Setting Intentions
We intend to attain the rida of Allah ï·» by providing divorced Muslim women with:
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empathy
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resources
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companionship
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healing they require during and post-divorce
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We intend to provide a safe space for women to express themselves – in any form – so that they can tell their stories. May these stories be a source of healing to the storyteller and a source of comfort and inspiration to the next person. Insha Allah.
Us
And She Thrived is phrased in the past tense, because we see you at the end of your story, with the optimism that you will come out better, peaceful, content and empowered on the other side.
Our founders hail from southern Africa, both divorcees and mothers. Both have traveled and lived in various countries around the globe, and have dipped their feet in Islamic Studies and Arabic.
Umm Hassan
Umm Hassan likens divorce to a door inside a house – at first, it’s an invisible door, you’re oblivious to its existence. You can pass by it for years, but then it slowly appears and becomes more apparent. You can continue to deny its existence or pretend that it isn’t there until the walls of the house closes in on you and the only way out is through that door. Umm Hassan walked through that door after a 20-year marriage. When she isn’t exploring, learning and sometimes drowning in this whole new world, she’s raising three rambunctious human beings, taking walks in one of the most beautiful places in the world and reminiscing that, once upon a time, she drank coffee with camel’s milk.
Sumaya
As someone who desperately sought women to hold space for her during and after her divorce, Sumaya has been motivated to create such a space for others. A seeker of wellness in all forms, a teacher, artist and a writer, she is determined to reconnect to all that inspires her, and express herself through the written word, art and movement. Sumaya is also a life coach in training.
