Our Story

A hot summers day in London, Ilford Lane is like a glorious invasion of the senses. The excited rumble of chatter vibrating down the street, building anticipation for all the wonders that will be discovered that day; the bright and extravagant outfits in shop windows blinding you as easily as the sun’s rays in your eye; the smell of mouth-watering Indian snacks intensified by the heat making even the most satisfied of shop goers hum with hunger and finally indulge in the splendid flavours of their favourite snack.

Then suddenly you remember — you haven’t prayed! Not to worry, you know of a Mosque in this area . . . but it doesn’t have a prayer space for women. Thank God for Google! Simultaneously you’re mentally calculating how long it would take to race back home and pray. A couple of searches later and it hits you — there’s nowhere nearby you can go and if you don’t want to miss this prayer you need to go home empty handed and snappish.

Sound familiar? For Muslim women, this is a very relatable situation. Balancing day to day life with our faith is our unspoken motto as are the internal questions we ask ourselves daily. When should we do our morning prayer if we have an early start? In the middle of the night or before sunrise? Is this top too tight? Is this snack halal? Where can I pray? It’s one hell of a mental load, but one we embrace with open arms as it gives us a beautiful sense of purpose — knowing that our lives have more meaning than the materialistic things that shape them, knowing that we have an ultimate goal. This shared experience gives us a sisterhood and we wouldn’t change it for the world, but we can certainly change the world to make things easier.

 In fact, we’re living in a time where women are finally starting to break the chains of the patriarchal structure that dominates our society. As ambitious and as dramatic as these last few sentences sound it is important to remember that big strides can also be taken by small steps. Before we live in a world where all prayer spaces welcome women, we can make it easier to locate female prayer spaces that already exist. This lets Muslim women know that they count. This shows them that their needs are being considered. This is empowerment.

Muslimah is designed with the Muslimah user in mind. It integrates the many aspects of faith in day to day life, making it easy for Muslim women to fit life around faith with just a tap on a smartphone. So, when you next visit Ilford Lane and you realise it’s time to pray you can happily continue in the knowledge that there is no need for you to go home empty handed, because you know exactly where the closest female prayer space is.

Muslimah is available to download on Google Play and App Store