ILHAN
ILHAN
ILHAN
ILHAN
ILHAN
Religion and Relationships
SHAG spent the afternoon with Ilhan Ali, a british born muslim girl living in London. She shared her opinion on what modern muslimhood is about and how to express your sexuality, date and respect your faith as a young muslim girl in the 21st century.
article |
Antonina Ross
PHOTOGRAPHY |
Annye Ilieva
EDITORIAL |
Beatriz Salsinha
PRODUCTION |
Ellie Softley
My parents are very, very religious - they both come from very religious backgrounds. I kinda feel that with me the apple fell very far from the tree. Religion, for me, is like a spectrum - sometimes you do really religious things and other times, like when you’re partying, you don’t.
I don’t really know how I’d class myself - all my friends are like me as well. A lot of stuff is kept in secret. Like for example when me and my friends go out we’re not going to be posting it online because there’s still a very big stigma, it’s not something that’s very open for everyone to know.
Tell us about dating and relationships.
For me in terms of dating I’ve spoken to non-Muslim guys, but it’s not serious, they’re just a fun - ‘I’ll chat to you now’ fling. I feel like eventually I would prefer someone a bit more religious than me for the long term. Even though I’m kind of on and off with my religion, I still feel like it’s the most important thing.
Do you feel like there are issues with female sexual liberation?
"Yes! But forget sexual liberation though, people still keep quiet about sexual assault - so that’s something we need to tackle before focussing on sexual liberation. I feel like Muslim women should definitely be more open about their sexuality, what they like... What they don’t like... It’s so hush hush it’s almost like we’re prude... but we’re still women, and just because we wear hijabs it’s not like…we don’t have a human aspect to us - especially when it comes to sex. When you’re Muslim it’s kinda like “I’m Muslim I shouldn’t talk about that” - you know what I mean? I feel like we should still be able to have open discussions and not feel like it’s shameful, because it’s just something that’s natural and normal - something everyone goes through.
ILHAN
ILHAN
ILHAN
ILHAN
Check out our editorial for SHAG's ILHAN Photoshoot
This issue is on what modern muslimhood is about and how to express your sexuality, date and respect your faith as a young muslim girl in the 21st century.
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