10 Rule for Writing Muslim Fiction and Characters Part 3 Welcome back to Fantasy and Faith, where we explore the Magical, the Mythical and the Mystical. I am your host Noor A Jahangir, author of The Changeling King and the Adventures of Some Kid. My new series The Arabian Dreams will be launching this October at FantasyCon 2026. In this episode, I will be exploring some more of my 10 rules for writing Muslim Fiction and Characters. The idea behind these episodes is to equip writers with some background into understanding the Muslim psyche, which should help you understand the themes that are important to Muslim fiction and writing Muslim characters. A central theme in the Islamic religion is Patience and Struggle. Each of us has faced numerous trials and tribulations throughout our lives and have handled them in different ways. Some of us get really depressed, some of us complain to whoever will listen and others grit their teeth and continue moving forward. Rule 6: Patience is a Part of Faith (Muslim, Hadith 9083) O believers! Seek comfort in patience and prayer. Allah is truly with those who are patient. (Q2:153) Indeed, the second part of this verse, “Allah is truly with those who are patient” was a common refrain for the Prophets of God. Yusuf, peace be upon him, invoked something similar when he was abandoned in the well, and then again when he was unjustly thrown into prison. Types of patience: 1. Avoiding the prohibitions and sins, 2. Engaging in acts of worship and obedience 3. In the face of afflictions and hardships The greatest form of patience is to restrain oneself from the things that you desire, that are harmful to you, or are prohibited to you, or are straight up sins. For instance, if you have fallen in love with a woman or a man, as a Muslim you will avoid approaching the object of your desire. If you find yourself in their company, you will resist looking at them or speaking to them. If you are unable to avoid them, then you will resist the temptation to touch them, even if it may seem innocent, because you know it is forbidden to you. In order to understand this further, we have to consider two terms, Halal and Haraam. Even people who are not Muslim in the West will be familiar with these two terms, but may have only understood them in the most superficial of ways. Loosely, they can be translated as permissible and impermissible. Many non-Muslims think of Halal as being related to the slaughter of animals. This is one element. But even in this regard the concept is much more than the point of slaughter. Rule 7: Muslim Live a Halal Life and Avoid Haraam Essentially, all food and drink can be classified as Halal or Haraam. Many far-right extremist want to ban Halal food in the West, which is impossible unless they also ban thinks like soft drinks, vegetables, pulses, lentils, beans, dairy products, etc, etc, you get the idea. There are some things that have been forbidden outright, namely swine and intoxicants, mostly commonly referred to as pigs and alcohol. Intoxicants also extends to other substances that may cause you to lose your inhibitions or ability to think straight. Both of these things are forbidden in the Qur’an numerous times: 2:173: “He has only forbidden you to eat carrion, blood, swine, and what is slaughtered in the name of any other than Allah.” 5:3: “Forbidden to you are carrion, blood, and swine; what is slaughtered in the name of any other than Allah...” 6:145: “Say, ‘I do not find within that which was revealed to me any forbidden food for one who intends to eat it, unless it be dead meat or blood poured forth or the flesh of swine, for that surely is impure...’” 16:115: “He has forbidden you only dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has been dedicated to other than Allah.” 2:219: “They ask you about intoxicants and gambling. Say, ‘In them is great sin and [yet, some] benefit for people. But their sin is greater than their benefit.’” 4:43: “O believers! Do not approach prayer while you are intoxicated until you know what you are saying.” 5:90: “O you who believe! Intoxicants, gambling, idols, and drawing lots for decisions are all evil of Satan’s handiwork. So shun them so you may be successful.” Their prohibition is the main reason why Muslims do not partake in them. There is plenty of scientific evidence to support expediency of avoiding Pig and Alcohol, for instance, Healthline list four key dangers of consuming pork as 1) Hepatitis E, 2) Multiple Sclerosis, 3) Liver Cancer and Cirrhosis, 4) Yersinia. The harms of alcohol are well known and according Harvard Health, even a small amount everyday can be harmful over a long period. It is not permitted for Muslims to eat carnivorous or omnivorous animals or birds. Carnivores carry a higher concentration of toxins and pollution, and parasitic disease, such as roundworm infection. Ethically speaking, killing off apex predators for food has a negative impact on ecosystems and over-hunting has already made many predators endangered. However, as the Qur’anic verses indicate above, a Muslim’s reason not to eat these animals is simply because God has forbidden it. The validation of scientific evidence is nice to have but not necessary for Muslims to act on the commands of God. There is a similar case in Jewish Kosher Law too. Animals that are Halal to eat have to be treated well throughout their lives. They should be healthy, free from disease and well fed and watered. When they are brought to slaughter they must not see other animals being slaughtered. The person carrying out the slaughter must be skilled and knowledgeable about the process. The person must use a knife that has been sharpened for each animal to avoid causing suffering through the use of a blunted knife. The sharpening of the knife should be done out of sight and sound of the animal. The cut should be swift and deep, cutting the windpipe, the jugular veins and the carotid arteries, whilst invoking “Bismillah, Allahu Akbar,” In the name of God, God is Great. The spinal cord should not be severed. The blood should be drained from the meat completely, as blood is considered impure. If an animal is dead before slaughter, the meat is not permissible for Muslim’s to consume. The aim of the Halal slaughter process is to avoid causing the animal pain and suffering. For this reason, non-stunned is the preferred method of slaughter. This, as I said earlier, is just one element of Halal. Halal touches every part of a Muslim’s life. A Muslim should engage in Halal relationships after you have matured. You can sit and talk with your direct relatives without an issue, but need to be careful around cousins and people who are not direct relatives (Mother, Father, Brother, Sister, Maternal and Paternal Grandparents, Uncles and Aunts). These relatives are known as Mehrem. You should avoid to the best of your ability engaging in conversations and or friendships with people of the opposite sex. So a Muslim character should not be in an extra-marital relationship, unless the point of the portrayal is to show the negative impacts on society or to have the character repent from these actions later in the story. Halal also relates to wealth and income generation. All forms of gambling are impermissible, usury (or interest) is impermissible, money gained from selling haram meat or alcohol, or narcotics is impermissible. Anything that causes the body harm, like cigarettes is also impermissible. There is even guidance on what is permissible in business, how to conduct a deal, when a sale is considered complete, etc. So Halal is much broader than meat. There are some good opportunities here to explore the complexity of the challenges for Muslims living in countries where Islam is not the main religion. Young people will have to learn to negotiate what they are allowed to do with their non-Muslim friends, and what they have to extricate themselves from. For instance, if your friends invite you for a night out and you know that they are likely to be drinking, going to nightclubs or chatting up members of the opposite sex, then a Muslim would be faced with three choices: 1) you go out and risk becoming involved in something Haraam, 2) you don’t go out with your friends and you are constantly making up excuses to avoid similar scenarios, 3) you decide that these aren’t really the friends for you, and decide to find friends who aren’t engaged in Haraam behaviour. Each of these options would try an individual’s patience in a different way, with the third option being the most trying, but in the end also the most rewarding. So, avoiding prohibitions and sins is one type of patience. The second type was to engage in acts of worship and obedience. Muslim prayers are not difficult to do. They often take two minutes and can be done pretty much anywhere. The only conditions are that you are in a state of wudhu, which is a form of ritual purification, you are within the time of prayer, your clothes are clean and the place of worship is clean. However, prayer is not completely without challenge. The first prayer of the day takes place before dawn. Its currently June, and in the UK, dawn takes place around 4.40am. Waking up at that time is challenging. Performing the ablution (often with cold water) at that time is challenging. Then trying to go back to sleep after the prayer is even more difficult. Some prayers take place during the school or work day. This is especially the case in Winter, when the afternoon, midafternoon and post sunset prayers take place with a few hours of each other. A Muslim has to explain to their teachers, employers, colleagues and peers that they need to be excused for a few minutes. Making ablution (wudhu) is difficult when you are not at home or in a mosque because the facilities aren’t really designed for wudhu. Another option is to try and maintain wudhu all day, which is difficult an
