Thank you Na’ima for being prepared to put yourself in the limelight for the Muslim women and for being prepared to take the flack (and the praise of course) that inevitably comes with the job. My dear sister, you’re never going to be able to please all of the people all of the time so just keep on doing what you’re doing for the sake of Allah.
As for the rest of us, we should be proud to have articulate and practising sisters who are prepared to describe to the rest of the world what Islam is about and how we live it, even if this description doesn’t represent with pinpoint precision all of our lives.
Surely we should forgive our sister’s shortcomings and ask Allah to increase her and others in Guidance.
wasalam
umm AbdurRahman

I enjoyed your book very much, and so did every woman I came across, that read it. If a person reads it in the context it was written, to relate the difficulties and challenges women face when they try to practise their Islam in a manner that pleases Allah, then yes it supplied the message in a way, that was both humorous and real. May Allah Most High grant you the strength and perseverance to continue in a manner that pleases HIM and only HIM. I love you for His Sake. Your sister in Islam, Fatimah

Many thanks for your comments on my book and the online diary – interesting, masha Allah! I guess we all feel the need to carve out a space for ourselves without trying to define or second-guess others. I am sorry if you find my approach or that of SISTERS magazine too overtly religious or preachy – it just goes to show that though we are all Muslim women, we have different understandings and priorities. It’s funny because one of the things our readers like so much about SISTERS is that they can get benefit for the Akhira at the same time as having a light read. It’s great that we have magazines like Aziza, emel and Muslim Girl for sisters who don’t want to relate EVERY aspect of their lives to Islam (as I think you mentioned in your review). At any rate, we do try to accommodate all our readers and love to hear the negative comments too so jazakAllahu khairan to all of you.
And I am only qualified to relay my own experiences of hijab, marriage etc as I am not a qualified researcher or academic. I had hoped that From my sisters lips would be read as one woman’s journey and an affirmation of the values that many (though not all) Muslim women hold dear.

May Allah accept all our good deeds and forgive us for our shortcomings, ameen.
With much love and du’a

Na’ima B. Robert

Personally, I enjoyed her book. And just like with Lipstick Jihad, I enjoyed it because I was reading it as a personal memoir-type book, rather than a representation of Muslim women. If she had just thought to add that as a disclaimer—”by the way, this is my personal viewpoint and that of the ‘sisters’ I talk about, and does not necessarily represent the views of other Muslim women,” I think many others would have enjoyed it as well.

@ Naseema: Yeah, I have to honest and say that this wouldn’t make me want to read her book although I would be interested in reading her graduate research.

@ Sobia: I remember that piece. I also got the same vibe when looking at the magazine.

@ Fatemeh: Her Ramadan entry was nice. You’re right, she shines best when focusing on her personal life. When I saw the picture, I thought it was an African American in niqab. Then I thought it could be her.

Reading a few other links on the “behind the veil” diary, I actually liked her piece on Ramazan in Britain, about having suhoor with her son. I liked that personal stuff; the rest of this general stuff doesn’t resonate with me because of the preachy statements.

Also, I get the feeling that the woman in niqab IS Roberts.

It comes as no surprise that she is so exclusive in her definition of Muslim woman. I wasn’t too impressed with her when I covered her magazine before but now this just confirms what I believed about her before.