Shoes of Resilience

As a writer, I jumped on the opportunity to connect with freelancers from Gaza via Taqat Careers, and upon asking for illustrators, I was given Afnan’s portfolio of work, which I absolutely adored. I asked Afnan if there was a story she wanted to tell, and she told me about an Arabic proverb she grew up hearing. Some version of the idea, “If you want to know about someone, look at their shoes.” And she shared how she has seen all kinds of shoes on the feet of her fellow Palestinians since the genocide began. So I told her I would write her story, she would illustrate it, and with your du’as, the world would read it. (And she wants to make it into an animation as well!)

The story tells of an ‘iskaf (cobbler/shoemaker) in Gaza who offers shoe repairs fee sabillilah (for the sake of Allah). He meets seven people with unique shoes and unique stories, he helps them, and carries their stories with him in the most artistic and traditional way possible - tatreez. I won’t spoil the story for you, but I will say I’ve already had a complete stranger tear up when looking over the storyboards and a friend call it profound to be an amplifying voice for those who need it.

Also, I should add that initially I had the ending coming from a very Western lens of posting to Instagram to get other people to hear the stories and aid others, but Afnan challenged me on that, insisting that people don’t want to ‘get famous’ there. And that there must be another ending to the story. I was stuck for a while, until when I was in Malaysia at the Museum of Islamic Art, I walked past an exhibit on Palestinian tatreez. And then it landed, the ending to our story. Subhanallah, Allah places things in our path for a reason.

I am so excited to share this illustrated story with you all, it is so incredibly beautiful - mainly because it is Afnan’s.

All profits from this book will be split 50/50 between By the Pen and Afnan.