Muslim representation in Marvel Comics

[Jabare]

I'm out of touch with the X-books so to me Kamala is really holding the torch.

However, there were several characters listed in Marvel's wiki pages, whether they are all active is another story.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

As a fan who is muslim I think Kamala is a good character and a step in the right direction. However she's the only muslim lead and at times the only muslim character used in recent stories so it's still a baby step.

[whiterabbit]

I think they've come a long way. The way Dust was introduced was so nonsensical and uninformed on every level; Grant Morrison really had no idea what he was doing (he had her speaking Arabic?) and depicted a lot of things inconsistent with her Afghan background and with most Muslim practice. Dust is handled better now in general, but I think she's still weighed down by the baggage of the orientalism of her early depictions. (A Middle-Eastern character with sand powers? I mean ... it's not too on the nose?)

I almost feel like Kamala is the gold standard for depictions of Muslims in Western media in general. There's a strong tendency in Western media to depict Muslims and South Asians as completely "normal" and "regular", by showing that they do "normal people things" and that they also don't practice religion or embrace their heritage at all (see: The Big Sick, Master of None, several other new media projects about PoC). Kamala is still a regular person, she even has special interests that are ... interesting! But she also loves her family, loves her heritage, and practices her religion. I don't think that all Muslim characters need to be like that, but considering we have almost no characters like her in Western media, I absolutely love it. There's also a variety of Muslims of different perspectives and worldviews in Ms. Marvel. It really shows that the book is written by a member of the American Muslims community who has spent a lot of time among different Muslims.

I don't mind (and I actually like) Monet not being extremely "devout" (whatever that's supposed to mean!), but I do wish that she wasn't so completely sanitized of her Algerian background. She has, like, five names and nearly all of them are French Catholic. It would have been cool if one was Arabic/Amazigh! Religion does inform Algerian culture a lot, but not in nuanced ways that tie into its culture and history. It would be cool to see her grappling with her heritage in that way.

An underrated Muslim character is 616 Monica Chang. It was mentioned and handled in a cool way to contrast her character with the Doombot. It gave her space to, again, be a practicing Muslim and have a full life with duties and goals besides that.

Marvel is surprisingly not terrible at depicting Muslims when you contrast them with the trends on TV and in movies. They still have terrible moments (see: the incredibly racist ending to Nathan Edmondson's Punisher) but balances out to be less than what you might see elsewhere. They can always do better, though!

By us saying Monet St. Croix not being devout, we're referring to her decisions that are questionable or frowned upon or even forbidden in the Quran. She wears outfits that emphasize her sexuality, including her breasts. She has sex out of wedlock (forbidden) and drinks (questionable). Her names are fine as long as they don't compromise or imply something forbidden in Islam.

[C_Miller]

I almost feel like Kamala is the gold standard for depictions of Muslims in Western media in general. There's a strong tendency in Western media to depict Muslims and South Asians as completely "normal" and "regular", by showing that they do "normal people things" and that they also don't practice religion or embrace their heritage at all (see: The Big Sick, Master of None, several other new media projects about PoC). Kamala is still a regular person, she even has special interests that are ... interesting! But she also loves her family, loves her heritage, and practices her religion. I don't think that all Muslim characters need to be like that, but considering we have almost no characters like her in Western media, I absolutely love it. There's also a variety of Muslims of different perspectives and worldviews in Ms. Marvel. It really shows that the book is written by a member of the American Muslims community who has spent a lot of time among different Muslims.

The issue with the two specific examples you mentioned is that they are both semi-autobiographical works. It's based on their experiences. While I agree that it's great to have a varied portrayal of everything, I don't think those examples are the best and I think it's a little incentive at best to say that Master of None and The Big Sick aren't good portrayals of Muslims / South Asians. While you may not have meant it this way, it can be read as their experience as members of that community are of less value than religious ones.

[Xalfrea]

Which makes me wonder what exactly is the "best" way portray the Muslim lifestyle, religion and whathaveyou. All the ones mentioned here from what I've read on here seem be doing their respective jobs well enough, but at the same time there seems to be disagreement on what exactly must be portrayed and how to portray it.

[Username taken]

Which makes me wonder what exactly is the "best" way portray the Muslim lifestyle, religion and whathaveyou. All the ones mentioned here from what I've read on here seem be doing their respective jobs well enough, but at the same time there seems to be disagreement on what exactly must be portrayed and how to portray it.

I think that's why it's important a Muslim write a Muslim character.

Lots of what is forbidden in Islam is also forbidden in Christianity but seeing as how we live in a secular society everyone almost lives in the same way. I don't think Muslims in the US should be depicted radically different from other groups of people that practice (or don't practice) their faith.

[Abe]

Which makes me wonder what exactly is the "best" way portray the Muslim lifestyle, religion and whathaveyou. All the ones mentioned here from what I've read on here seem be doing their respective jobs well enough, but at the same time there seems to be disagreement on what exactly must be portrayed and how to portray it.

First it should be obvious that it's very difficult to speak of something like "THE Muslim lifestyle". Diversity is everywhere. It's also true of the religion btw. It's as much problematic than speaking of the Christian way of life and of the Christian religion - not to talk about all the various individuals that would be more or less put under that label.

[hotroddii]

Personally I find any mainstream religion to be odd in comic book worlds ... where gods are walking the earth, people go to heaven and hell and return, others are demons, people return from the dead all the time ...

... I can’t believe people on a 616 universe would follow the same earthly religions we have.

[chamber-music]

Faiza Hussain aka Excalibur from Captain Britain and the MI:13 is a Muslim.

Slaymaster was a pretty cool Captain Britain villain back in the day. Slaymaster was a Muslim but his religion had nothing to do with why he was a villain.