We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir

Samra Habib has been struggling to find her true self her entire life. As an Ahmadi Muslim growing up in Pakistan, she has experienced prejudice, restrictive gender roles, and abuse, and after immigrating to Canada, Habib experienced discriminatory acts based on her ethnicity and sexual orientation. This unique, contemporary personal memoir uses figurative language and imagery to contextualize Habib’s progression of identities and values as she embarks on a quest to find herself. Suitable for senior secondary students, “We Have Always Been Here” presents historical and anecdotal evidence of persecution and prejudice while weaving together the author’s desire for spirituality and belonging. Appropriate for individual reading or for small group study, excerpts from it could be used to highlight the immigrant experience and to understand persecution, genocide, and social injustice.