Dr. Noorjehan Safia Niaz, Co-Founder, Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan [BMMA]

Dr. Noorjehan Safia Niaz, Co-Founder, Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA)

In this enlightening episode of The Brand Called You, we have with us a feminist and an activist Dr. Noorjehan Safia Niaz in conversation with our host Ashutosh Garg. Noorjehan is the co-founder of Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA)

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In this enlightening episode of The Brand Called You, we have with us a feminist and an activist Dr. Noorjehan Safia Niaz in conversation with our host Ashutosh Garg. Noorjehan is the co-founder of Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA), she has been helping with addressing the issues of Muslim women for the last 28 years. Dr. Noorjehan has been awarded and recognized all over the country and the world and has played a key role in legislation against triple talaq.

In the interview, she tells us about three key milestones in her life. Coming from a comfortable and well-off Muslim household, she tells us that recognizing the advantages she has over other Muslim women was the first milestone in her life. She informs us why there is a need for a separate movement for Muslim women, and how it is another dimension of other feminist movements in the country. BMMA is the movement that targets Muslim women-specific issues in the country and helps in resolving them, it is a separate safe space for Muslim women. She enlightens us that offensive Muslim practices like triple talaq aren’t sanctioned in the Quran, but a part of hegemonic practices or the patriarchy. 

In the final section, Noorjehan tells us that she wants to codify the Muslim family law to put an end to the oppression Muslim women face in their day-to-day lives and provide a solution to their insecurities. She tells us that one should take religion along to empower oneself and not to oppress. Tune in!

#feminism #muslimfeminism #tripletalaq #muslimculture 

I have been working on issues of Muslim women since the last 28 years in various capacities, diverse institutions and have fulfilled different roles. Knowledge activism through capacity building, training and enabling women’s leadership has been my area of expertise. I have been able to play a key role in getting a legislation against triple divorce impacting lives of 80 million Muslim women, reversed anti-women decision of the Haji Ali dargah enabling access for women into sacred spaces, enabled women to become formally trained qazis thereby entering a long held male bastion and worked consistently for the socio-economic and educational development of the Muslim community. As I move into the future, I aspire for a gender-just world and specifically work towards codifying the Muslim family law in India.