So After watching the movie, I tried to read the comic even though western comic is not really my style but I want to know more about their background story and managed to finish it all, picking up things they didn't manage to put in the movie, actually trying to find more information about Joe.
And what I found actually not much being covered about who joe as a person and how his connection with his religion, except some scene of him during the crusade and him saying his full name here in Vol 1 : it's clear to show that he is a muslim with this kind of name.
And this scene when he first met Noriko/Quynh again in Vol 2.
It's the short line "merciful Allah" which is Allahrahim (الله رحيم)/God is merciful.
That's not much to conclude about how dept his religious believe in the comic, but seeing him still praising God when he is in shock probably shows something that he is still in tune with his religion, not abandoning it completely like Andy did.
So this is basically my Headcanon, if he's supposed to be written as a religious individual (a good practicing muslim) who still hold dear to his heart about his belief this is what Hollywood shouldn't write about his character in my honest opinion, so take it with a grain of salt.
(Though I am skeptical they could do that justice considering there is a scene in the comic that really bothering me that I am really glad they didn't include it in the movie, where they disguised themselves to rescue Joe and Nicky wearing hijabs so they could sneak inside the building carrying weapons, and I lost hope that this writer actually want to write about islam in some good light. There is my hope I throw outside the window. )
But honestly all the things that is quite bothering me about how they portrayed the characters in the comic, about Andy for example who likes to sleep around and is a violent kind of woman, Theron makes Andy character softer and we can sympathize with her even more, should I thank Gina Prince-Bythewood for this already? For the change in tone of the overall story?
I love the movie and everything they change from the comic and make it ten times better!
So I want to highlight something that they shouldn't do with Joe character if they want to keep Joe as a character who still believe in his original religion.
There is a line that Joe said when he speak with his friend in Italian when they made a bet during the Baklava scene, he said something that could be translated to" holy Mary, mother of God".
So after reading the comic the "Mother of God" line is actually Nile's line.
And I recognize that many line in the comic change about who said that line in the movie.
So, what I want to say is, they can change other line for Joe to say, but this one, they should keep it to Nile, why?
So, if the the old guard writer was trying to write Yusuf as a devout character with deep faith and full of knowledge about his religion because he came from the old age.
After making sure about this trait of who he is as a character, you can't make him say something that is different from his belief, in islam we believe that Mary/Maryam is a holy woman, she was the mother of prophet Isa/Jesus alaihisalam (peace be upon him/pbuh).
*I am getting into a religious take for this one, bear with me*
The creation of Isa/Jesus for God is not really different from the creation of Adam in Islam, he created Adam from nothingness into existence, and that's how we believe Isa can be born without a father because when God wants to create something, He simply say "Be" and whatever it is, they will be.
With Joe saying that line, he acknowledged that Mary is mother of god/jesus, while on his "supposed" to be religion, jesus pbuh is a man, a messenger of God, a prophet, and not God.
In islam, it's the biggest sin to associate God with this tribute, to say He has son or to say He needs a mother, the purpose of faith in islam is the declaration of Oneness of God. "Ahad" one. And nothing should be associated with Him. (Not a man, not a woman, nothing in His creations resemble Him)
So,If they want to write Yusuf ibn Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn al Kaysani, a character who has deep faith about his religion, he will definitely won't say such line. There's thing we can tolerate, that's what we call tolerance in different religious belief, but for Aqidah (the core faith) of this belief is not something for bargain, can't be change or adapt to the way of what man's wants.
Just my two cents (a couple of cents, I know I am picky but american hardly get the right representation about islam 😫😫 why am I even hoping for them to do right anyway, this is fiction I know I should just enjoy it but it just pains me to keep seeing this "small" mistakes. I don't know if they will even learn in the future 😫 also I see some post in the old guard tags that the fics in this fandom also plague with Islamophobia, this is one of the reason why I didn't want to get excited when I see any Muslim character in western movies, they always let me down)
Also probably because they want to highlight that Both Joe and Nicky have learned about each other religion, because there is a scene where Nicky said "peace be upon you" when he met a passerby woman in south Sudan, it's actually the common greeting in Islam "عَلَيْكُمْٱلسَّلَامُ" that is really encouraged to say to another muslim you meet, you are promise reward in the hereafter just by saying this to one one another in islam, because what is more beautiful than praying for good thing to your brother and sister in your faith?
But still if they want to write Yusuf as a knowledgeable man about his own religion and still keep his faith true to his heart, this is not the way to portray it.
(Also that scene that many people like when the want to aboard the plane and Joe said something about "champagne?" Good muslims don't drink.)
Understanding/learning/tolerance about another religion is one way, but believing/saying something contradict with his beliefs while saying that this character still hold true to his own religious belief is a paradox in itself don't you think?
(Okay, this post intention is just to offer some knowledge and not to steer any debate, apologize in advance if I made anyone reading this feeling offended or uncomfortable, peace be upon you 😁😁)
(Also many people headcanon who will wake up first in the morning, it is joe because he has to pray dawn prayer (if he pray though) 🤣)
I don't know what kind of character they want to portray Yusuf, what kind of muslim he is (oh, there's millions kind of muslims, our connection with God is different for each individual) Especially Jow who has been living for almost a thousand years.
So everything I said about him is just a speculation, this is just my take as a Muslim viewers 😁😁🤙🤙
(Also please inform me who made that gif of Yusuf I would like to credit them) ❤