It’s Thursday afternoon and Sonia’s colleagues are about to head out for a leaving do at a local bar. Despite their pleas to join them, she politely declines – even if it is just for a quick glass of lemonade. 

As a Muslim woman, recruitment consultant Sonia, 33, avoids places where alcohol is sold, including bars, pubs and clubs. Unfortunately, these are the types of places where her colleagues prefer to socialise. 

“I enjoy my job and have a great rapport with my colleagues,” Sonia tells Stylist. “But I find it hard to network and socialise with them outside of work because there is a heavy drinking culture in this industry.”

Unfortunately, this is a predicament faced by many Muslim women in the workplace who, because of their faith, struggle to fit in, or worse, are unable to progress in their careers.  

The Conservative party was recently rocked with more controversy after former transport minister Nusrat Ghani claimed that her Muslim faith made “colleagues uncomfortable” and, ultimately, it played a part in her being sacked as a minister in 2020.

An investigation into Islamophobia within the Tory party has been launched after Ghani, the MP for Wealden, said she had asked a Tory party whip about the decision and was told her religion was discussed at a Downing Street meeting and there were concerns she was not doing enough to defend the Tories against allegations of Islamophobia.

“Whilst Nusrat Ghani’s experiences were shocking, they were sadly unsurprising to many British Muslims,” says Zara Mohammed, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain.

“Practising one’s faith shouldn’t hinder career progress, but there’s ample evidence  that widespread structural and systemic Islamophobia, whereby a person’s ‘Muslimness’ – their Muslim sounding name or that they wear a headscarf, for example – drastically reduces their prospects of landing a job or career progression.”    

Civil servant Afsana Ahmed, 32, ended a telephone job interview confident she’d done enough to win her interviewer over, but a follow-up meeting proved otherwise. 

“We built a great rapport over the phone, but as soon as I arrived at the face-to-face interview they seemed surprised and it became very awkward,” she tells Stylist. “I don’t think they were expecting a hijab-wearing Muslim woman to walk through the door.”  

Climbing the career ladder has also been a struggle for Ahmed. “Smaller support roles were easy to land, but to get anything higher has been extremely difficult,” she says. “Even though the interview would go great, there was always a reason why I didn’t get the job.” 

Writer Afsheen Sheikh, 37, claims that she also experienced discrimination trying to break into the media industry.

“When I was younger, I did a lot of temp work as an editorial or publishing assistant, but when a higher role became vacant, rather than offer me the position or at least invite me to apply for it, they gave it to other people – all white women,” Sheikh tells Stylist. “One company actually gave a maternity cover job that I’d held for a year to the receptionist – that hurt.” 

Social media manager Safeera Sarjoo, 33, explains how the bias against her at work was more subtle. “Whether it’s conscious or unconscious bias, I’ve definitely been overlooked when it comes to progression into roles I have significant experience for,” she explains. 

“It’s hurtful, but the sad reality is that discrimination isn’t a physical thing; it’s a lived experience which is so often denied by the perpetrators and swept under the rug,” says Sarjoo. “Muslim women will always have to work 10 times harder, but it makes you more resilient.”

Ten years ago, I began my corporate career, eager and excited to join a big team. However, as one of the only Muslim women in the company, I immediately noticed a distinction. Whether it was a team-building cookery class held during Ramadan (the month of fasting) or a Christmas work party where 90% of the menu contained alcohol, there have been countless times where my ‘Muslimness’ has stuck out.

Eventually, I became overlooked for projects and events where alcohol or overnight travel was involved.  

Dr Suriyah Bi, a lecturer at SOAS university, spent 18 months researching Muslim women in the workplace. Her report, titled Empowered Employment: Unlocking The Workplace For British Muslim Women, found that nearly half of respondents claimed they had dealt with some form of Islamophobia or discrimination at work.  

This doesn’t come as a shock to Nazmin Akthar, co-chair of Muslim Women’s Network, who argues that stereotypes and assumptions of Muslim women as submissive and weak can affect their career progression: “They may be overlooked for promotion because they are allegedly too submissive to act as leaders,” she tells Stylist.

“Assumptions about what they can and cannot do (such as being able to travel to another city and staying overnight for work purposes) also appears to be a common occurrence for many Muslim women, which means they can lose out on career development and networking opportunities.” 

However, not all experiences have been negative. PR consultant, author and blogger Halima Khatun enjoyed a varied career, working for the BBC  and  ITV  before working her way up to more senior roles.

“I enjoyed a lot of success in my 20s,” she explains. “I received promotions, quickly went up the ladder and was paid accordingly. I never felt that my religion was a hindrance.”

Feeling disillusioned by the lack of opportunities in the media, Afsheen decided to pivot into a corporate job and the risk paid off.

“I now work for a company which is proud of its diverse workforce – we even have a prayer room in the building. I’m the only Muslim in my team but I’m treated fairly, respected for my work and valued as a colleague.” 

Following Ghani’s allegations of Islamophobia and discrimination, and the subsequent enquiry, there’s hope that it will make organisations take similar claims more seriously, but it requires a collective effort.

“We need to see better support for Muslim women when they raise concerns,” says Akthar. “It was very worrying to see how quickly questions were raised about Nusrat Ghani’s experiences, with some going so far as to question the extent of her ‘Muslimness’.

“Seeing such attitudes and behaviours towards Muslim women will only discourage others from raising their voices and could even put them off from pursuing certain careers altogether.”   

Images: Getty