I Find Myself Avoiding Books with Muslims ~ by Maryam

 

     Reading is so great because it works as an escape, but on some occasions you find a relatable character that really speaks to who you are. Of the many books I have read, I have never found a relatable Muslim character. This is not a problem in and of itself, but the problem is that the Muslim characters I read about are horribly represented. The girls usually don’t wear hijab and date, while the male characters only have Muslim names. I am hurt and ashamed by this reality and the other Muslims I have talked to feel the same way.

    The worst representation of Muslims that I have come across was in a series called Magnus Chase by Rick Riordan. The characters name was Samirah al-Abbas. When I first read about her I immediately thought: How could Riordan put a Muslim character in a mythological world and have her father be a “god" (Loki)? Too many things were wrong with this. Not only was she in a world where there were multiple “gods,” but she only wore her headscarf around Muslims, was engaged through an arranged marriage to her cousin, and had to sneak out of her house because her grandparents did not let her leave. Stereotype upon stereotype! The fundamental belief for Muslims is that there is only one God, so if there was a world with multiple "gods" Islam would not even exist. The fact that she only wore her headscarf in front of other Muslims was also a big problem because it showed that she was not even connected to the religion. Muslims don't wear the headscarf for other people or as a false message that they are practicing when around fellow Muslims. Riordan showed a side of the stereotypical cultural Islam when he made Samirah betrothed to her cousin. Although she was not upset that she had to marry him, this just feeds into the narrative that Islam is rooted in some cultures like Pakistani culture. Furthermore, having her sneak out of the house and continuously lie to her grandparents in order to be "free" makes her grandparents look strict and oppressive (another big stereotype). Not only is Samirah in a world where Islam cannot exist, Islam is shown as a setback in her life because she continuously does not practice it in order to fulfill her dreams.

    After reading the book I did a little research about Riordan and found out that he had actually done extensive research on Muslims and still managed to construct a character with layers upon layers of stereotypes. He even read translations of the Quran three times as a part of his research. How do you do that much research and still fail miserably at writing an accurate Muslim character?? The part that was most appalling to me was the fact that he got so much positive feedback from Muslims about his book. They seemed so excited to be included but I don’t think we should have to accept this disrespect to our religion just to be in a mainstream book. I have read some posts that he wrote after writing Magnus Chase and I am disgusted by his attitude and unwillingness to change. He did explain that he had based Samirah off of his Iraqi-American students but that type of Islam is not a general way that every Muslim girl is practicing.

    Islam is also from the perspective of a cultural practice. Some stereotypes are taken from Muslim countries like Pakistan where the people have cultural practices that don't reflect sound Islamic law. Arranged marriages are a cultural practice that is not actually a general Islamic ruling. It is also quite common for these cultural Muslims to feel resentful towards their religion. If Muslims are in books then they should actually be connected to Islam and love it even if they are struggling with some aspects of it. The most common stereotype is that parents of Muslim characters are very strict and the children have to hide a lot of what they do from their parents, especially their fathers. Islam should not be shown as a hindrance to people but as a beautiful way of life that sets characters apart from their peers because they actually have moral values. These cultural stereotypes make Muslims who read these books feel even more alienated from those characters. I don't read about black, asian, or white american Muslims who I could relate to more.

       In my final words of this post I would like to include a message to all authors. If you are interested in writing a book that includes Muslim characters please don’t unless you are actually a practicing Muslim. I only say this because I have started to avoid books with Muslims in them because the content is so disappointing. Sometimes no representation is better than misrepresentation especially in regard to a topic such as Islam that is already misunderstood by so many.

~Maryam