Muswib: Muslim women in Business
Now more than ever, the role of Muslim women in today's rapidly changing world is swiftly beginning to play an important role in the workplace. Despite the media's constant spiralling lies, Muslim women are starting to tell their own stories, and build names for themselves. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib dominate American politics, whilst Halima Aden works with big names like Vogue. One field in particular that is being utilised by Muslim women is the business world. In today's day and age, it's fairly easy to promote your ideas and business by setting up an Instagram page or website. And it seems that people are using this to help sell their products and reach out to a wider online community.
Earlier this week I sat down with 22 year old Finance student and high school teacher Khadigah Elmanea. Born and raised in the UK, currently situated in the bustling city of Istanbul, Khadigah shares with me how she set up 'Muswib,' an organisation that shares stories of Muslim businesswomen online, aiming to inspire others and provide useful tips for future entrepreneurs.
On their official Instagram page, they describe Muswib as:
'We share experiences of Muslim female entrepreneurs in the business world, on our little space on the internet.
We promote sisterhood, faith and innovation.'
Why did you feel there was a need for Muswib?
Muswib came at a point when I was very frustrated with the lack of representation of Hijabi women in business, even more so in areas like Istanbul, and I wanted to change that.
It was a personal experience that made Khadigah realise there was a problem. She was told by her professor, that as a hijabi woman, she wouldn't be able to work for a certain big Turkish company that she was interested in at the time. The reason for this was solely because they did not employ women wearing hijab. This is the condition of a company amongst many others in a Muslim country. This can only make one wonder what the future holds for employment and opportunities for hijabis in the Western world, where whilst they may not be as blunt, there is still discrimination against visibly Muslim women. She did some research, and concluded that it was a bigger problem than she had expected, and thus set out on a journey to focus on the positive side.
How did Muswib come about?
After the idea had blossomed in my mind, I shared one story back in 2017. Since I didn't have a set plan of action and I was doing it on my own, that one story stayed as one story. It was only earlier this year when my friend and co founder of Muswib Muberra reached out to me, suggesting we relaunch Muswib and bring it back to life. I often get asked about the name Muswib, and what it stands for. It's actually just an acronym for 'Muslim Women in Business' that we used between ourselves, and after a while it became quite catchy.
At the start, there was no professionalism, no branding and not much organisation; it was just a little hobby at the side. However, earlier this year the idea was sparked up once again, and especially now with quality branding and a set agenda, we have more scope to tell real stories and share useful insights.
How do you operate Muswib?
Every weekend we share an interview online, on Instagram and our site which is both in English and Turkish. In terms of funding, we work with sponsors and anyone who wants to collaborate, which is how we fund it, as well as using our own money.
For those thinking of setting up an organisation, it is hard. For something like this, you have to be heavily reliant on a network. For example if I'm looking for someone to interview, it might be a friend of a friend. She'll have to introduce us and then it will start from there. You also have to be very involved, like going to events and getting involved in the community.
What are some of your favourite stories?
The first person that was interviewed was my finance lecturer back in 2017, Professor Zeynep Hafsa Orhan. She is one of the few women in the Islamic finance department at the Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University. Due to the hijab ban in Turkey many years ago, she had to study abroad in Bosnia and Sweden, like many other hijabi women at the time in Turkey, who were forced to move out of their own country to gain an education. What inspired me about her was that she wasn't willing to compromise her faith or success; she did both.
What are your future plans for Muswib?
We want to offer more training, resources, support, internships and definitely more interviews. We have done 35 stories so far. We also want to work with people more and collaborate with universities and NGOs. Muswib wants to enable Muslim women to do what they want to do. Ultimately, we want a sisterhood community.
What would you like to see from Muslim women in the future?
To integrate more into society without compromising their faith, values and beliefs. To be the best at what they do. To be judged on their skills. There's a stereotype 'she's okay for a hijabi woman' but that stereotype needs to be broken. We're always in the shadow of other people, always supporting from the sidelines. Us Muslim women can be the best. I would like to see leaders in each field: technology, finance, law, science.
Another thing I'd like to add, is a piece of advice we can take from one of the greatest women to have ever walked this earth, and that is my namesake and our inspiration, the wife of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) Khadijah bint Khuwaylid. She was one of the richest traders known amongst the tribe of Quraysh. Everyone knew of her and she had a reputation of fair trading. She never compromised her modesty or integrity to succeed. So why now? Why do we try to blend in, assimilate and look less Muslim? We aren't 'breaking stereotypes' when we accomplish greatness, because they don't set the standards. Muslim women have been in business since the very beginning. Let's live up to that kind of stereotype. The standard was already set high.
Muswib are on Instagram @muswib, where you can find all their stories, updates and general information. They are always looking for new stories, so drop them suggestions of Muslim women you know who are achieving great things in the world of business, and whose stories are worth hearing. Muswib continues to grow bigger, with high hopes of bringing more women together as the new year approaches.
On their official Instagram page, they describe Muswib as:
'We share experiences of Muslim female entrepreneurs in the business world, on our little space on the internet.
We promote sisterhood, faith and innovation.'
Why did you feel there was a need for Muswib?
Muswib came at a point when I was very frustrated with the lack of representation of Hijabi women in business, even more so in areas like Istanbul, and I wanted to change that.
It was a personal experience that made Khadigah realise there was a problem. She was told by her professor, that as a hijabi woman, she wouldn't be able to work for a certain big Turkish company that she was interested in at the time. The reason for this was solely because they did not employ women wearing hijab. This is the condition of a company amongst many others in a Muslim country. This can only make one wonder what the future holds for employment and opportunities for hijabis in the Western world, where whilst they may not be as blunt, there is still discrimination against visibly Muslim women. She did some research, and concluded that it was a bigger problem than she had expected, and thus set out on a journey to focus on the positive side.
How did Muswib come about?
After the idea had blossomed in my mind, I shared one story back in 2017. Since I didn't have a set plan of action and I was doing it on my own, that one story stayed as one story. It was only earlier this year when my friend and co founder of Muswib Muberra reached out to me, suggesting we relaunch Muswib and bring it back to life. I often get asked about the name Muswib, and what it stands for. It's actually just an acronym for 'Muslim Women in Business' that we used between ourselves, and after a while it became quite catchy.
At the start, there was no professionalism, no branding and not much organisation; it was just a little hobby at the side. However, earlier this year the idea was sparked up once again, and especially now with quality branding and a set agenda, we have more scope to tell real stories and share useful insights.
How do you operate Muswib?
Every weekend we share an interview online, on Instagram and our site which is both in English and Turkish. In terms of funding, we work with sponsors and anyone who wants to collaborate, which is how we fund it, as well as using our own money.
For those thinking of setting up an organisation, it is hard. For something like this, you have to be heavily reliant on a network. For example if I'm looking for someone to interview, it might be a friend of a friend. She'll have to introduce us and then it will start from there. You also have to be very involved, like going to events and getting involved in the community.
What are some of your favourite stories?
The first person that was interviewed was my finance lecturer back in 2017, Professor Zeynep Hafsa Orhan. She is one of the few women in the Islamic finance department at the Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University. Due to the hijab ban in Turkey many years ago, she had to study abroad in Bosnia and Sweden, like many other hijabi women at the time in Turkey, who were forced to move out of their own country to gain an education. What inspired me about her was that she wasn't willing to compromise her faith or success; she did both.
What are your future plans for Muswib?
We want to offer more training, resources, support, internships and definitely more interviews. We have done 35 stories so far. We also want to work with people more and collaborate with universities and NGOs. Muswib wants to enable Muslim women to do what they want to do. Ultimately, we want a sisterhood community.
What would you like to see from Muslim women in the future?
To integrate more into society without compromising their faith, values and beliefs. To be the best at what they do. To be judged on their skills. There's a stereotype 'she's okay for a hijabi woman' but that stereotype needs to be broken. We're always in the shadow of other people, always supporting from the sidelines. Us Muslim women can be the best. I would like to see leaders in each field: technology, finance, law, science.
Another thing I'd like to add, is a piece of advice we can take from one of the greatest women to have ever walked this earth, and that is my namesake and our inspiration, the wife of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) Khadijah bint Khuwaylid. She was one of the richest traders known amongst the tribe of Quraysh. Everyone knew of her and she had a reputation of fair trading. She never compromised her modesty or integrity to succeed. So why now? Why do we try to blend in, assimilate and look less Muslim? We aren't 'breaking stereotypes' when we accomplish greatness, because they don't set the standards. Muslim women have been in business since the very beginning. Let's live up to that kind of stereotype. The standard was already set high.
Muswib are on Instagram @muswib, where you can find all their stories, updates and general information. They are always looking for new stories, so drop them suggestions of Muslim women you know who are achieving great things in the world of business, and whose stories are worth hearing. Muswib continues to grow bigger, with high hopes of bringing more women together as the new year approaches.
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