Master List of Fictional Muslim Characters

[dhobikikutti]

Master List of Fictional Muslim Characters
[Source Material - Character(s)]

Films
Films: English
The 13th Warrior - Ahmad ibn Fadlan
Disney's Aladdin - Aladdin, Jasmine, The Sultan, Jafar, various people of Agrabah
Arabian Nights (2000) - various characters
Body of Lies - Hani Salaam, Aisha
Flightplan - Obaid, Ahmed
The Ghost and the Darkness - Abdullah
Hidalgo - Jazirah, The Sheik, various other characters
Hurt Locker - "Beckham", Prof Nabil
Iron Man - Dr. Yinsen
Kingdom of Heaven - Saladin (fictionalised), Firouz, Nasir, Mullah
Land of Plenty - Hassan, Youssef
The Losers - Aisha al-Fadhil
The Mummy - Gad Hassan, the Medjai
My Beautiful Laundrette - Hussein family
Pitch Black - Abu "Imam" al-Walid, Suleiman, Hassan, Ali
Chronicles of Riddick - Abu "Imam" al-Walid
Raiders of the Lost Ark - Sallah
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves - Azeem
The Seige - Samir Nazhde, Sheik Achmed Bin Talal, Khalil Saleh
Slumdog Millionaire - Jamal Malik, Salim Malik, Jamal and Salim's mother
Syriana - Prince Nasir Al-Subaai
Three Kings - Amir Abdullah, Capt. Said
Touch of Pink - Alim, Nuru, Hassan, Khaled, Karim

Films: Hindi
Amar Akbar Anthony - Akbar
Bombay - Shaila Bano, her parents, various other characters
Chak De! India - Kabir Khan, Gul Iqbal
Delhi-6 - Roshan, Roshan's mom, Ali Baig
Fanaa - Zooni Ali Beg, Rehan Qadri, Nafisa Ali Beg, Zulfikar Ali Baig, Rehan Jr.
Iqbal - Iqbal, Khadija, Anwar, Saida, Farida
Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham - Sayeeda, Rukhsaar, Ashfaque
Kabul Express - Suhel Khan, Khyber, Imran Khan Afridi, Zoya
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai - Rifatbi
Lagaan - Ismayeel, Ismayeel's dad
Mission Kashmir - Inayat Khan, Altaaf, Hilal Kohistani, Sufiya Parvez
Mr. and Mrs. Iyer - Jehangir 'Raja' Choudhary, Iqbal Ahmed Khan, Najma Ahmed Khan
Mukadar Ka Sikander - Zhora Bai
My Name Is Khan - Rizwan Khan, Razia Khan, Zakir Khan, Haseena Khan
New York - Omar, Agent Roshan, Samir, Zilgai
Pakeezah - Nargis, Sahibjaan, Shahabuddin, Salim Ahmed Khan, Nawabjaan, Hakim Saab, Nawab Zafar Ali Khan, Madame Gauhar Jaan
Rang De Basanti - Aslam, Ashfaqulla Khan, Amanullah Khan
Refugee - Nazneen Ahmed, Mohammad Ashraf, Salma Ahmed, Shadab J. Mohammad, Manzur Ahmed
Sholay - Rahim Chacha
Umrao Jaan (1981 and 2006) - Amiran/Umrao Jaan, Dilawar Khan, Khanum Jaan, Nawab Sultan, Faiz Ali
Veer-Zaara - Zaara Haayat Khan, Saamiya Siddiqui, Raza, Shabbo, Mariam Hayaat Khan, Jahangir Hayaat Khan
Zakhm - Mrs. Desai
Zanjeer - Badshah Khan
Zubeidaa - Zubeidaa, Riyaz, Suleman Seth, Mehboob Alam

Films: Urdu
Khuda Kay Liye - Mansoor, Sarmad, Maryam/Mary, Maulana Wali, Maulana Tahiri, Sher Shah
Khamosh Pani - various characters

Films: Israeli
Ajami - Nasri, Omar, Malek, Binj, various others
Avanti Popolo - Haled and Rasan
The Band's Visit (2007)- Lieutenant-colonel Tawfiq Zacharya, Haled, other band members.
Beyond the Walls - Issam
The Bubble - Ashraf and his relatives
The Lemon Tree - Salma, Ziad Daud
Walk on Water - Rafik


TV shows: English
24 - Habib Marwan, Abu Fayed, Walid Al-Rezani, Reza Naiyeer, Nadia Yassir, Navi Araz, Dina Araz, Behrooz Araz, Hamri al-Assad, Yusuf Auda
The Adventures of Sinbad - Sinbad, Doubar, Firouz, other characters
Aliens in America - Raja Musharaff
Bones - Arastoo Vaziri
Community - Abed Nadir
East Enders - Saeed Jeffery, Naima Jeffery, Ashraf Karim, Ali Osman, Mehmet Osman, Masood Ahmed, Zainab Masood, Shabnam Masood, Tamwar Masood
East West 101 - Zane Malik, Amina, Mariam, Rahman, Amir and Yasmeen
Little Mosque on the Prairie - Amaar Rashid, Yasir Hamoudi, Sarah Hamoudi, Rayyan Hamoudi, Baber Siddiqui, Fatima Dinssa, other characters
Life - Mrs Reese (Dani Reese's mother)
Lost - Sayid Jarrah, various characters from his backstory
Oz - Kareem Said, Zahir Arif, Jefferson Keane, Huseni Mershah, Nasim Bismilla, Sanjay Afsana, Hamid Khan, Leroy Tidd/Salah Udeen, Ahmad Lalar, Jamel Yusef, Kevin Ketchum/Supreme Allah
Persons Unknown - Sgt. Graham McNair
Robin Hood (BBC version) - Djaq, Prince Malik
Robin of Sherwood - Nasir
Shameless - Kash, Yvonne and their children
Skins - Anwar
Sleeper Cell - Darwyn Al-Sayeed, Faris al-Farik, Ilija Korjenic, Christian, Tommy
Spooks/MI-5 - Zafar Younis, Zaf, Ibn Khaldun, Fiona Carter
The Wire - Brother Mouzone (implied)

TV Shows: Israeli
Avoda Aravit (Arab Labor) - Amjad, Bushra, Maya
HaAlufa - Jalal Kassum
Parashat HaShavua - Manar, Amir El Nashaf, others

TV Shows: German
Türkisch für Anfänger - Yağmur Öztürk
Edel und Stark - Otto Özdemir

TV Shows: Danish
The Eagle - Nazim Talawi


Books, Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Graphic Novel
American Gods by Neil Gaiman - Salim, Djinn
Archangel Protocol series by Lyda Morehouse - Mouse (Christian El-Aref), Page, Jibril
Budayeen Nights by George Alec Effinger - Mared Audran and other characters
Coyote Kings of the Space Age Bachelor Pad by Minister Faust - Hamza
Edenborn by Nick Sagan - Haji
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card - Alai
Evolution by Stephen Baxter - Ahmed
Fool's Game by Sarah Zettel
Harry Potter series by JK Rowling - Hassan Mostafa, Ali Bashir
Mary Russell series by Laurie R King
Pashazade, Effendi and Felaheen - by John Courtney Grimwood
The Phoenix Code by Catherine Asaro - Muslim software programmer
Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner - a main character
Strangers in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein - Dr. Mahmoud
The Mote in God's Eye, The Gripping Hand by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle - Horace Bury
The Unreasoning Mask by Philip Jose Farmer - Ramstan
A Wind In Cairo by Judith Tarr
The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley


Books, Realistic/Historical Fiction
Alamut by Vladimir Bartol - Hassan ibn Sabbah, other characters
The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani - various characters
Brick Lane by Monica Ali - various characters
Haj by Leon Uris - various characters
The Crusades trilogy by Jan Guillou - various characters
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova - Turgut Bora
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini - Amir, Hassan, Baba, Ali, Rahim Khan, Assef, Soraya, Sohrab
Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie - various characters
The Phantom of the Opera (Le Fantôme de l’Opéra) by Gaston Leroux - the Persian Daroga
The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie - various characters
Snare by Katherine Kerr - Idres Warkannan, Lubahva Shiraz, Nehzaym Wahud, Indan Alwazir, Arkazo, Zayn Hassan, Bashir Hassan
A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth - Nawab Sahib of Baitar, Zainab Khan, Imtiaz Khan, Firoz Khan, Kabir Durrani, Hashim Durrani, Dr Durrani, Abdus Salam, Saeeda Bai, Tasneem, Rasheed, Ishaq, Begum Abida Khan
One Thousand and One Nights - (Note: The stories have been collated from Indian, Persian, Jewish and Arab sources, and thus many not necessarily involve Muslim characters, although many do deal explicitly with Islamic theology.)
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini - Mariam, Laila, Rasheed, Tariq, Jalil, Aziza, Zalmai
Where She was Standing by Maggie Helwig - Hasan Saleh Tanuli
White Teeth by Zadie Smith - the Iqbal family
The Amelia Peabody Series by Elizabeth Peters - various characters
The Islam Quintet by Tariq Ali - various characters
 Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh - Azad Naskar, other characters

Books, Children's/YA
The Black Stallion series by Walter Farely
Castle in the Air by Diana Wynne Jones - Abdullah, Flower-in-the-Night, the Sultan, Jamal, Dalzel, and Hasruel
Does my head look big in this by Randa Abdel-Fattah - Amal Mohamed Nasrullah Abdel-Hakim
Habibi by Naomi Shahib Nye - Liyana
Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie - Haroun, Rasheed, Soraiyya
Inkworld trilogy by Cornelia Funke - Farid
King of the Wind by Margarite Henry
Samir and Yonatan by Daniella Carmi - Samir
Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind By Suzanne Fisher Staples - Shabanu
The Shadow Speaker by Nnedi Okorafor - Ejimafor "Ejii" Ugabe
Un Lun Dun by China Mieville - Deeba Resham, Hass Resham, other family members
The Forbidden Game trilogy by L.J. Smith -- Aba (no other name given)
Angeline by Karleen Bradford - various characters
King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry - various characters
The Carpet and the Phoenix by E. Nesbit



Anime/Manga
Full Metal Panic! - Sousuke Sagara, General Majhid, Belfangan Clouseau


Comics and Graphic Novels
Marvel - Justice/Josiah X/Josiah al hajj Sassiq, Arabian Knight/Abdul Quamar, Arabian Knight II, Arabian Knight III, Faiza Hussain/Excalibur, Dust/Sooraya Qadir, Sedara Bakut, Batal, Black Tiger/Abraham Brown, Aminedi, Veil, Black Raazer, Sirocco, Wild Rose/Rose Kugel, Farisa, Slaymaster
Brain Tablet - Muhammad Nur
DC/Vertigo - Aisha al-Fadhil, Ali
DC - Janissary/ Selma Tolon, Naif al-Sheikh, Rampart/Jaffar Ibn Haroun Al Raschid, Sinbad/Davood Nassur, Archer of Arabia, Cascade/Sujatmi Sunowaparti, Sandstorm, Mohammed Ibn Bornu, Scirocco, Super-Shayk, Muhammad X
Sandman: World's End by Neil Gaiman
Dykes To Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel - Samia
Wildstorm - Hamza, Damascus, The Doctor/Habib Ben Hassan
Filmation/CBS - Sinbad
Gauntlet - Shamal
Teshkeel Media (The 99) - Noora the Light, Jabbar the Powerful, Rughal, Dr. Ramzi Razem, Mumita the Destroyer, Bari the Healer, Darr the Afflicter, Jami the Assembler, Raqib the Watcher, Soora the Organizer, Hidayeh the Guide, Sami the Hearer,
IPC Media / 2000 A.D. - Snow
Elliot Publishing - Kismet
Quality - Alababa
Irrational Games; Electronic Arts - Green Genie
Comedy Central - Muhammad, Spanky Ham
Mampato/Fernando Mujica Fernandez - Bromisnar
Rima Khoreibi - Iman
Broadway - Mosque
Milestone - Wise Son/Hannibal White
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi - various characters (If it's RPF, please avoid)

Comments

[jadelennox]

Children's and YA lit also has:
The Shadow Speaker by Nnedi Okorafor-- Ejimafor "Ejii" Ugabe
Habibi by Naomi Shahib Nye -- Liyana
Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind By Suzanne Fisher Staples -- Shabanu
Samir and Yonatan by Daniella Carmi -- Samir

Mitali Perkins's Sameera Righton may or may not qualify for this list -- born Muslim, I'm pretty sure she's being raised Christian, but there are Muslim/Hindu conflicts in her romantic life, so it's not entirely irrelevant to her.

These are not all unproblematic, but that's what fic is for, right?

There's a good slate of picturebooks but I think those are less what you are looking for. And a fair amount more books, but many of them I don't know.

[dhobikikutti]

Ah, fabulous! I added the characters you gave, and I'll take Sameera Righton under consideration. I'll add the link to a master list of links as soon as I post that, and hopefully I can start going through it to find more names and source materials to add to the list.

Thanks!

[lobelia321]

What strikes me is how many male muslim characters there seem to be, and how few female.

:-(

[dhobikikutti]

And how many of those are terrorists, or fighters of some kind. I hear you.

[scaramouche]

How about the various film/tv adaptations of One Thousand and One Nights?

The only one I know well is the 2000 Hallmark film Arabian Nights, which incorporates a fair deal of Islamic culture, and the main characters are clearly Muslim. A personal highlight for me was when the genie of the lamp says الحمد لله when he grants a wish for Aladdin.

[dhobikikutti]

Added, thanks! (And how happy seeing that Arabic in your comment made me!)

[naraht]

The novel "Brick Lane" by Monica Ali might be one to add to the list.

[dhobikikutti]

Added, thanks! If you can provide character names, or even an intro, that would be great.

[mllesays]

Faiza Hussain/Excalibur is also a Muslim character in Marvel comics.

[dhobikikutti]

Excellent, added! Could I persuade you to write a little intro post about her, maybe?

[dharmavati]

Here are a few I can name off the top of my head:

Slumdog Millionaire: Jamal Malik, Salim Malik, Jamal and Salim's mother

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini: most characters

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini: most characters

Castle_in_the_Air by Diana Wynne Jones (the sequel to Howl's Moving Castle): possibly many characters, including Abdullah, Flower-in-the-Night, the Sultan, Jamal, Dalzel, and Hasruel

[dhobikikutti]

Thank you for these, they've been added. If you have specific character names to give for the Hosseini books, do let me know.

[marina]

Two characters played by the same actor in two Israeli films:

The Bubble - Ashraf and his relatives

Walk on Water - Rafik

[marina]

There's also a main character on a very popular Israeli soap called HaAlufa (and by popular I mean it was the hottest thing on primetime), Jalal Kassum. I've never watched the show (I'm not much of a soap person) but I've seen him all over in ads and clips and whatnot and I do know he's a Muslim character (who has an affair with one of the Jewish characters).

So, um. There's him, if he counts for the purposes of this list.

[roga]

Dani Reese, the main character of the TV show Life, has an Iranian mother. I'm pretty sure we don't know what her religion is and she "celebrated" Christmas like everyone else, but she does speak Farsi in one episode, and the actress who plays her is also half Iranian. :/

[roga]

Also, if you're okay with Israeli films -- there are a bunch, but The Band's Visit is from 2007 and is relatively known abroad too, with a bunch of awards from Cannes and lots of English dialogue. Muslim characters include Lieutenant-colonel Tawfiq Zacharya, Haled, and the rest of the band members.

[parallactic.livejournal.com]

I remember Catherine Asaro's scifi novel, The Phoenix Code had a Muslim software programmer. He was a major character, but I don't know if he was stereotypical or not.

I also forgot I bookmarked a website devoted to Islam and Science Fiction (http://islamscifi.com/).

[dhobikikutti]

Added, thanks! And I will throw the link up in a useful links post.

[thedivinegoat]

Snare by Katherine Kerr (Book) has as main (and secondary characters) characters Idres Warkannan, Lubahva Shiraz, Nehzaym Wahud, Indan Alwazir, Arkazo, Zayn Hassan, Bashir Hassan and well as many more tertiary and background characters.

[dhobikikutti]

Thank you! I've added it to the Realistic and Historical Fiction category, is that right?

[devilc]

Fiction Movies:

My Beautiful Laundrette, although it's never (IIRC) explicitly stated that Hussein family is Moslem, being that their culture is Brit-Pakistani, it's a safe guess Also: Canonical M/M relatonship and a woman character with an important role.

Land of Plenty, while it's not canonically stated that Hassan and Youssef are Moslem, it's probable given they're Pakistani ex-pats. (This movie is a huge critique of moslem=terrorist, mindset btw.)

Hurt Locker does show some terrorists/insurgents, the most developed Iraqi charaters, "Beckham" and Prof Nabil are not.

---

Documentary:

Inside Mecca -- a great documentary about several very different people and their pilgrimage to Mecca.

[dhobikikutti]

Thank you, I've added the fiction movies, and saved the documentary link for a resources post!

[frausorge]

There's Hasan in the novel Where She was Standing by Maggie Helwig.

[dhobikikutti]

Thank you! I've added it to the Realistic and Historical Fiction category, is that right?

[iamnaiad]

East West 101

The main character is Zane Malik, a Muslim detective.

Other characters include:

- Amina, Zane's wife,
- Mariam, his mother,
- Rahman, his father, and
- Amir and Yasmeen, his children.

[dhobikikutti]

Belatedly, thank you and added!

[ex_birdseyeview308]

I don't know if you're still taking suggestions but for 24 there is also the Araz (Navi, Dina and Behrooz) from s4, Hamri al-Assad from s6, Yusuf Auda from s2.

[dhobikikutti]

Belatedly, thank you and added!

[aquaeri]

The Eagle, Danish TV show has Nazim Talawi as a member of the otherwise traditionally Danish cop team.

Also, since I'm here and it's not on your list: in Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy (Historical/realistic novel) there's a number of Muslim characters, particularly the Khan and Durrani families, and Hindu/Muslim differences are a continuing theme.

[dhobikikutti]

Belatedly, thank you and added!

[phi]

I totally did not remember Ismayeel from Lagaan.

Can you add the Urdu film Khuda Kay Liye? It's a hard film to watch, but there's so much room for exploring the characters in fic.

[dhobikikutti]

Added, thanks!

Some very belated additions

[rydra_wong]

Brother Mouzone in The Wire is strongly implied to be Nation of Islam, though the wiki says it's not stated outright.

Deeba Resham and her family in China Mieville's Un Lun Dun are coded as British Asian, and could be Muslim.

Re: Some very belated additions

[dhobikikutti]

Added, thanks!

[pandarus]

Can I suggest Deeba Resham, the hero of China Mieville's YA book 'Un Lun Dun'?

It's never made explicit, but given her name and the fact that her brother's called Hass, it seems fair to suppose she's a Muslim Londoner, of Pakistani extraction?

[dhobikikutti]

Yep, added!

[marina]

Because I've been exposed to this amazing show only recently, on Parashat HaShavua there's Manar and Amir El Nashaf who are main characters and are Muslim and various friends and family (as recurring characters).

There's also the Israeli film Ajami where most of the characters are Muslim, with main characters including: Nasri, Omar, Malek and Binj.

[dhobikikutti]

Added, thanks!

[theladyscribe]

There's a Muslim character on NBC's mini-series, Persons Unknown - Sgt. Graham McNair (he may actually be the best-developed character on the show).

[dhobikikutti]

Added, thanks!

[laurashapiro]

Ooh, My Beautiful Laundrette! I was going to rewatch that this year anyway...

[dhobikikutti]

And there is some great Brit Asian music out there... ::tempts::

[toujours_nigel]

Oh, this is nice.

Incidentally, which characters in Mike Carey's Lucifer are Muslim? I can't remember. *sadface*

[dhobikikutti]

A cursory google was not helpful in indentifying any Muslim characters in Lucifer, so we have removed it from our list until someone can provide us with specific names.

[toujours_nigel]

Oh, and to be actually helpful,

Tariq Ali's Islam Quintet (Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree, The Book of Saladin, The Stone Woman, A Sultan in Palermo, Night of the Golden Butterfly)has a number of Muslim characters.

Amitav Ghosh's Sea of Poppies has Azad Naskar (Jodu), his mother, and his father's extended family. I also think some of the Lascars are Muslim, but I don't have the book handy to check.

[kairia]

Belatedly, thank you! I'll be adding these to the master-list!

[recessional]

It's not outright stated, but Fadhil and his daughter Aisha from The Losers may qualify.

(Movie: it may be more or less explicit in the comics, I don't know.)

[dhobikikutti]

A quick google seemed to say that the character in the comics came from Afghanistan, so we're listing her both in comic and movies, thanks!

[venturous]

I want to add under childrens/YA
King of the Wind, by Marguerite Henry

it's the story of an Arabian horse who becomes a famous ancestor of Thoroughbred race horses. I read it when I was 9, and had never heard of Islam or Ramadan.

[skywaterblue]

I think this book and 'The Carpet and the Phoenix' were my first introductions to the idea there were Muslims. (Oh EE Nesbit, you were racist fail even in 1904.)