© Elizabeth Arif-Fear 2019
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the publisher, Shepheard-Walwyn (Publishers) Ltd
First published in 2019 by
Shepheard-Walwyn (Publishers) Ltd
107 Parkway House, Sheen Lane,
London SW14 8LS
www.shepheard-walwyn.co.uk
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-0-85683-526-1
Typeset by Alacrity, Chesterfield, Sandford, Somerset
Printed and bound in the United Kingdom by 4edge Ltd
Dedicated to my late mother – the strongest, most selfless person to have blessed my life and to whom I owe so much. You remain forever in my heart.
This collection is also written in solidarity with all of the men, women and children across the globe who have been victims of injustice. You have a voice. You are not forgotten. These are your stories.
Sincere thanks go to my family and friends for their continued support and encouragement. Thank you for everything that you do!
A big thank you goes especially to my friends Rachel, Doreen and Saima, and my dear husband for their advice, assistance and support – in particular with the translations and transliterations in this work. Thank you!
Lastly, but above all, alhamdulillah for His continuous blessings, which have enabled me to become the person I am today and to write this book.
The content of this book focusses on a range of sensitive issues, many of which readers may find distressing.
A listing of support services can be found at the back of this book to enable those affected to seek advice and support and for all readers to be able to find out further information about the issues raised and how you can help.
Foreword
What If It Were You?
I Am a Woman
Cut
Your Guilty Secret
Covered
Free
Double Standards
Family Reunion
Dry Wounds
Strength
Fear
Why Do You Hate Me?
Fragile
Home
Just Like You
Hope
What Do You See?
Empty Streets
Coconut
I Am Not Human
Hypocrisy Is Spelt with a Y
Idol of Oppression
Binaries
Two-Faced Feminist
Blind Hearts
Invisible
Warriors of Barbarity
Steps of Hate
Angel beneath the Ground
Ya Suriya! (Oh Syria!)
Shattering the Glass
My Prophet
Inhuman
Not You
Honour
Undesirable Muslim
The Jungle Never Dies
Weapon of War
#MeToo
Kafir
What Is Freedom?
Further support and information
About the author
What If It Were You? is a book meant to stir the very basal emotions within us that link us to others. It talks to the humanity within us all and attempts to unravel the tentacles of both civil injustice and harmful cultural norms which strangulate and otherise both individuals and whole communities or sets of people. Written by a human rights activist within Muslim and secular communities, the book speaks a truth that is much needed as an antidote to the cultural and social manipulation of basic human rights norms which should instead have been placed at the fundamental heart of many countries.
Arif-Fear speaks about the sickening realities of child marriage, female genital mutilation and modern slavery and picks up on issues that are affecting many, many lives across the globe and in the UK. She highlights the plight of refugees, the infamous and inhumane ‘Jungle’ where young men and women’s lives remain wasted away in Calais and the war in Syria which has decimated the historical, cultural and human capital of the country. She is fearless in her drive to expose the socio-cultural norms that have been imposed on people and the injustices which many men, women and children continue to face world-wide.
Speaking to Muslim, secular and non-Muslim communities, Arif-Fear seeks to burst open the chains that hold mindsets down so that patriarchy and abuse within communities and civil societies can be challenged. She looks for bridges of understanding, whilst challenging the barriers of ignorance and intolerance. Some of the very people that Arif-Fear challenges are those men who have been born into privilege just because they are males. Speaking for women and minorities, she is countering the extremist and misogynistic narratives of men placed at the helm of women’s lives. It is this passion for life, for humanity and for human rights, that makes Arif-Fear someone to watch in the future. She is shaping a path that many women still fear to tread – challenging faith leaders, holding them to account and bursting open the mental prisons they have created to hold down women and minorities, whilst also challenging wider structures of power, hierarchy and injustice.
Arif-Fear is blazing a trail driven by her faith, based on a human rights approach. This book is testament to her values, her ideals and her beliefs. It also places her at the vanguard of challenging practices that have damaged lives, emotions and minds. If there is anything we can be sure of, it’s that this book will set the scene for her work in the future.
As the sun rises,
As the new day awakens,
There’s no morning cheer,
No blissful glowing sky,
No bright new day of life, hope and possibility.
No, as the sun rises,
So do the bombs,
The shells,
And the bullets.
As the sun rises,
So do the screams and the heartbroken cries
Of a mother whose baby lies lifeless in her arms,
Of the orphaned child whose hopes and dreams are snatched away so cruelly in a single second,
Of a husband whose heart has been twisted, crushed and shattered into a million pieces…
No, no blissful glowing sky,
No hopes,
No dreams,
No possibilities,
No cheer.
Instead, there lies a bloody cursed battlefield
Where the streets cry out with waves of blood,
Where the walls crumble with sorrow and fear,
Where the earth knows nothing but death and destruction.
No, instead here lies a blazing battlefield a million miles away…
A million miles away from your shores,
A million miles away from your doorstep,
A million miles away from you.
But what if it were you?
What if it were your mother,
Your child,
Your soul,
Your heart,
Your everything?
What if it were you?
What if it wasn’t them,
What if it wasn’t “the other”,
The “stranger”,
The “foreigner”?
No…
What if it were you…?
I am a woman.
I’m equal in worth – or so they state,
Equal in dignity and rights – though late.
But am I equal as you shut me from view?