We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir

What roles do quietness and loudness play throughout Habib’s life? How do these concepts appear metaphorically and literally throughout their life?

What does Habib suggest is the cause of the cycles of intergenerational trauma in their family? How is intergenerational trauma depicted? How do they believe this cycle can be broken?

Compare and contrast Habib’s found family to their biological family. What different roles do they fill for Habib? Do they share any similarities in their functions?

Why does Habib end on their trip to the United States amid a rising wave of anti-Islamic and anti-transgender biases? What traits and themes of the story do Saba and Laila exemplify? Why might Habib end with their stories?

What is the connection between economic freedom and self-expression in Habib’s memoir?

What is the role of fashion in Habib’s life? How does clothing affirm their existence or allow them to connect with their self?

Chapter 11 begins with a hypothetical happy home life for Habib. How does this imagined home conflict with their experience growing up? What factors prevented them from having the life they dream up in Chapter 11? What does it suggest about the relationship between identity and wider socioeconomic structures in a society?

How does Habib’s understanding of gender and gender dynamics change over the course of the memoir?