On Muslim Representation

I haven’t written for this blog in a long time, but I recently held a lecture on Muslim Representation for college students who read When a Brown Girl Flees for their English class, and I thought I would share my thoughts here as well. 

So to start, for those of you who don’t know me, and are wondering why I might be a little qualified to speak on this topic. I myself am Muslim. I was born and raised Muslim, in a Muslim community, in a Muslim family, and am very closely tied with my faith. And as you guys know thanks to my obnoxiously constant marketing, I am the author of When a Brown Girl Flees, which features Muslim characters. I am also the author of the forthcoming novel, If I Loved You Less, which is an adult romance novel set in the same world as When a Brown Girl Flees, and which also features Muslim characters. Both books have hijabi main characters who are practicing Muslims. 

So to start with some basic information, for those of you who are like, “Okay, who tf even are Muslims?” Muslims are those who practice Islam, which is a monotheistic religion and one of the Abrahamic faiths. We follow the teachings described to us in our holy book, which is called the Quran. And right now, we’re actually in the middle of one of our really special months called Ramadan, in which we fast (no food and no water, no, not at all!) from before sunrise to sundown. There are also about 1.9 billion Muslims worldwide – which is a big number! 

I want to discuss the importance of Muslim representation for Muslims and for non-Muslims. So first: the importance for Muslims, the people being represented. In my opinion, such representation is vital because it makes people feel seen and understood. Particularly people who are perhaps a minority in their community, and who don’t get to really see a lot of themselves outside of their home or their smaller internal communities. Even though there are so many Muslims worldwide, in America, the Muslim population in America is a little over one percent, so we’re definitely a minority in this country. (In the United Kingdom, the Muslim population is about six percent, which is a bit higher, but still definitely in minority status.) 

Personally speaking, I was I think one of two Muslims in my graduating class, and there were maybe two or three Muslim families total in my entire high school. I was also the only person in my high school (aside from my sister) who wore the hijab, which very visibly and clearly marks me as a Muslim, and which also automatically makes me stand out. Being the only person who prays, fasts, or eats certain foods or doesn’t do things like drink, smoke, or party isolates you. So representation is really important because it makes you feel less alone. In a way, it also kind of confirms your existence on a larger scale – like yes, we are here. Lost in a crowd with nobody else like you, it’s easy to feel like you might disappear. But to see yourself in a book reaffirms the fact that you do exist.

So we talked about why Muslim representation is so important for Muslims, but high chances are, you’re not Muslim, so you might be wondering, okay, why would this be relevant or important to me? Well, I can tell you! Representation is not only for those being represented, but it is also crucial in my opinion for those who are not being represented. Like I mentioned earlier, Muslims only make up one or two percent of the American population. That means there’s a very high chance that most Americans can live their entire lives without interacting with a single Muslim in real life. So where do they get their information about Muslims from? The media! 

Unfortunately, a lot of media for the last two to three decades has been extremely negative regarding Muslims. Beginning with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and now with everything going on in illegally occupied Palestine, when most people hear about Muslims, it’s on the news, and Muslims are usually described as savages, or backwards, or misogynistic, or a whole host of other terrible things. Which might be true to a certain extent for a small percentage of those people – but every group of people has bad people! Muslims have been consistently grouped together in a negative way for a long time, which has then led to rampant Islamophobia and a culture of fear regarding Muslims – which then leads to real life consequences of hate-crimes and in some cases, severe physical assault and death. Just a few months ago, a six year old Muslim kid was killed in his own home, and a few Muslim college students were shot in their own campus. Those instances don’t just occur out of the blue; fear and hatred is instilled within people until they feel compelled to take such drastic action. 

So back to my point of why Muslim representation is important for non-Muslims: I believe that it can greatly combat Islamophobia and this is kind of a huge part of why I write the books that I write. For people who have never met Muslims in real life, and only see negative portrayals in the news, if they can maybe read a book with Muslims characters, and see those characters facing mental health issues, or family issues, or friend issues, or feeling lonely and sad, and then also feeling happy, and falling in love, and hanging out with their friends, and just having fun — I think that could show readers that hey, these Muslims are kind of…just like me? And maybe they aren’t these backward savage animals, they’re actually just…human. (Shocking, I know!) Reading about Muslim characters can foster compassion and empathy, and spread love and camaraderie, instead of fear and hatred. 

Which brings me to the topic of Harmful Stereotypes. I mentioned the news and how the news kind of exclusively negatively portrays Muslims, but actually a lot of fictional media also perpetuates these negative stereotypes about Muslims that can cause just as much harm, and it’s because most of the time, these TV shows or movies or books don’t actually have any Muslim writers creating stories from their authentic experiences. So then these fictional depictions of Muslim characters end up being very reductive and harmful without being nuanced and careful – like the typical hijabi girl taking off her scarf for a white boy because she’s just so oppressed, or the abusive parents, or the teens who just hate their religion because it’s so restrictive. 

I’m not saying that these things don’t happen in real life, but I am saying that a lot of times media portrayals of Muslims only focus on these stories because it satisfies a diversity quota while still being palatable to the white gaze – which I personally resent. (RESENT!) I think no representation is better than negative representation, and it’s clear in a lot of these depictions of Muslim character that no real life Muslim was consulted. I’m a huge advocate for authentic, genuine stories that are dealt with care, attention, and class, and that’s what I tried to do and try to do with all of my stories. 

Which leads me to my next point which is: how to write things that might be harmful stereotypes while still being authentic and serving your story. So you might see in When a Brown Girl Flees, a scene where Zahra does take off her hijab for a white boy, but I hope that you can see what leads her to that choice, and how it affects her, rather than it just being a quick plot point that happens for no reason really, or just to serve as a shock factor. Additionally, she does have strict parents who can at times seem oppressive, but I really tried to dig deep into those characters – especially the character of her mother – to show the humanity behind that, to really create 3D and fleshed out characters, rather than just a stereotype. 

You have to show nuance and explain why characters are behaving the way they are, so that readers can understand, even if they don’t agree. And rather than Zahra simply hating her religion, I showed her struggling with it, as many people do, and as many people of all faiths do! I’ve had so many teenagers who are from Christian or Jewish backgrounds reach out to me to say that they really related to Zahra — so that’s another thing, too. I don’t think writing Muslim characters takes away from the story being relatable because I think the things Zahra goes through are things a lot of people go through, regardless of their background or religion. 

Another thing that I think is really important when writing things that may be harmful stereotypes is to show both sides. So I tried to do that by showing Zahra’s parents as being pretty strict and constrictive, but then you meet Haya’s parents, and they’re totally normal and balanced – they’re very much like my family friends, and honestly, the majority of the people I know. So when you show that range in your story, you aren’t just reducing Muslims to being one thing, you’re showing that yes, there can be a “bad” example, and also a “good” example.

Which leads me to my next point – the need for more books! I mean, of course, there can never be enough books, but specifically, I mean we just need more books with Muslim characters! There’s such a limited amount of Muslim stories being published that each story is burdened with the weight of being exactly what the reader wants, which sets itself up for failure as there are thousands of readers each wanting thousands of different things. When readers aren’t able to receive the representation they want, they latch onto what little they can get and set their expectations incredibly high, which is what ends up disappointing them. 

The easiest solution to this is to publish a wide variety of Muslim stories so that there is something for everyone. There should be hundreds of books being published, in all sorts of genres and age groups, featuring all types of Muslim characters, across the entire range of practicing and non-practicing, and only then will readers stop arguing over what is “good” or “bad”, or “right” or “wrong”. I mean, if you read a book with a white character, you’re not thinking: okay, this is a white person book, and this is how all white people must be. No, it’s just a book! I want Muslim books to get to that stage – where there are so many of them, that we no longer need “representation.” The need for representation actually means a lack of representation, if you think about it. And I want to get to the point where we no longer need Muslim representation.