Aisha: We wanted to occupy more space, we wanted Muslim women to be seen in every scene. We wanted to show that Islam doesn’t limit us, it empowers us.

Alex: This is Aisha. She’s a Muslim woman living in London. She’s also a skateboarder – Aisha fell in love with skating when she was little. Her story is one of fighting the assumptions that people make. And being accepted for who she is and what she believes.

Aisha: One thing in Islam that we're taught is we’re all born to be a leader, we’re influencing someone or the other in our lives, whether it's a younger sibling, or a friend or community of people. We have a duty, it's a duty upon us to serve those around us, especially those who are vulnerable, those who need our support.

Alex: Aisha grew up in the Middle East. It was a really comfortable upbringing, everyone followed the same religion as her. But when she moved to London to study, she didn’t feel as safe.

Aisha: The college I studied in was very, it was very white. Not only white but it was also… I was the only person in my entire college wearing a headscarf. So I stood out like a sore thumb.

Alex: Around 10 years ago, a group of white guys at Aisha’s college were making fun of Muslim people and of Islam. They were talking about the headscarf. Aisha’s friend spoke up.

Aisha: She stepped in and said, you know, how dare you? How can you say, you know, such awful things about Islam? You don't know anything about Islam. You know, don't listen to the media, they’re just spreading lies – it's fake news.

Alex: But the guys weren’t put off. They continued badmouthing the religion.

Aisha: I felt very hurt and rejected. I was very, you know, I just, I was shocked, I was absolutely shocked; how can you judge me, based off what the media is saying? You've never spoken to me directly.

Alex: Then Aisha’s friend - the one who spoke up - told the boys that she’s also a Muslim, she just doesn’t wear a headscarf. That finally shut them up.

It was clear that not only had these privileged, educated boys judged Aisha and her religion, they had made assumptions about her friend too.

Aisha: What's the education system teaching these people, for them to have such skewed views, such narrow minded views towards others?

Alex: Aisha says these dangerous misconceptions mean that many Muslim people have to face a difficult choice…

Aisha: So to what extent do we assimilate? To what extent do we water down ourselves and our faith to be accepted, but also hold on to our faith? You know, hold on to our faith hold on to our race, or culture. The thing that makes us who we are.

A lot of us we're not always feeling safe in majority spaces within the UK, as non-white people, to speak out immediately.

Seeing the racism, seeing the Islamophobia – a lot of us have to go the extra mile to be accepted. So be extra friendly, be extra nice, which isn't fair, but it's the reality because otherwise people will think the worst of you, due to the media, due to the government.

Alex: Over the years, as Aisha continued building her life in the UK, she encountered more racism across society, from universities to workplaces. She joined campaigns and began speaking out.

Sadly, that time at college was far from the only racist trauma that Aisha has been through. She says there have been tens, maybe even hundreds, of incidents.

During a time of heightened Islamophobia in the UK, Aisha was working for UNICEF, going door to door.

Aisha: This white woman opened her door and it was quite a posh house. It was a quite a posh apartment. She opened the door saw me, and screamed at me, saying get out, get out, and started you know, effing and blinding saying, you get out before I call the police and I just… it was a horrific scene for me.

I was just shocked. I… I could, I was just standing in disbelief. I was just like, this can't be happening. Like, how on earth is this happening?

Alex: Aisha was there to talk about the refugee crisis - and this woman repeatedly threatened to call the police - in broad daylight.

Aisha: And I'm thinking for what? Like, what did I do, I just simply knocked. If I was a white woman without a headscarf standing in front of her, things would be absolutely different. It would be absolutely different. And that's the sad reality.

Alex: The woman continued screaming and swearing on her doorstep at the top of her lungs. Aisha was terrified.

Aisha: I just, I literally, I ran out! I physically ran out, it was terrifying. It was just, it was just unreal. I was just like, I felt extremely unsafe. I just, I didn't know what the woman could do next. She was screaming the place down, I was actually surprised no other neighbours came out hearing her voice.

Alex: The abuser also made Aisha feel like a criminal, even though obviously she’d done nothing wrong.

Aisha: And it was very heavy on me psychologically. It affected my work. I needed to take time off work. I just felt so criminalised and demonised.

And I’m quite a strong person and quite resilient person I like to think. And that incident broke me down. I was just like, I never felt so unwanted and unsafe in a country before and I've travelled to quite a few countries in my life. Yeah, it was just, It was horrific. It was like for me, this is what racism in the UK is doing.

Alex: This traumatic incident, along with the countless others – they made Aisha realise that people are so deeply influenced by racist, divisive messages from the media and the government.

Aisha: I find a lot of these white people are just very ignorant, they just don't know, they just don't understand that, you know, they're carrying so much privilege and they're getting away with it. And it's just, it's not right, like how can a society live like this? How can the world live like this? Like, you’re just simply dividing us.

Alex: Now Aisha tackles this division by being part of Skater Uktis. It’s a global movement of female Muslim skateboarders.

Aisha: Our two main goals of the project is to develop our selves spiritually in our religion, Islam as well as develop ourselves as skaters, skateboarders specifically.

We wanted Muslim women to be seen in every scene. We wanted to show that Islam doesn't limit us, it empowers us, empowers us to, you know, be practising, whilst doing the things we love.

Alex: They’re not only challenging negative stereotypes of Islam, they’re also diversifying skateboarding, which can still be overwhelmingly white and male. Aisha’s skate crew have had the chance to meet plenty of skaters who aren’t Muslim.

Aisha: A lot of them they didn't know about Islam until they met us. And the only Islam they came across, you know, are the media's skewed views of Islam and just the messed-up stuff, the fuel out there.

Alex: Skater Uktis is now in 17 countries, including Australia, Palestine and Nigeria.

Aisha: It’s very much needed. It's subtly tackling Islamophobia globally. And it's kind of like a creative way to show like, hey, you know, we're just like anyone else, and we're very practising Muslims. We're not having – we're not gonna water down our religion to be accepted by you, you can accept us for who you are now. There's nothing wrong with us as we are.

Alex: I asked Aisha why she thinks she has this fire to fight racism and change perceptions of Islam.

Aisha: One thing we learn in Islam all the time to, you know, be in constant remembrance that life is short. So always work on being a good person, and helping those around you. So with that kind of reminder, and as someone who believes in God with that kind of reminder from God, like that, that's one of the many reasons I have that fire in me. And also I realised over the years that if you want to see change, you need to be the one creating it, you cannot sit and wait for someone else to do it because it'll never happen.

Alex: I hope Aisha’s story serves as a reminder to challenge our own assumptions, and examine the information we’re being given.