I grew up in a Muslim community, particularly with parents and a father that used to tell me the most extraordinary stories and which inspired me. So… - Sa'diyya Shaikh

Hardly have the words left his lips when a hand softer than silk touches his shoulder. He turns. A young woman of breathtaking beauty gazes intently at him. As if omniscient, she responds to his poetic rumination with a depth of spiritual discernment, subjecting each line of his poem to careful scrutiny, culminating in a reprimand: How can “the great mystic of the time” pos-sibly question God’s knowledge of his state? A true lover is content with the desires of the Beloved even when they entail absence and separation.

I was sitting with another graduate student reading (Ibn 'Arabi) texts in Arabic and English, and it was one of those moments that time seemed to have condensed: the sun had set, hours had passed and the two of us didn't notice the entire world go by. It was a moment of genuine, absolute awe. I came out of it marvelling at the vastness and possibilities of being human. The questions of what it means to be human within the Muslim tradition, and how gender influences one's understandings of a person's humanity remained with me.

My relationship to religion became a little bit more fraught. So, that initial relationship to religion was all about these beautiful characters who had incredible virtue and valour and courage and spiritual refinement and beautiful adap. That was formative for me thinking about in living Islam and the things that inspired me and the things that were shown up to me as a mirror of goodness.