Sarah Joseph OBE is editor of Emel magazine and commentator on British Muslims. She is a writer and a broadcaster and has spent the past ten years lecturing on Islam both within the UK and internationally. Sarah converted to Islam as a teenager after being brought up as a Catholic.[1]
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[edit] Early life
Sarah Joseph is the daughter of an accountant and a modelling-agency owner mother. Joseph describes herself as having "grew up in a world where everyone was slim and beautiful.”
[edit] Education
Joseph was educated in some of the best schooling institutions of London - based in Sloane Square and Mayfair.
[edit] Conversion to Islam
Sarah Joseph had decided to convert to Islam at the age of 16, and a year later pursuing to wear the hijab (the female Muslim headscarf). She was awarded an OBE, in 2004, for services to “interfaith dialogue”.
[edit] Marriage
In 1992, Mahmud al-Rashid and Sarah Joseph agreed to an arranged marriage. Mahmud al-Rashid is a human rights lawyer and barrister whose work is based in East London, the son of Bangladeshi parents who arrived in Britain in the 1960s. Sarah commented about her family's reaction with: “I think my family was totally relieved because he was a barrister and didn’t look like Obi-Wan Kenobi with a beard.”
[edit] Life and Family
Mrs Joseph resides in London (England) with her husband, Mahmud al-Rashid and their three chilren: Hasan, Sumayah and Amirah, respectively. The emel editor can trace her family's heritage and lineage back to the Norman Conquest, circa 1066.
[edit] Quotes
“Unfortunately, all people see is protest and dissent.”
“A Muslim is depicted as someone who wears this and eats that. We’re offering a window into Muslim communities, away from the clichés.”
“Someone from the BBC guessed our seed capital was £3m-£5m and I collapsed laughing. We started with £20,000 and it’s all been done on a shoestring.”
“We could say, ‘Let’s keep our heads down.’ But if we stay entrenched, that kind of hostility is never going to be resolved.”
“I grew up in a world where everyone was slim and beautiful.”
“Slowly, Islam kept answering many of the questions which I had until I wanted to be a Muslim.”
“I think my family was totally relieved because he was a barrister and didn’t look like Obi-Wan Kenobi with a beard.”
“You can’t keep saying, ‘This is monstrous’. You need to frame your life by what you are for. That’s when we really had the idea for the magazine.”
“I feel this tremendous sense that I have to get them to talk to one another. I think my whole life has been about bridge-building.”
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