Sisters in the Mirror

Sisters in the Mirror by Elora Shehabuddin is a groundbreaking history that challenges the common portrayal of the Muslim world as the final frontier for feminism. The book presents feminism as an entangled story of colonial and postcolonial interactions between Western and Muslim societies, rather than a one-way export. Shehabuddin shows how Muslim women have been fighting for their rights for generations, often within broader struggles for national independence or against occupation and inequality. The narrative is built around encounters between individuals from South Asia, Britain, and the US, which prompted them to question their own societal norms. Through stories of both famous and lesser-known figures, the book recounts moments of conflict alongside those of empathy and solidarity. Ranging from the eighteenth century to the present day, this work demonstrates how women's lives and feminist strategies have always reflected wider shifts in global politics and economics.