LONDON – Offering viewers a unique insight into the life of British Muslim women, a BBC program will broadcast on Tuesday, February 06, 2018 6, telling the stories and experiences of independent Muslim women.

“Some people will say you can’t be a strong woman because Islam is oppressive, others say you can,” TV presenter Mehreen Baig, a former English teacher, tells Newsbeat, The BBC reported.

“In a world where often Muslim women are spoken for and spoken about, it’s good to speak to women first-hand,” she says.

In the new program, “Islam, Women And Me,” the 28-year-old hears from women supporting views that Islam is a feminist religion and others who disagree.

Mehreen recalls growing up in a Muslim family, which was strict though not practicing Islam.

“I wasn’t allowed to do a lot of things my friends were doing, things like going on school trips or sleepovers or wearing my school skirt,” she said.

“I never questioned if it was my religion or culture or just my parents, but as you get older you start to question things.

“It may even be worse for girls growing up now, they hear so many things in the news about being a Muslim woman and being a British woman, almost like the two can’t go hand-in-hand.”

Mehreen, who appeared in the Bafta award-winning “Muslims Like Us,” feels her religion “empowers me as a woman.”

“I found that conversation to be quite challenging – but it raised all the relevant questions, which set me off on my journey to find answers too,” she says.

“The question I get asked a lot is ‘how can you be part of a religion that is so sexist or inherently misogynistic?’

“It’s really upsetting. Islam is a major part of my life and I am no way the Muslim representative of the world, but the way I have been brought up, I feel my faith empowers me as a woman.”

Mehreen hopes the program will reach out to other Muslim women but also educate non-Muslims.

“I could have created a show that was really fluffy and positive and showed loads of girls who wear a hijab and they’re all really empowered. But that wouldn’t have achieved anything,” she concludes.