Identifying a space for young Black Muslim women in contemporary Britain

Abstract

Young Black Muslim Women (BMW) have complex, intersectional identities and exist at the margins of various identity groupings. Given this, members of the community can face societal relegation across, not only race and gender lines, but across religious ones, too. This paper explores the lived experiences of intragroup discrimination, identity and belonging in 11 young Black Muslim Women in the United Kingdom. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants and thematically analysed through the lens of intersectionality. The use of an intersectional framework facilitated an understanding of the manner in which the sample was multiply marginalised. Two key themes emerged from the interviews: firstly, around experiences of intragroup and intersectional discrimination and, secondly, around the challenges of responding to and coping with the negative effects of such discrimination. Participants discussed the cross-cutting nature through which they faced discrimination: from within the Black community; from within the Muslim community; and as a result of their gender. The non-exclusivity of these three identities result in constant encounters of discrimination along different dimensions to their personal identity. They also developed diverse means of coping with this marginalisation including drawing from religious beliefs and mobile identifications, i.e. performing different aspects of their identities in different contexts. The present study contributes to existing knowledge in its focus on an under-researched group and emphasises the negative effects of intragroup discrimination. The paper importantly highlights the diversity within the Black community and considers the (in)visibility of Black Muslim Women within society.

Locating Black Muslim Life: Critical Race, Intersectional & Transnational Feminist Approaches to Securitization

“…Intersectionality was established by Black feminist scholars as an anti-racist intervention (Bilge, 2013); it identifies the interaction in which various facets of discrimination interconnect to shape the lived experiences of marginalized communities (Crenshaw, 1991;Nurein & Iqbal, 2021). Additionally, a facet around Blackness, Islam, gender, and exclusion for Black Muslim women in relation to the hate crime coverage (Nurein & Iqbal, 2021). Correspondingly, when the victim is a Black Muslim, less action is taken to achieve justice, such as the ongoing hate crimes in Edmonton compared to the London Van incident.…”

“…Whereas the attacks against Somali women in Edmonton have continued to exacerbate throughout the years with little to no media coverage. Thus, Black Muslim women have largely been overlooked from discussions surrounding religion, gender and race; identifying these multifaceted intersections and their significance in everyday life (Battle, 2016;Nurein & Iqbal, 2021). Moreover, the implications of racism, Islamophobia and gender address the limited legal and social protection offered to Black Muslim women and the lack of justice they receive (Battle, 2016;Nurein & Iqbal, 2021).…”

“…Thus, Black Muslim women have largely been overlooked from discussions surrounding religion, gender and race; identifying these multifaceted intersections and their significance in everyday life (Battle, 2016;Nurein & Iqbal, 2021). Moreover, the implications of racism, Islamophobia and gender address the limited legal and social protection offered to Black Muslim women and the lack of justice they receive (Battle, 2016;Nurein & Iqbal, 2021). Simone Browne's book presents the term racial baggage, "where certain acts and certain looks at the airport weigh down some travellers, while others travel lightly" (Browne, 2015, p. 132).…”

Young, Black, Muslim American: An intersectional lens to understanding emerging adult religious experiences.

“…Black Muslim emerging adults' developmental experiences often differ from non-Black and immigrant-origin Muslim peers due to differing social contexts (Ahmed et al, 2015(Ahmed et al, , 2019. For example, Black Muslims report anti-Black racism within society and experience interpersonal and institutional racism in non-Black immigrant Muslim religious communities in the U.S. and Europe (Ahmed et al, 2019;Hill et al, 2015;Nurein & Iqbal, 2021). Further within-group variations among Black Muslims must be contextualized based on social categories.…”

Encountering the Other

“…She stresses how access to professional, white, elite spaces "have historically been 'reserved' for specific kinds of bodies" (144). Grosfoguel (2013) also argues how colonialism is still present in western universities perpetuating a specific form of Othering that is foundational to Eurocentric knowledge production (Nurein & Iqbal, 2021). Whereas the presence of white women has become to some extent normalised within academia, men and women academics from Othered minorities are treated as outsiders.…”