The fact that a book like Cut from The Same Cloth doesn’t already exist, is a great indicator of the lack of diverse representation in the publishing industry as well as in other sectors of society. In fact, it’s mindboggling.

“As a Muslim woman and a person of colour, I rarely saw images of myself in the books that I read growing up,” says Akhtar. “For me, having a collection of hijab wearing Muslim women on bookshelves would be a huge achievement in and of itself. Our identities are often whittled down to harmful depictions of a homogenous, oppressed brown woman or as harbourers of terrorists. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Muslim women are amongst one of the most diverse demographics, there is no singular narrative.”

Cut from the Same Cloth is a step in the right direction and will shed light on how women who wear the hijab are being treated in the United Kingdom post Brexit.

“I don’t always feel safe on London’s streets anymore. I have been spat at, called a fucking terrorist bitch whilst out with my kids,’ says Akhtar. “I was called a Paki terrorist and threatened with physical violence outside a heaving Kings Cross station and have been repeatedly told to ‘go home’. I was once made to open my bag on the tube to prove I didn’t have a bomb in it. The list goes on. There is much that is brilliant and unrivalled in London, but Islamophobia, particularly post Brexit, has changed my relationship with this city.”

It’s difficult to give an accurate figure of how many Muslim women in the United Kingdom wear a hijab for varying reasons. But there is no denying that Muslim women who wear the hijab form a substantial portion of the current British population. It’s common to see women who wear the hijab living their lives, integrated in cities across the United Kingdom And for this reason, it’s imperative that they are reflected in more books and other forms of representation.

“Writing can foster greater understanding between people,” says Sumaya Kassim a writer who will be contributing an essay to Cut from The Same Cloth, “The collection is unique because it provides a platform for voices that are so often marginalized in the UK, who face prejudice from both inside and outside our communities. I believe (the collection) will provide an alternative to mainstream narratives moving beyond simplistic ones. Most importantly, it will make clear that we are not voiceless. We have a voice, we have been here all along – the responsibility is on you to listen.”

The responsibility is also there for us to support and enable projects and books like Cut from the Same Cloth to come into existence. Anyone reading this has the opportunity to pledge at Unbound to get their copy of Cut from the Same Cloth. So far, the project on Unbound is 59 percent funded and has 471 backers. This is your chance to back a project that will help to break stereotypes on British Muslim women who wear the Hijab. For more information on Cut from the Same Cloth and to pledge click here.

Maán Jalal is a writer, writing stuff while reading other stuff other writers wrote. Novelist. Journalist. Bibliophile. Gryffindor. His patronus is a hawk. Leete Latobarita Uruth Ariaroth Bal Netoreel.