I was recently asked by a new member of the Islamic Writers Alliance organization why I describe the fiction stories I and many other Muslim writers write Islamic fiction? Why not call our stories Muslim fiction? Is there any difference or what is it that sets the two names apart?
My knee jerk response was to go into a long explanation about Fiction… Fiction is one of the two major categories of literature. Within the two major categories: Fiction and Non-Fiction there are sub categories and these sub-categories are further defined by genres (types of stories or works) I went on to explain that most literature is divided into two main age appropriate classifications, too: Adult and Juvenile fiction and within each of these classifications the books are further defined by specific reading or age levels.
“Wait a minute,” I was told. “I want to know about Islamic Fiction and Muslim Fiction,” he said just a tad impatiently after hearing my opening salvo. So I got down to the basics of describing what each sub-category of Fiction is and this I hoped would explain why it is important to recognize both sub-categories of Fiction.
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Muslim Fiction
Muslim fiction is a very broad and all encompassing descriptive term. There are no boundaries for content…no prohibitions and no intentions on the Muslim writer’s part to do anything but write a fiction story. The writer does not intend for the reader to learn anything about Islam having read the story.
Most often a Muslim writer who does not write Islamic Fiction will concentrate his/her story on a cultural theme (most often with children’s books) or a political theme (most often with adult books).
Muslim fiction can be halal without being Islamic fiction. The story may be a very creative and interesting story about a mother and her daughter entering a pie baking contest or a father and son creating a kite together and entering a Kite flying contest which is a National pass time or event. In both instances either culture or tradition are the focus of the story. Islam is not mentioned. The reader learns nothing about Islam and although the book characters may have “recognizable” Arabic names, the names do not provide the reader with any information about Islam.
Muslim writers who write fiction (not Islamic fiction) are very clear about their intentions not to include any religious content in their stories. They do not include any “Islamic” practices which would be considered “offensive” by the predominate “Christian” secular markets or publishers.
Some of the “Islamic” content they take pains to exclude in their stories is any content about the Prophet (pbuh) having more than one wife at a time and indicting in their stories that this is permissible by God; another would be the conversion of any person of another faith to Islam; another would be to deny that Jesus is God…. the Trinity of the Christians, and another would be the Islamic teaching that women are required to cover for modesty and to please God. These are but a few Islamic practices which would not be included in their fiction stories.
Stories with this kind of content is considered by the Muslim writer intent on writing “secular” approved content in their stories as ‘religious’ content and they want to avoid this type of content for a couple of reasons:
1. To more easily obtain a publishing contract from a secular publisher which will bring wider distribution and awareness of the author in secular markets/readers…and most likely more profits for the author, and
2. To more easily get their Muslim authored fiction book in public schools. Public schools in the USA have a prohibition against “religious books”. The schools must maintain a separation between religion and government (government: the use of tax payers money to operate) so religion and religious type books are prohibited in Pre K through high school in the classroom and libraries.
Muslim fiction stories can include explicit sexual content, content which shows Islam in a negative way and content which provides false and/or inaccurate information about Islam. Muslim fiction stories can be supportive of alcohol, using drugs, promotion of boy-girl dating as halal, and girl-girl and boy-boy sexual relations, etc.
Muslim fiction may be written by a person-writer who labels him or herself as a Muslim fiction writer. Readers have no way to identify the work as halal for reading for themselves or their children. There are no boundaries as to what a Muslim fiction writer adheres to except the exclusion of halal and accurate religious/Islamic content from their work.
Example of a fiction story written by a Muslim and the story is NOT Islamic fiction.
I have written a complete fiction manuscript about the early years of my police career (I was not a Muslim back then in the 1970s). When the book is published and released the secular book world-media would most likely promote this book as a Muslim fiction book because it is written by a Muslim. But it is in no way, shape, or form an Islamic fiction book. It is a fiction book authored by a Muslim…by a Muslim writer.
Islamic Fiction
Islamic fiction (IF) writers are Muslim and begin with the intention that their story/ies will contain content about Islam so the reader will learn something beneficial about Islam from reading the book.
There are boundaries or certain types of content the IF writer will never include in any of his/her stories. Please take the time to read the definitions and criteria on the Islamic Fiction Books web site: www.IslamicFictionBooks.com/
Muslims selecting an Islamic fiction book for their children and selves should be assured they will not find specific types of content in the book and that the subject matter and content is age appropriate.
Some people mistakenly believe that in an Islamic fiction story the Muslim and /or non Muslim book characters must always behave or conduct themselves without any wrong doing.
You and I know that this would make the story and book characters unrealistic especially if the story is intended for adults and older teens.
In writing of Islamic fiction stories the Muslim writer ensures that the unIslamic conduct is identified as unIslamic…this is a critical element in writing Islamic fiction. The IF writer does this by showing in the story and not by dogmatic preaching and quoting dire consequences etc.
Example # 1 of an Islamic Fiction Story
In the Jamilah Kolocotronis’s Echoes series, Book 5, Silence, one of her Muslim book characters grows tired of the political oppression of a non Muslim group in his town. He persuades some of his brothers in Islam to kidnap a prominent member using violence and guns. This results in a shoot out and one of the brothers is killed. The Muslim community suffers much from these actions and many of the strides made through peaceable means are lost. The father of the rebellion group leader has a difficult time forgiving his son, but in the end does and the son seeks forgiveness from Allah for choosing violence and causing the death of his friend.
This IF story shows Muslims acting inappropriately; committing sins. It also shows the reader that this conduct is wrong, and includes a “remedy” for wrong actions using Islam as the guide for the book characters, story, and readers.
The younger the age of the reader the story is targeted to, the less likelihood there will be any unIslamic content. I think that this is true with Christian publishing and books…content is particularly screened for children and youth.
Even in secular books the content for minors is screened by secular standards/laws.
Example #2 of an Islamic Fiction Story
In my Islamic Rose books series, Book 3, Stories, in one chapter the main character, Rose, 9 years old and creator of the Hijab-Ez Friendship group, gets upset when her best friend Camelia (a Muslimah) has her poem disqualified from a poetry contest at school by a judge who says using the Arabic words As Salaam’Alaykum and the word Allah is not English and thus disqualifies the poem. The poetry contest theme is peace. It is on a Friday when the disqualification notice is given to Camelia and over the week-end school officials can’t be reached. Monday is the poetry reading event with winners are to be announced.
Rose is very mad and devises a plan to disrupt the event with a march and signs of protest and such. She tells her plan to the two Saudi Police officers living in her grandparents’ home (guests in the USA for a year while they learn English and police tactics with the local city police department).
Instead of telling Rose she is making a mistake or going to Rose’s grandparents… the Saudi boys tell her the story of the Kabal and the black stone and how the Prophet (pbuh) settled an impending violent situation peaceably. This causes Rose to rethink her PLAN and she comes up with a new PLAN that the Saudi boys help her with over the week-end…a peaceable plan. In this story there is a modern-day dilemma….and the story shows how Islam is relevant today in helping deal with modern day challenges/problems. The reader learns something of benefit about the Prophet (pbuh) and Islam without the story being preachy, etc. Rose is shown that there is a better way to problem solve than using violence.
Summary
- An Islamic fiction writer is also a Muslim fiction writer.
- A Muslim fiction writer is not an Islamic fiction writer.
- Also consider this FACT. There are many, many fiction books written by non-Muslims and published by secular publishers that are halal…yes… they have content that is permissible and do not contain unIslamic content. Many are nice stories like the fiction stories written by Muslim fiction writers who do NOT write Islamic fiction.
Muslim fiction is too broad a label for a sub-category of Fiction with the specific kind of content that must and must not be included in an Islamic fiction story/book.
Christian writers and publishers found this to be true for books they write and publish and the intent for them is that their Christian readers be assured that when they purchase the Christian book, no matter what the reading/age group they will not read content which is offensive to the Christian… that children will not read the inappropriate content that is found in many books written and published for children/youth/teens today.
It is my opinion that there is a lot more work involved in writing quality, creative, interesting, imaginative, Islamic fiction than is required to write a “secular-type” fiction story. The IF writer must check Islamic references to ensure correct Islamic principles and teachings are presented without sounding preachy. The IF writer must show Islam through actions and dialog rather than telling Islamic facts in a dogmatic manner.
Many IF writers have stopped writing IF because they cannot get their work published by Muslim publishers who continue to believe that Muslims are not interested in fiction/Islamic fiction works for older youth/teens/adults and because secular publishers don’t want to publish what they consider “religious content-type books” which might promote Islam positively. They have no problem with publishing a fiction book authored by a person labeling his/herself Muslim who writes a fiction story presenting Muslims or Islam unfavorably! We have seen this with a few best sellers in the past!
I don’t know if I have helped or muddied the waters for you in trying to make clear the differences between Islamic Fiction and Muslim fiction and why it is essential that Muslims and non Muslims recognize Islamic Fiction with its definitions and criteria as a sub-category of Fiction with Adult and Juvenile classifications and various appropriate genres.
I think it is essential that Muslim retailers, distributors, wholesalers, and publishers selling their own published fiction use the category label (the word) fiction and distinguish between Islamic fiction books and fiction books written by Muslims. I believe Muslim fiction literature also needs to be presented/listed by genre and age/reading levels on web sites and books placed accordingly on shelves in physical stores selling books.
At the present time most all Muslim publishers and book retailers lump any fiction book under the generalized “label” or category – Children’s Books.
There are some writers of Islamic Fiction who would have preferred the selection of the label Muslim fiction as the sub-category for Fiction literature written by Muslims. Often the reason is that there are a few “scholars” with extreme (in my opinion) points of view who have stated that fiction writing is writing lies and reading fiction is a useless waste of time. I find these opinions mostly based on the fact that the Muslims making such statements did not grow up reading any fiction books and more probably have no knowledge about anything pertaining to Islamic fiction stories.
I published it for members of the Islamic Writers Alliance Inc organization… over 50 stories with 21 contributors and some very nice illustrations included as well!
