantly endeavoured to be a pioneering conference for the advancement of Muslim women.  I for one am an aptitude believer and pilgrim to self development events such as this.  I had booked my early bird ticket months in advance and arrived on the day overly excited with a big stash of business cards and bags of enthusiasm.

The conference turned out to be fantastic in terms of the wonderful influential film screenings, excellent talks and tips from affluent women, best of all the world class leadership workshops and also a 3 hour slot for networking.  As far as successful conferences go, the event ticked all the right boxes except for one, which dawned on me at midday when I couldn’t find somewhere to pray.

The event had started with a talk trying to address ‘What is a Muslim woman?’     For some reason in attempting to answer this question, many issues were discussed including image, ethnicity and also culture, but faith wasn’t really brought into the dialogue.  In fact the Muslim faith wasn’t brought up till 12.15 when Imam Dr Taj Hargey discussed Islam as the liberator of women.  This South African gentleman made headlines in Muslim media when he invited Dr Amina Wudud to lead a mixed gender Friday congregation prayer, and today his controversial speech resonated a strong feminist undertone. 

My understanding of Islam is slightly different as I regard it to promote justice between the sexes rather than girl power.   It just didn’t seem fair to invite someone who had a one sided opinion of the role of Muslim woman, but to fair to the organisers his speech may well have helped the women who feel oppressed by traditional culture which they have been brought up to believe as Islam.

Out of the huge vast number of speakers addressing Muslim women’s issues, I actually found a man’s to be the most influential.  John Bird, the founder of the Big Issue magazine and foundation absolutely captivated his audience.  His honest, raw, but kind approaches to the problems in Muslim communities including domestic abuse and setting up a business were an authority of motivation. 

The afternoon delved into a great selection of workshops of which one was ‘You are your best business card by Laurel Herman’ which was for me by far the best session of the day.  Ms Herman, the founder of ‘Positive Presence’ intelligently engaged with all 15 members of her audience to analyse their innermost insecurities, followed by great tips to address our inhibitions. If only I could afford her fees, I would book her as my personal life coach for life!

During the closing, a short film was shown consisting of interviews with young Muslim girls on that famous question ‘What will you be when you grow up?’  These lovely girls talked about wanting to be footballers, actresses, and also commented on how these occupations may not be well received by their parents.  What followed was another short film made on the day, comprising of delegates who assert the positions the girls wanted to achieve.t was all heart moving stuff and summarised what Cineform was trying to achieve, however it was notable that where all the young girls were conservative Muslims, the platform of role models were clearly not.   

The final confusing episode was the networking session I had so looked forward to.  This comprised of two rooms in the basement, the first serving water, the second serving alcohol.  In the first room sat a handful of Muslim women whom wear the headscarf and the second room heavily congested with everyone else.  Looks like someone had forgotten to tell the organisers alcohol is prohibited in Islam.

Although I had thoroughly enjoyed the educations of the day, made great new friends and learnt many tips for success, the title of the event was Muslim Women- Visibility & Leadership, but ‘Muslim’ had been overlooked.  The event could have been perfectly adequate for Jewish women, Somali women or battered women; it certainly didn’t differentiate itself for engaging with Muslim women.

I still applaud Cineform for its initiative, and its greatest success was that unlike many of the other current inspiring courses for Muslim women that generally only draw professional Muslim women, this conference attracted Muslim women from all backgrounds and ethnicities.  This was down to its awesome content, and which is why next time I attend I’m taking all my friends – Muslim, and non-Muslim.

This is an article I wrote for Emel magazine (April 09). 

All girls love make-up, but to Zukreat Duaa Majeed it was more than something to put on before a night out.  In her own words, “I’m an artist, to me make-up might as well be my paint, and the face my canvas”.

As a child she regarded make-up as ‘a work of art on someone’s face’.  She was amazed at the transformation that can be made to a person’s appearance by the clever use of lipsticks and coloured powder.

 Growing up, in school she excelled at art, achieving an A at A-level.  However her parents wanted her to pursue academics, and convinced Zukreat to enrol for a science degree.  But as we all know if fate has a calling, it doesn’t matter which route we take, we’ll always arrive at the same destination.

 During university, Zukreat landed herself many part time jobs, but always with a well known cosmetics company, such as MAC, Dior, YSL and Chanel.  In all these vocations, her employers saw her strength as a make-up artist and consequently sent her on courses to learn the tricks of the trade.  On the job Zukreat was doing endless make-over’s for customers and inevitably gained firsthand, valuable experience that most students at a professional make-up school yearn for!

 Needless to say by the time she had graduated Zukreat realised she was an expert with the make-up brush, she wouldn’t be going down the science route, and she was absolutely determined to find her niche in make-up. 

 So in January 2008, Zukreat set up her own beauty enterprise, -‘Bridal Memories’. Under this umbrella she offered bridal make over services, make up courses, and photo shoot make-up services.

 The group caught the eye of creative director Marcus Fleming, a notorious figure in the modelling world. 

Fleming remarkably impressed with Zukreat’s gallery, signed her up for her first fashion shoot. He also brought on board renowned photographer Rashmi Gill, and in no time the trio were making headlines in fashion magazines.  The doors of opportunities had opened!

 During the next few months, further glamorous, big contracts literally landed on Zukreat’s doorstep; Fleming put her in touch with Neena Kent who at the time was launching ‘Henna’, a British Asian magazine. She needed a make-up artist for the model on the front cover, and Zukreat perfectly fit the bill!  This contract was particularly important as it was the catalyst for her future work. She narrates “Every where I drove my car, I would see bill boards with the Henna front cover on it, and I would think ‘Wow’, I did that make-up!”

 Fleming at the same time was launching an online magazine called ‘Flair’ and Zukreat was employed to do her second front cover.  A shoot was arranged and Zukreat painted a 1960’s MOD cross punk conceptual style using only 3 colours on the model.  If you want to get your name noticed, there’s no better way than to make a statement like this! 

 A few months later, Zukreat was appointed official make-up artist for ‘Ghazals Couture’, by designer Ghazal Asif’ and Omar Mansoor’s collection, for London fashion week.  Throughout 2008 she continued to receive contracts for fashion shoots, and was fully booked by brides to do their make-up for their big day. 

A challenge always anticipated by Zukreat, but one that incredibly never materialised was that expected of being a covered Muslima, working in a flesh baring industry.   Their occupation involves displaying their physical beauty which is in conflict to a Muslim woman’s intention to hide hers. 

The modelling world and professional make-up artist club is new territory for a ‘hijaabi’, but so far Zukreat has never faced any form of prejudice; she has been recruited on the merits of her artistic flare, clearly evident in the contracts she obtained.  Being a practising Muslim, there are scenarios where she felt she must draw the line, for example saying no to make-up for singers and models in music videos.  

 Financially, her £500 investment paid off very early into the venture, and the business has been able to successfully solely rely on organic growth, but this form of growth of re-investing profits into the business meant Zukreat was left out of pocket, and it was hard for her to not be earning a salary during the early months.

 Going forward, arrangements have been made to expand the brand ‘Bridal Memories’, by strategically placing a make-up artist trained by Zukreat in every major UK city. 

A training academy has been set up due to the overwhelming response from girls wanting to learn Zukreat’s specialist skills.  

Also, Zukreat has received her first request to travel overseas to Las Vegas all expenses paid, to make a brides’ day!  Despite the credit crunch, the future for Zukreat is not grey and gloomy, but ‘Orange’, – and red, or yellow, or blue, or whatever colour the make- up artist chooses to use!

 Zukreat’s top 5 tips:

1) Find your biggest passion and something you are great at.  Then find a way to turn it into a lucrative business with the least possible costs.

2) Stay focused and stick to one ‘GREAT’ idea. Being full of ideas is great, but don’t run the risk of taking on too much at once, it will hinder the progress of your business and affect its success.

3) Take calculated risks, being an entrepreneur doesn’t mean you take big risks. Instead weigh everything up to make sure that even when you lose you still gain!

4) Enjoy yourself! Remember one very important factor in being your own boss and starting your own business is to have time to yourself, family and friends. Don’t lose sight of other important things in your life. You might find yourself so engrossed in your new business venture that you forget to make time for yourself or for others, so always strive to find a balance!

5) Stick at it and don’t give up, perseverance is the mark of a true entrepreneur. There will be moments where all you want to do is pack it all in and give up…Don’t! No one said it would be easy, and if it was easy, everyone would be doing it. Just keep in mind once you overcome the obstacles you’ll find everything else gets easier!

Zukreat’s facebook page: www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=10527661594

Zukreat’s Webpage: http://www.bridalmemories.co.uk/

Hi, my name is Arfy and I’m a freelance journalist.  Through this blog I want to promote Muslim culture, which is a rich mix of ethnicities, languages, arts, linguistics and diverse heritage.

Islam has always had a rich heritage of famous stories to tell, whether Quranic, fables, parables, legends or events that took place during the time of the great empires.  This rich culture seems to have become a fable itself, a nostalgic thought of a long lost civilization, only known to those interested in history or by an off chance encounter of a documentary watched on TV.  The wealth of tales is endless, and indeed would take a scholar itself to master.  However for Muslims, this is our heritage and this accumulated knowledge played pivotal roles in propelling Islam to be world leaders of intelligent civilization.

When the British Museum exhibited the Shah Abbas exhibition in Feb 2009, many people for the first time discovered that not only did Isfahan produce the internationally famous Persian poets, but also calligraphers, architects and mosaic artists.  How many people for instance know that the University of Timbuktu during the 12^th century accommodated 25,000 students and its grounds and buildings were larger than those of Cambridge or Oxford put together.  Graduation was incomplete without an understanding of ethos and excellent moral conduct, a quality far removed from many who assert to be Muslim today.

Once upon a time in Muslim lands, women were in prominent positions of society and contributed in every field as the male counterpart.  The arts, poetry and storytelling was enjoyed by all.

What followed in the centuries to come was a virtual collapse of Islamic ethos, sophistication, culture and arts, almost as if Islam had entered the dark ages, until now!

As in the words of the famous Nasheed by Sami Yusuf ‘Let the Ummah rise again’ Muslims are again entering and contributing to prominent fields of world development.  They want to dissociate from the backward cultural practices, and create a new podium synonymous with the original scriptures of Islam which consisted of open mindedness and justice for all.

I’m keen to promote any Islamic artist, or project.   If there’s a feature, event or artist you know that you feel should be celebrated, let me  know.