Fantasy and Faith: Muslim Fantasy, Myth & Meaning

Noor A Jahangir
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Fantasy and Faith is a podcast for writers, readers, and dreamers who crave more than just magic—they seek meaning. Each episode explores the spiritually uplifting, mentally enlightening, and imagination-expanding power of fantasy fiction. With a special focus on Muslim fantasy, we dive into stories rooted in Islamic tradition, faith-based worldbuilding, and mythical storytelling. We also journey through other cultural and spiritual landscapes—from Sufi symbolism to Christian allegory, folklore to metaphysical fiction. Whether you're crafting your own epic or searching for fantasy that resonates with your soul, Fantasy and Faith invites you to discover how belief and imagination intertwine. noorajahangir.substack.com

  1. 10h ago

    A World of Storms or a Garden of Peace?

    Fourteen-year-old Amina bint Abdur-Rahman, daughter of the Wali guarding the rugged Sierra Morena frontier, has been taught that leadership is an Amānah: a sacred trust before Allah. Yet when betrayal shatters her world and a ruthless outlaw known only as The Wolf rises from the shadows, she is forced to bear responsibility for her valley and its people long before she feels worthy of it. As chaos spreads across Al-Andalus, Amina must confront treacherous mountains, unseen enemies, and the crushing weight of her own self-doubt. When every worldly support is stripped away, she must discover the true meaning of Tawakkul, complete reliance upon Allah, or risk losing everything she holds dear. The Shepherdess of Al-Andalus is a spiritually grounded coming-of-age story of faith, courage, and sacrifice—and the making of a shepherdess who stands firm when the world begins to quake. Available to Pre-Order from Zaman Books: https://zaman.press/product/new-the-shepherdess-of-al-andalus-pre-order/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit noorajahangir.substack.com

    A World of Storms or a Garden of Peace?

  2. Oct 16

    I launched my book at Fantasycon 2026

    In this episode, join me at Fantasycon2026, at Crowne Plaza Hotel, Glasgow, for the launch of Arabian Dreams. In this video you can check out the room that I stayed in, my book stall where I spent three days selling face-to-face to convention goers. On the first day, I led a Q&A on Writing Muslim Characters. I also did a reading on Day 3, which is included in the video. When you finish watching it, you can check out the panel I took part in on Keeping Inspiration as Inspiration on day 2 here: The music at the beginning and end is by Michael Vault: https://pixabay.com/music/scotland-scottish-folk-ballad-with-female-vocals-heather-at-the-gate-576935/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit noorajahangir.substack.com

  3. Oct 2

    A Writer’s Life Beyond the Page, S4, E3

    I am joined by David Green, Secretary of the British Fantasy Society (BFS) and author of the Empire of Dust series, and by Robin CM Duncan, Editorial Officer of the BFS and author of the Quirk and Moth series, to talk about what life is like for a writer beyond the page. We look at the importance of attending conventions, listening to podcasts and engaging in social media. We discuss how to run a panel at a convention and how to do an author reading. All that and more in Season 4, Episode 3. Day tickets to Fantasycon 2026 are available from: https://britishfantasysociety.org/events-2/fantasycon/fantasycon-2026/ The Arabian Dreams hardback is available from the Great British Bookshop: https://www.thegreatbritishbookshop.co.uk/products/arabian-dreams?_pos=1&_sid=4affe434d&_ss=r This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit noorajahangir.substack.com

    A Writer’s Life Beyond the Page, S4, E3

  4. Sep 25

    It wasn’t just a dragon ...

    Andrew Johnston is the author of the Iron Frost Books and his new release, You Killed My Dragon, which he describes as John Wick meets Terminator in a fantasy world. Andrew started writing at the age of twenty-five. Hiscreative interest was in drawing before the wish to become a published author hit in his mid-twenties. It was after reading George RR Martin’s, A Song of Ice and Fire that he was inspired to become an author of fantasy fiction. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit noorajahangir.substack.com

    It wasn’t just a dragon ...

  5. Sep 11

    Mighty Girls and Diverse Worlds

    Nafiza Azad is a self-identified island girl. She has hurricanes in her blood and dreams of a time she can exist solely on mangoes and pineapple. Born in Lautoka, Fiji, she currently lives in Canada, where she reads too many books, watches too many K-dramas, and writes stories about girls taking over the world. Nafiza is the co-editor of the young adult anthology Writing in Color and author of The Candle and the Flame, which was nominated for the William C. Morris Award, The Wild Ones, and Road of the Lost. Intisar Khanani grew up a nomad and world traveller. Born in Wisconsin, she has lived in five different states as well as in Jeddah on the coast of the Red Sea. Intisar writes mighty girls in diverse worlds. Prior to publishing, she ran a student volunteer centre, helped hospitals stay afloat, and developed projects to reduce infant mortality—which was as close as she could get to saving the world. Intisar is the author of The Sunbolt Chronicles and the Dauntless Path novels. Two of her books were Kirkus Reviews picks for Best Teen and YA Fantasy Novels of the Year. She is deeply honoured to serve as the 2026 Writer in Residence for the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit noorajahangir.substack.com

    Mighty Girls and Diverse Worlds

  6. Sep 4 ·  Bonus

    Welcome to Season 4 of Fantasy & Faith

    This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit noorajahangir.substack.com

  7. Aug 14

    My Kickstarter Failed

    I ran my first ever Kickstarter from 9th July to 9th Aug. I wanted to raise £3400 for my new series, Arabian Dreams to print 100 copies of the special edition hardback and to pay my artist and editor. After 30 days, I managed to secure 43% backing, with £1465 pledged from 31 backers. With Kickstarter, if you don’t raise the full amount, you don’t get anything. These are the lessons I learned. Start gathering support as early as possible. My pre-launch page went live three days before the actual launch. Most Kickstarters seem to be in pre-launch for several months before their actual launch. This allows for gathering as much support in advance of the campaign as possible. Therefore, when the campaign does launch, you have a group of people already waiting to back you. Set a lower initial target. I noticed that a number of campaigns had set low initial targets and reached them quite quickly. However, Kickstarter allows you to continue collecting pledges and therefore, you can include stretch goals. So I should have set the initial target for just printing of the special edition and made everything else a stretch goal. This does feel like gaming the system a little bit, but it is also about setting realistic expectations. Paid ads raise awareness but don’t necessarily lead to people becoming backers: I spent around £!00 between YouTube, Google Ads and LinkedIn on promoted posts and adverts. All of them reported a lot of impressions, but the click through rate wasn’t that impressive and none of them led to backing. This could be down to my lack of experience in refining the targeted audience or my Kickstarter page not being convincing enough to convert those who did click through into backers. Most of my backers were people I know or have interacted with on social media: Friends and family tend to be the initial backers for most Kickstarters. The real measure of success is how many of the backers are from your other connections. Kickstarter allows you to generate unique links for each of your social platforms. The majority of my referrals came from WhatsApp, with only a few coming from Substack, BlueSky and YouTube. LinkedIn was my lowest performing platform despite using promoted posts and many of the people on there being people I have actually worked with in the past. Updates can be multimedia: I put out about 9 updates during the month to let backers know what was happening with the writing of the book. It wasn’t until the final week that I worked out that I could put out images and videos too. This is something that I will take into consideration in a future campaign, as a 60 second video is probably easier to digest than a written post. Reward Tiers and Add-Ons: I had various tier levels with the top tier including all the main rewards, including the hardback, both ebooks, being acknowledged as a backer in the special edition and a T-Shirt. This and the special edition hardback were the two tiers that got selected the most. Then following closely behind was the next highest tier, paperbacks of both books. From the add-ons, the most popular was being included on the acknowledgement page and the free ebook copy of The Adventures of Some Kid. Collaborators: Kickstarter allows the campaign manager to add collaborators and include a list of trusted people and companies that you can use to help you design your whole campaign, help manage fulfilment and even promote your campaign for you. So what will I do differently the next time: Start the pre-launch campaign at least two to three months before the actual launch Start recruiting backers as soon as the pre-launch campaign has started Use the services of a campaign promoter/social media marketer because that was the most exhausting thing about the campaign. Set a lower campaign target just to cover the initial printing costs and use stretch goals for everything else. Continue building my audience on social media, but do not neglect WhatsApp as that’s where my main support base is. Use multimedia updates and post updates more regularly. Have a clear core offer for reward tiers that are appealing at every level. I hope you have found this useful, and if so, don’t forget to subscribe and like the post. If you have ran a crowdfunding campaign and have additional tips, please do share them in the comments. Until next time, Keep Dreaming, Keep Writing, and Let Your Stories Shine. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit noorajahangir.substack.com

    My Kickstarter Failed

  8. Jul 17 ·  Bonus

    Why Pledge Now?

    Pledge now to support the campaign This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit noorajahangir.substack.com

    Why Pledge Now?
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About

Fantasy and Faith is a podcast for writers, readers, and dreamers who crave more than just magic—they seek meaning. Each episode explores the spiritually uplifting, mentally enlightening, and imagination-expanding power of fantasy fiction. With a special focus on Muslim fantasy, we dive into stories rooted in Islamic tradition, faith-based worldbuilding, and mythical storytelling. We also journey through other cultural and spiritual landscapes—from Sufi symbolism to Christian allegory, folklore to metaphysical fiction. Whether you're crafting your own epic or searching for fantasy that resonates with your soul, Fantasy and Faith invites you to discover how belief and imagination intertwine. noorajahangir.substack.com

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