Writing POC 101

Muslim Characters - @miserablemidas (2)

Hello, everyone! I am Mariam, a Pakistani Muslim girl. I wrote a chapter here about writing Muslim characters quite a while back and I am now aware that it was more of a rant and not very informative at all. So instead, I've written up what I hope will be a comprehensive guide on writing Muslim characters for you guys. If you feel like you still have questions, PM me anytime and I'll be happy to help out.

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WHAT IS ISLAM?

Well, my friend, Islam is one of the world's three Abrahamic religions, meaning that it shares common beliefs with both Christianity and Judaism. As of 2015, there are about 1.8 billions Muslims all over the world, so no matter what your story is about, chances are, your character might be a Muslim person! Wow, what a concept. But what will you do if you aren't sure how to go about writing this character? Read on.

GENERAL ADVICE + THINGS TO AVOID

First things first, remember, your character is the reflection of reality, which means your character is a just person who happens to be Muslim. Avoid "othering" and alienating your character. Your character will, believe it or not, have conflicts and trauma and will think and observe just as any normal person would. What all this means is that writing a Muslim character is nothing to be afraid of and it's not difficult either.

One thing that really disturbs me while reading is a Muslim character who is high and mighty and holier than anyone else, someone who does no wrong. Your character is just a person; people make mistakes, and people aren't perfect. You might be wondering: but if my character isn't perfect, how will they be a Muslim? Well, my troubled comrade, being a Muslim does not mean that you are good at being a Muslim, following religious rules, or that you are even religious at all. Remember, people aren't always close to their religion, people struggle with religion, and lots of people aren't practicing Muslims, so your character might just happen to be one of those people.

Another thing to avoid is negative representation, especially linked to issues like terrorism and extremism. Thought it is sadly true that there are several terrorist organizations out there which link themselves to Islam, the way Muslim people are being treated by society and the media is bad enough already without you throwing the community under the bus. This doesn't your character cannot be a villain or a bad person, just avoid generalizing while writing your character.

The most commonly asked question is get in PMs is: so, can you tell me about Muslim culture?

The problem with this is the fact that a person of any ethnicity, race or nationality can be a Muslim. Anyone can convert to Islam! If you wanted to, you could be a Muslim! This means that a) there is no pan-Muslim culture and b) your character's culture will more likely linked to their nationality and/or ethnicity.

TELL ME ABOUT ISLAM

If you want to get into the nitty and gritty of it, there is always Google, or you can go to a nearby mosque or Islamic center and ask someone to help you out. What I will provide here is just the gist of it.

Basically, the fundamental belief of Islam is that there is one God, who is omnipotent and is the only being worthy of worship. The one and only completely unforgivable sin is associating partners with God, known as shirk, which literally means association. Islam rejects idolatry, having major and minor gods/goddesses and the worship of people, dead or alive.

In Islamic belief, God sent down to the earth Prophets, to guide people of different nations when they went astray. The last of the Prophets was Prophet Muhammad (SAW) who brought down the final message of Islam, which will be applicable till the end of time, otherwise known to Muslims as Qiyamat or The Day of Judgement. Muslims believe in an afterlife, consisting of heaven and hell. There is no concept of eternal damnation is Islam, except for the previously mentioned sin of shirk. Otherwise, you will do your time in hell for your sins and then make your way into heaven once it's up.