The Diverse Bookshelf Samia Aziz

This episode is a special bonus episode with scholar, writer and translator, Shaimaa Abulebda, from within Rafah, in Gaza.
Shaymaa’s family home in east Khan Younis brings together her 8 married siblings, and for her nieces and nephews, it is their grandparents’ house.
Shaimaa has lived through the second intifada, and all the aggressions on Gaza since 2008 until this curren ongoing genocide.With dreams of getting a PhD in literature, Shaimaa looked forwad to a bright future. She was lecturing at the Islamic University of Gaza, which has now been destroyed. 
 Since October 7th, Shaimaa and her parents have been displaced three times and are now living in an over-crowded refugee camp in Rafah, where there is no food, clean water or electricity. 
Shaimaa is currently raising funds so her and her parents can leave Gaza and find safety in Egypt first, before thinking about what could come next.

You can donate and support Shaimaa and her family here:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-evacuate-shaimaa-and-her-parents-from-gaza-o

In her own words, Shaimaa has described the extensive stress, pain and pressure on the people of Gaza, the way in which everyone is losing weight and strength due to forced starvation, how nobody can clean themselves properly, and how Shaymaa’s short term memory is being impacted every single day. 
I invited Shaimaa onto the podcast so she can share her story, and we can hear first-hand what life is like in Gaza, both today but also in the years that Shaimaa grew up.
Due to a lack of strong internet connection and a quiet space, this episode has been put together from separate recordings, and Shaimaa recorded her story during the night from a refugee camp. While listening you might hear some sound disturbances and hear background noise: war planes, drones, and other people. 


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I'd love to hear your thoughts on this episode, so please do think about leaving a review, and like, subscribe and rate wherever you listen to this show :)
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On the show this week, I spoke to Nigar Alam about her stunning debut Novel, Under the Tamarind Tree, which I absolutely love. In this episode we talk all about Partition voices an d stories, Pakistan, class, identity, friendships, displacement and so much more.

Author Nigar Alam was born in Karachi, Pakistan, and spent her childhood in Turkey, Nigeria, Italy, Kenya, Indonesia and the United States. She currently lives in Minnesota and teaches at Anoka-Ramsey Community College.
“Under the Tamarind Tree” is Alam’s debut novel and is set in the seaside city of Karachi. 
The main character, a woman named Rozeena, opens the novel sitting on her veranda near a garden shaded by palm and Ashoka trees, where she receives a call from someone she knew in the past. 
The rest of the book fluctuates between a dual timeline and follows Rozeena and her friends in the decades after the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947.



I'd love to hear your thoughts on this episode, so please do think about leaving a review, and like, subscribe and rate wherever you listen to this show :)
Come connect with me on social media - I'd love to chat:

www.instagram.com/readwithsamia
www.instagram.com/thediversebookshelfpod 
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On this week’s show, I’m speaking to Ela Lee, author of the debut novel, Jaded. Now, I absolutely loved Jaded. I cried several times while reading it, and found a sense of commoradory, validation and being seen that I didn’t even know was missing. Ela writes a multi-layered story of her character, Jade, who is British-Korean-Turkish. Having gone to a prestigious University, Jade is now a 20-something professional lawyer working in a law firm in London. One night, a devastating incident takes place that sparks a huge internal and external unravelling for Jade, and the novel explores themes of identity, privilege, race, patriarchy, corporate success and so much more. 
Ela Lee is a London-based author. She studied Law at the University of Oxford and previously practised as a City lawyer. During the pandemic, Ela decided to focus on her love of writing and began work on her debut novel, Jaded, that explores themes of consent, race, and identity.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this episode, so please do think about leaving a review, and like, subscribe and rate wherever you listen to this show :)
Come connect with me on social media - I'd love to chat:

www.instagram.com/readwithsamia
www.instagram.com/thediversebookshelfpod 
Support the Show.

On this week’s episode, I’m talking to the incredible Dana Dajani, Palestinian spoken word-artist, singer, actress and activist. We’re talking about the incredible power of storytelling and poetry in preserving history, connecting us to our ancestors, resistance and activism. I ask Dana about her Palestinian heritage, the life of her beloved grandmother and so much more. 
 Dana Dajani is an award-winning Palestinian writer, performer, and advocate. She lives and works between the Middle East, Europe, and the US.
Dana’s work as an actress, trainer, and consultant has taken her around the world- from performing at the Sydney Opera House and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, to creating a Drama Therapy Program for children with Autism in the UAE, where she was honored as Emirates Woman “Artist of the Year”, and received the “Young Arab Award for Entertainment” among other recognitions.
Known for her original spoken word poetry, Dana’s background in theatre has informed and influenced writing, and allowed her to create a unique style of solo performance. Part spoken-word, part one-woman show, Dana uses gesture, character, and a simple scarf to transport audiences across various social justice themes through her characters.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this episode, so please do think about leaving a review, and like, subscribe and rate wherever you listen to this show :)
Come connect with me on social media - I'd love to chat:

www.instagram.com/readwithsamia
www.instagram.com/thediversebookshelfpod 
Support the Show.

This week on the podcast, I’m welcoming back my friend, the incredibly insightful and thoughtful, Dr. Sofia Rehman. Sofia now has a second book out in the world, called Gendering the Hadith: Recentering the Authority of Aisha, Mother of the Believers, which is her Phd thesis published as a book. On the show this week, we dig deep into understanding translations and interpretations, understanding Aisha bint Abu Bakr even better, what we can learn from Aisha and the Prophet (saw) about justice, hope and resilience, and so much more. 
Dr Sofia Rehman is an independent scholar specialising in Islam and Gender. She works as a knowledge building consultant for Musawah Movement, a global organisation committed to the reform of Muslim family law in line with gender egalitarian readings of Islam. As a PhD candidate she was a PG Impact Fellow at the Centre of Religion and Public Life and PRHS Scholar.
She is founder of the Islam and Gender read alongs in which she facilitates readings of academic texts penned by Muslim scholars in conversation with a global virtual audience and has recently been featured by Vogue Arabia, Refinery29 and The Independent. She is the author of a Treasury of Aisha bint Abu Bakr (Kube publishing) and, Gendering the Hadith: Recentering the Authority of Aisha, Mother of the Believers (Oxford University Press). She is a contributor to Mapping Faith: Theologies of Migration edited by Lia Shimada, Cut From the Same Cloth? Edited by Sabeena Akhtar, Violent Phenomena: 21 Essays on Translation (Tilted Axis), and Gathering: Women of Colour on Nature (404Ink). You can connect with her on her Instagram @Sofia_reading where she talks about all things related to books, faith and academia.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this episode, so please do think about leaving a review, and like, subscribe and rate wherever you listen to this show :)
Come connect with me on social media - I'd love to chat:

www.instagram.com/readwithsamia
www.instagram.com/thediversebookshelfpod 


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Today’s episode was brought to you by Muslim Charity, a faith-based international charity, working around the world to tackle poverty, hunger and thirst. They deliver your Zakat and Sadaqah with honesty and transparency, reaching those in need with impactful projects, all year round. Muslim Charity provide vulnerable communities with life-saving healthcare, clean water, food, livelihood opportunities and education, helping everyone to thrive. 
If you’re looking for a charity you can trust, especially when it comes to your Zakat and Sadaqah, Muslim Charity is the one for you. Visit www.muslimcharity.org.uk/samia to check out some of my favourite, impactful projects. 


www.muslimcharity.org.uk/samia 
Support the Show.

On this week’s episode, I’m talking to Matthew Robinson, humanitarian filmmaker about his work and debut book, 104 In the Shade: Travels of a Humanitarian Filmmaker. I speak to Matthew about his experiences, what he’s learnt, and how we can do more to protect dignity and empowerment when it comes to marketing and social media in the humanitarian sector. 
 Founder of Migration Films, artist and film maker Matthew Robinson (Muhammad Abdul Mateen) has worked in the media industry for 25 years, as an editor on TV staples such as Strictly Come Dancing, Xtra Factor Rewind, The Only Way is Essex and Big Brother, SAS Who Dares Wins, and as a Director shooting short films for artists such as David Lachapelle and Dale vN Collins; music videos for Mark Owen of Take That and British rapper Roots Manuva; and editing movies ‘The Story Of’ and ‘White Collar Hooligan 2’. 
In the last 6 years Matthew has moved into production for the charity sector, where he has applied his skills to make a tangible difference to people’s lives, making videos and documentaries for various projects. Subjects include filming a cross-Europe aid convoy to Greece; refugee camps in Lebanon and Turkey; open heart surgery on babies in Tanzania; water wells in Ethiopia and Bangladesh; food and water distributions in the desert in Somalia and Yemen; marathons in Morocco and Palestine and a rickshaw challenge in Pakistan. 
In 2020 he studied ‘Humanitarian Response to Conflict and Disaster’ at Harvard University and has since set up Migration Relief, a charity aimed at serving refugees and internally displaced people. 
‘104 IN THE SHADE: Travels Of A Humanitarian Film Maker’ is his debut book.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this episode, so please do think about leaving a review, and like, subscribe and rate wherever you listen to this show :)
Come connect with me on social media - I'd love to chat:

www.instagram.com/readwithsamia
www.instagram.com/thediversebookshelfpod 


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Today’s episode was brought to you by Muslim Charity, a faith-based international charity, working around the world to tackle poverty, hunger and thirst. They deliver your Zakat and Sadaqah with honesty and transparency, reaching those in need with impactful projects, all year round. Muslim Charity provide vulnerable communities with life-saving healthcare, clean water, food, livelihood opportunities and education, helping everyone to thrive. 
If you’re looking for a charity you can trust, especially when it comes to your Zakat and Sadaqah, Muslim Charity is the one for you. Visit www.muslimcharity.org.uk/samia to check out some of my favourite, impactful projects. 


www.muslimcharity.org.uk/samia 



Support the Show.