#muslim characters

[arabian-batboy]

Anime boys named Muhammad

[duckprintspress]

Books with Queer Muslim Characters to Read During Ramadan!

Ramadan 2026 is from February 18th to March 19th, so we’re jumping in at roughly the halfway point with some book recs for stories featuring Muslim characters! The contributors to the list are: Shea Sullivan, Nina Waters, Tris Lawrence, jumblejen, polls, Linnea Peterson.

-

Shubeik Lubeik by Deena Mohamed

Shubeik Lubeik—a fairytale rhyme that means “your wish is my command” in Arabic—is the story of three people who are navigating a world where wishes are literally for sale. Mired in bureaucracy and the familiar prejudices of our world, the wishes are more likely to work as intended the more expensive they are.

Three wishes that are sold at an unassuming kiosk in Cairo link Aziza, Nour, and Shokry, changing their perspectives as well as their lives. Aziza learned early that life can be hard, but when she loses her husband and manages to procure a wish, she finds herself fighting bureaucracy and inequality for the right to have—and make—that wish. Nour is a privileged college student who secretly struggles with depression and must decide whether or not to use their wish to try to “fix” their depression and, then, how to do it. And, finally, Shokry must grapple with his religious convictions as he decides how to help a friend who doesn’t want to use their wish.

Although their stories are fantastical—featuring talking donkeys, dragons, and cars that can magically avoid traffic—each of these people grapples with the very real challenge of trying to make their most deeply held desires come true.

-

The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar

Nishat doesn’t want to lose her family, but she also doesn’t want to hide who she is, and it only gets harder once a childhood friend walks back into her life. Flávia is beautiful and charismatic, and Nishat falls for her instantly. But when a school competition invites students to create their own businesses, both Flávia and Nishat decide to showcase their talent as henna artists. In a fight to prove who is the best, their lives become more tangled—but Nishat can’t quite get rid of her crush, especially since Flávia seems to like her back.

As the competition heats up, Nishat has a decision to make: stay in the closet for her family, or put aside her differences with Flávia and give their relationship a chance.

-

DeadEndia by Hamish Steele

Barney and his best friend Norma are just trying to get by and keep their jobs, but working at the Dead End theme park also means battling demonic forces, time traveling wizards, and scariest of all–their love lives.

-

Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating by Adiba Jaigirdar

When Humaira “Hani” Khan comes out to her friends as bisexual, they immediately doubt her. Apparently, she can’t be bi if she’s only dated guys. Cornered into proving her sexuality, she tells them she’s dating someone—Ishita “Ishu” Dey, the straight A student who seems more concerned with studying than relationships.

When Hani approaches her about fake dating, she agrees on one condition–that Hani help her become more popular so she can win the school’s head girl election. It’s the perfect plan to help them achieve their goals, until Hani’s friends become jealous that she’s spending more time with Ishu. They’ll do everything they can to drive a wedge between them and ruin Ishu’s chances of becoming head girl.

Now, Hani has a decision to make: does she break off her relationship with Ishu for the sake of her friends? Or does she tell Ishu how she really feels and turn their “fake” relationship into something real?

-

The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty

A pirate of infamy and one of the most storied and scandalous captains to sail the seven seas.

Amina al-Sirafi has survived backstabbing rogues, vengeful merchant princes, several husbands, and one actual demon to retire peacefully with her family to a life of piety, motherhood, and absolutely nothing that hints of the supernatural.

But when she’s offered a job no bandit could refuse, she jumps at the chance for one final adventure with her old crew that will make her a legend and offers a fortune that will secure her and her family’s future forever.

Yet the deeper Amina dives the higher the stakes. For there’s always risk in wanting to become a legend, to seize one last chance at glory, to savour just a bit more power…and the price might be your very soul.

-

Blood Orange by Yaffa AS

“Blood Orange” is a highly emotional, important and timely poetry collection by Mx. Yaffa (They/She), a trans Muslim displaced Indigenous Palestinian. Their writings probe the yearning for home, belonging, mental health, queerness, transness, and other dimensions of marginalization while nurturing dreams of utopia against the background of ongoing displacement and genocide of indigenous Palestinians.

The collection came quickly and relentlessly, drawn from the depths of the author’s soul during a movement for a free Palestine and aligned with a solar eclipse. It beckons readers to re-evaluate what is perceived as immutable and to imagine pathways toward Utopia.

“Blood Orange”- the title an homage to the Yaffa Oranges (which were appropriated first by the British and subsequently by Israel) refers to the author themselves, their homeland and blood spilled in the name of settler colonialism.

This highly charged and cathartic body of work confronts the anguish and loss inflicted by genocide but also embraces a vision of a world free of it. The poems within “Blood Orange” were a means of working through and processing the grief caused by recent events and serve as an act of protest and defiance against settler colonialism as a whole.

-

Tell Me How You Really Feel by Aminah Mae Safi

The first time Sana Khan asked out a girl-Rachel Recht–it went so badly that she never did it again. Rachel is a film buff and aspiring director, and she’s seen Carrie enough times to learn you can never trust cheerleaders (and beautiful people). Rachel was furious that Sana tried to prank her by asking her on a date.

But when it comes time for Rachel to cast her senior project, she realizes that there’s no more perfect lead than Sana–the girl she’s sneered at in the halls for the past three years. And poor Sana–she says yes. She never did really get over that first crush, even if Rachel can barely stand to be in the same room as her.

Told in alternative viewpoints and set against the backdrop of Los Angeles in the springtime, when the rainy season rolls in and the Santa Ana’s can still blow–these two girls are about to learn that in the city of dreams, anything is possible–even love.

-

A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark

Cairo, 1912: Though Fatma el-Sha’arawi is the youngest woman working for the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities, she’s certainly not a rookie, especially after preventing the destruction of the universe last summer.

So when someone murders a secret brotherhood dedicated to one of the most famous men in history, al-Jahiz, Agent Fatma is called onto the case. Al-Jahiz transformed the world forty years ago when he opened up the veil between the magical and mundane realms, before vanishing into the unknown. This murderer claims to be al-Jahiz, returned to condemn the modern age for its social oppressions. His dangerous magical abilities instigate unrest in the streets of Cairo that threaten to spill over onto the global stage.

Alongside her Ministry colleagues and a familiar person from her past, Agent Fatma must unravel the mystery behind this imposter to restore peace to the city—or face the possibility he could be exactly who he seems…

-

Find these and other books on our Goodreads book shelf or on our pagebound.co list!

Buying one of these books? Browse the full list on our Duck Prints Press Bookshop.org affiliate page.

Join our Book Lover’s Discord server to chat books, fandom, and more!

[vernaerys]

My roman empire is them.

[finsandflintlocks]

⛈️"I hope I can be your son again"

🌜"I hope I can be your mother again"

[⚓Directory]

[loservillepopulationone]

Gorl achieved! I love her <3

[muslimsinmedia]

Zahra Rashid

Zahra Rashid from Glitch Techs

[lemedstudent2021]

doing some research for the fic i sent some asks about and one of the character's mothers is Muslim (and she is sort of raised Muslim too) and i want the characters to all say something at the 'funeral' of the two characters who die. according to google, a passing prayer for Islam is "Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un", how accurate is this? and how does one pronounce it? sorry if this is rude to ask, i'm just very interested and want to make my fanfic amazing and accurate! also are there any other funeral traditions in Islam? (keep in mind the character herself is fifteen and might not know much about funeral traditions). also stuff like cleaning the body with water is probably not possible (they could maybe dig holes with scraps of debris??)

also the characters being buried aren't religious, the character just wants to do something nice and mourn in the only way she knows

it isnt rude at all!! i appreciate u asking and learning honestly its so cool and heartwarming to see <3

it is indeed a prayer of sorts (derived from a verse of the quran) typically said when learning of the news of someones passing, as well as to the family and friends of the deceased.

its arabic for "to God we all belong and to Him we all return" and it essentially serves as a reminder that our time here is very brief and that we too will pass in due time and return to our Creator.

breaking it down to read it easier (this video is prob more useful lol): inna lil-lahi, wa inna ilay-hi, ra-ji-oon

--

now for traditions (for ur general knowledge) the muslim individual is buried the day of passing after being washed and shrouded on their right side and facing makkah (the direction we pray to). cremation is strictly prohibited btw and coffins arent used. simplicity & humbleness is the way to go in terms of tombstones or grave markers, usually naming the deceased and the date of their passing along with the prayer above.

theres a special kind of prayer reserved for funerals (called janazah prayers) and its one of the rights of the deceased so to speak, to be prayed for them and their forgiveness.

for the period of mourning (3 days) people will spend their time reading/ reciting quran and praying and overall increasing the worship and the ajer/ good deeds are gifted to the deceased;

theres a hadith/ saying of the prophet peace be upon him that after ones death, all but three deeds cease with them: ongoing charity, beneficial knowledge, and righteous child that prays for them.

and i can talk about the beauty of this alone forever skdjfhjd but suffice to say that as long as you have someone praying for you regardless if you knew them in life or not it all comes through. and i could cry just thinking about it.

almost everything (except for the 5 daily prayers) can be gifted (the reward of the worship i mean) to anyone, living or otherwise, so its common practice to both occupy oneself and seek peace of mind through good deeds like charity and supplications during this time as well as almost sending off the loved one with love and good deeds <3

--

which brings me back to ur character, she can to the best of her knowledge and ability make dua for them or dedicate a part of her dhikr for them, or whatever she feels is right honestly, its the intention that matters at the end of the day and her heart is in the right place <3

[readingtoinfinity]

Ms. Marvel (2014)

I never read Ramona as a kid (I read Ribsy in the same universe) but I remember distinctly listening to one chapter where Romana is drawing an owl, and then to her horror discovers that the girl sitting next to her was copying her own owl, and because of the order of things the copycat would go first and so Ramona would look like the copycat and everything was just awful and-

It takes a special kind of skill to understand the heart of a child. "How do you do, fellow kids" is a meme because as adults we put those things behind us to become other people. "When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways." (1 Corinthians 13:11) We lose sight of the things that mattered to us before we learned to prioritize; we forget the time when everything matters, and everything is important.

Kamala is one of the best-written teenagers I've seen in fiction. Even though she gets superpowers and she has that kind of drama happen to her, the story is grounded in the community that surrounds her and the things she wants and thinks she wants. Boyfriend troubles and someone called the Inventor are equally-big problems to deal with. Her family is grounding her, which means she can't hang out with Lockjaw, the teleporting dog from the Inhumans. It's all emotion, all the time.

I had heard about this comic before, but I'd never had the opportunity to sit down and read it. In 2014-2015, when I got into comics, I was still pretty conservative and Islamophobic, not ready to accept Kamala as a character. But recently, a friend of mine recommended it to me. He grew up Jewish but connected strongly with Kamala's hybrid Pakistani-American culture and strict, religious family. I can't deny I can see a lot of the same things from my own background, though obviously growing up Evangelical in America is like getting a tan in Texas: it's not all that special. But all of that wouldn't be nearly so good if every single character in this book weren't wholly unique and rounded.

It is just... it's so fucking good. It's one of if not the best street-level superhero comic out there, grounded firmly in a culture and vibe specific to Jersey. It's about community, friendship, love and sacrifice and I was hooked from the beginning. Even the stuff that's weird or off-kilter I can't really fault because it leads into something better.

I was so hooked, I forgot this was in 2015, when Secret Wars happened. I remember reading Silk and having it end abruptly due to the incursions. I didn't expect a repeat to happen here.

The last four issues are some of the most emotional story beats I've ever read. Kamala is told outright by (light spoilers!) Captain Marvel that the world is going to end, and there's not a lot they can do about it. She then has to figure out what to do with the time remaining.

It's... it was hard to watch. I get misty-eyed thinking about it, and it chokes me up, to see people struggle to get by in the face of eternity. I don't know what I would do; I would hope I would be brave, strong, maybe even steady for someone to lean on. But the community rallies around Kamala and her family, and in the end they spend the last days of the old universe together in a dance party. I knew it wasn't going to be the end, but as an ending it was powerful.

So yeah. It's better than you've heard. It's perfectly understandable why Ms. Marvel has remained in the zeitgeist all this time, and even in future adventures where she's a shadow of the complicated, realized person she is here, she's still a cut above most other characters. I am definitely going to follow wherever she goes; it's the kind of book that makes me doubt I could ever make anything as good, but if there's one thing it taught me, it's that we should always try.