A Conversation with Sofia Haq

Muslim women belong in every space, and that is why Sofia Haq created Muslim Women Professionals, a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to educating, empowering, and mobilizing  Muslim women, especially in the work environment. 

It began after Sofia graduated college in 2015 and felt like she didn’t have a clear path in her career as a Muslim woman. She confided in her Muslim friends and colleagues and found that they also had similar experiences with Islamophobia, misogyny, and other forms of negativity at work and school. Sofia was onto something, and in 2018, she left her job to create Muslim Women Professionals.

Muslim Women Professionals is a global network that promotes empowerment for Muslim women. Their mission is to uplift Muslimahs across all generations and backgrounds through professional development, education, and awareness. Muslim women belong everywhere, and they are breaking into spaces that are not made for them. Their faith, diverse backgrounds, and unbreakable community are undoubtedly their strengths when facing the cultural challenges of today.

Sofia brought attention to the fact that Muslim women are often times misrepresented in the media and that society kind of puts them into a box. “The idea that all Muslim women are the same is not true. The beauty of religion is the beauty of diversity, and what people don’t see about Muslim women is that we are very diverse,” she says. Contrary to the media portrayal of Islam being oppressive to women, this is simply not true. Sofia actually finds great courage and strength in her Islamic faith, and to her, that’s where she finds her power. 

No one wants to be oppressed or represented that way, and the media portrayal of Muslim women as being oppressed by their faith is not only harmful, it’s Islamophobic. Sofia noted that Ms. Marvel is a good start for a more accurate and real representation of what life is like for Muslim Americans, but there’s more work that we need to do as a community. “DEI (Diversity, Equality, Inclusion) is not just checking off a box,” Sofia says, “It’s telling more authentic stories. What so many loved about the show was that it highlighted real issues that our communities have faced: being a Muslim in the United States, generational trauma as a result of the Partition, immigration, and more.”

We at Overachiever Magazine admire Sofia for speaking up for Muslim women and want to amplify her voice. So, we asked Sofia about her thoughts on the current events unfolding in Afghanistan and Iran and what are the challenges that Muslim women face today. “Every Muslim woman should have the ability to make choices,” she says, and that is the core belief of Muslim Women Professionals.

The choice of wearing the hijab impacts all Muslim women, and the barriers to get an education for women in Afghanistan will impact future generations, but Sofia reminded us that what we see in the media about Iran and Afghanistan does not represent all Muslim women. “In Islam, no one can force a woman to wear hijab and education is not forbidden. I don’t want people to think that the actions by those in power is Islamic because they are not,” she says. “Muslim women should always have a choice on how to live their lives. Education and the hijab should not be used as tools of oppression.” 

As mentioned above, Sofia warns that the media portrayal of Muslim women being oppressed is actually Islamophobic. She also brings attention to the fact that the media is actually censored in Iran, and that western media uses situations happening in Muslim countries to fuel Islamophobia. “The focus right now should be on giving Muslim women a choice on how to live their lives. It should be focused on Mahsa Amini and what happened, but instead, so much of the media is using what is happening there to talk about Islam’s oppression of all women. Some people use religion to oppress others, but that doesn’t represent all Muslims. In the cases where it does happen, we need to give it the attention it deserves and figure out what we can do to stop it.” 

The media rhetoric of Islam extremism negatively impacts Muslims, and according to Sofia, the best way to really help Muslim women is to support local nonprofit organizations that advocate, educate, and represent Muslim women. She also encourages everyone to support Muslim women at work or school, and to speak up against Islamophobia. “People don’t understand how important allyship truly is and how it can help prevent Islamophobia from spreading,” she says. “When Muslim women feel supported in the workplace especially by others who are not Muslim, that is powerful. That support means so much especially amidst so much hate against our community.” 

Despite all of the challenges Muslim women are currently facing all around the world, the discouragement of the media rhetoric actually makes Muslim Women Professionals even stronger in their faith and sense of community because there is a lot that they need to overcome together. Sofia has faith in the future of her community and she loves encouraging other ambitious, confident, and independent Muslim women like herself to continue to strive for excellence.

Links:

Sofia’s website: www.sofiahaq.com

MWP’s website: http://muslimwomenprofessionals.org/

Instagram: muslimwomenprofessionals

Twitter: muslimwomenprof

LinkedIn: Muslim Women Professionals