| Fatima Aly-Jaffer Member Since 4/19/06 |
Name
Fatima Aly-Jaffer
Pen Name
N/A
Description
Writer, Speaker, Trainer
City/Region
Nairobi
State/Country
Kenya
Email
fatima.aly-jaffer at muslimahwritersalliance.com
Blogs - Websites
http://peppermintprose.livejournal.com
www.flickr.com/photos/bint_ali/
Place of Birth
Nairobi
Family
Parents and 3 siblings (2 sisters and a brother), plus an extremely large extended family – lots of
aunts, uncles and cousins spread all over the globe, Alhamdulillah.
Languages
English, Kiswahili, Gujarati, Urdu
Biography
Fatima Aly Jaffer has written since she could hold a writing implement. She discovered the joy of
writing when she realized that the strange marks on paper could actually be made into pictures and
images, filled in with colors, scented with fragrances and given unique textures simply by being
used well.
She studied and qualified as an IT professional (LIMIS, Institute for the Management of Information
Systems, Kent), but never stopped producing words for people to read.
She has contributed to several magazines - online and in print - and writes book reviews, features
and opinion pieces for the national newspaper The Daily Nation. She regularly contributes to The
Community on Friday, an e-supplement produced by the World Federation of KSIMC.
Fatima also speaks at local women’s conventions and is an active member of Ahlul Bayt Islamic
Sisters’ Network (ABISN), a Nairobi-based women’s group that is part of a local multi-sect, civic
empowerment group aimed at helping Muslim women locally.
She teaches Tarikh and Social Etiquette at the community madrasa, writes and directs plays, edits
books into English and generally enjoys anything from devouring classics to quantum physics.
Allah (SWT) has been extremely kind to her and granted her an aptitude for craftwork so when she’
s faced with writer’s block – which is more often that she likes – she can turn to knitting, crochet,
tatting, macramé and anything else that involves thread. She highly recommends these hobbies as
stress-busters!
Fatima is currently working on getting her first Islamic fiction novel – Surviving Zahra – published.
This story with its strong, feisty and charming female heroine and controversial issues (violence
against women, cultural norms vs Islamic shariah and the negative stereotyping of Muslim women)
is expected to appeal to young Muslim women around the world and inspire them to be proud of
their faith and their heritage, insha’Allah. (Surviving Zahra is due out in Late Fall 2006 – look out for
more details in the near future.)
Bibliography
The Community on Friday - ‘The Cured Romantic’ (Other articles available in website archive)
‘Same World, Different View’ - AbsoluteWrite.com
‘I’m Proud of What Goes on Inside My Head’
‘A Reality Check on Romance’ - The Daily Nation (East Africa)
‘Dear Christian, I am a Muslim’ - Suite 101.com
Awards
IMIS International Gold Medal in Communication Skills – 1996
First Prize in Women’s Day Poetry competition held by the Cultural Center of Iran, Nairobi – 1999
Available For
Fiction and Non-Fiction writing, editing, reviews, interviews, online tutoring/discussion/critique.
Fatima Aly-Jaffer
Pen Name
N/A
Description
Writer, Speaker, Trainer
City/Region
Nairobi
State/Country
Kenya
fatima.aly-jaffer at muslimahwritersalliance.com
Blogs - Websites
http://peppermintprose.livejournal.com
www.flickr.com/photos/bint_ali/
Place of Birth
Nairobi
Family
Parents and 3 siblings (2 sisters and a brother), plus an extremely large extended family – lots of
aunts, uncles and cousins spread all over the globe, Alhamdulillah.
Languages
English, Kiswahili, Gujarati, Urdu
Biography
Fatima Aly Jaffer has written since she could hold a writing implement. She discovered the joy of
writing when she realized that the strange marks on paper could actually be made into pictures and
images, filled in with colors, scented with fragrances and given unique textures simply by being
used well.
She studied and qualified as an IT professional (LIMIS, Institute for the Management of Information
Systems, Kent), but never stopped producing words for people to read.
She has contributed to several magazines - online and in print - and writes book reviews, features
and opinion pieces for the national newspaper The Daily Nation. She regularly contributes to The
Community on Friday, an e-supplement produced by the World Federation of KSIMC.
Fatima also speaks at local women’s conventions and is an active member of Ahlul Bayt Islamic
Sisters’ Network (ABISN), a Nairobi-based women’s group that is part of a local multi-sect, civic
empowerment group aimed at helping Muslim women locally.
She teaches Tarikh and Social Etiquette at the community madrasa, writes and directs plays, edits
books into English and generally enjoys anything from devouring classics to quantum physics.
Allah (SWT) has been extremely kind to her and granted her an aptitude for craftwork so when she’
s faced with writer’s block – which is more often that she likes – she can turn to knitting, crochet,
tatting, macramé and anything else that involves thread. She highly recommends these hobbies as
stress-busters!
Fatima is currently working on getting her first Islamic fiction novel – Surviving Zahra – published.
This story with its strong, feisty and charming female heroine and controversial issues (violence
against women, cultural norms vs Islamic shariah and the negative stereotyping of Muslim women)
is expected to appeal to young Muslim women around the world and inspire them to be proud of
their faith and their heritage, insha’Allah. (Surviving Zahra is due out in Late Fall 2006 – look out for
more details in the near future.)
Bibliography
The Community on Friday - ‘The Cured Romantic’ (Other articles available in website archive)
‘Same World, Different View’ - AbsoluteWrite.com
‘I’m Proud of What Goes on Inside My Head’
‘A Reality Check on Romance’ - The Daily Nation (East Africa)
‘Dear Christian, I am a Muslim’ - Suite 101.com
Awards
IMIS International Gold Medal in Communication Skills – 1996
First Prize in Women’s Day Poetry competition held by the Cultural Center of Iran, Nairobi – 1999
Available For
Fiction and Non-Fiction writing, editing, reviews, interviews, online tutoring/discussion/critique.