Seeing for Ourselves by Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan
Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan's cross-disciplinary book is a beautiful consideration of devotion to faith, family and politics
Hajar Press has made a name for itself publishing experimental nonfiction from people of colour, pushing the often rigid boundaries of form in political writing, and Seeing for Ourselves is no exception. Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan's cross-disciplinary writing practice – as a poet, scholar and scriptwriter, amongst others – bleeds beautifully into her work. For example, many chapters open with a dialogue between the author and the book itself, grappling with who the book is for amidst a flooding library.
The book meanders through the author's cerebral considerations of her devotion to her faith, her family, her heritage and her politics. In one of its many poignant moments, it turns its gaze to the author's recently passed friend, Dr Azeezat Johnson, bearing witness to their intellectual relationship, shared political and academic cause, and experience of occupying an often unseen space within exclusionary institutions.
Manzoor-Khan’s exacting thoughtfulness shines throughout, as she tenderly interrogates her relationship to visibility and vision, seeing and being seen, be it the paradoxes of representation, being defined by the white gaze as a British Muslim Woman, or the possibilities of existing to be seen by Allah alone. The book asks incisive question after question – occasionally to its discredit, sometimes raising more than it is able to answer in such a short volume, but brimming with hope nonetheless.