Stasis to Mobility: Tracing Empowerment and Identity in Ayesha Malik's Sofia Khan Series

Abstract

The present paper closely reads Ayesha Malik’s Sofia Khan Series novels: Sofia Khan is Not Obliged (2015), The Other Half of Happiness (2017), and Sofia Khan and the Baby Blues (2022) following the observations made by Sayima Aslam in her theoretical work From Stasis to Mobility: Arab Muslim Feminists and Travelling Theory (2017). Aslam emphasizes women’s transformation from stagnation to empowerment and discusses the female subjectivity within patriarchal society. This research paper focuses on the characters of Sofia Khan and her mother Mehnaz, examining their transformational journeys from stasis to mobility. Throughout their intertwined journeys Malik’s trilogy of Sofia Khan novels depicts the intricate realities of contemporary Muslim women that how women regain their identities and their positions differently under societal pressure while living in a male dominated society. This research paper highlights how Malik’s trilogy of novels, contributing to discussions about female empowerment in South Asian postcolonial fiction, suggests that real fulfillment is created by openness to change, persistence, and reinventing one’s self with the limiting social constraints.