Islamic vs. Muslim Fiction

A common misconception is that fiction featuring Islamic themes is Islamic Fiction. It is easy to confuse or conflate Islam with Muslims and is often done by the media and politicians, both intentionally and unintentionally. In this post, I will define these two key terms before explaining the conundrum of this blog’s title.

Islam is a religion based on the belief that God, a necessary being upon whom the contingent universe is dependent, created us and everything else; a man called Muhammad was sent by God to explain the purpose of creation, i.e. worshiping God; and that God will resurrect humans and djinns after we die to bring us to justice.  Muslims are the people who believe the above.

Islamic fiction, therefore, is any fiction that is written to promote the above creed in a clear or abstracted way. It is quite likely that people claiming to have written Islamic fiction have not actually done so. It is more likely that they have written Muslim fiction. Muslim fiction is any fiction that depicts the experiences, beliefs, and ideas of being Muslim, whether set in modern or historical times, in the real or imaginary worlds.

Sub-genres in Muslim fiction range across the full spectrum of popular and literary fiction. The origins of Muslim fiction likely go as far back as the Abbasid Dynasty, although artistic expression has been around since the time of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). Examples of Muslim fiction include The Thousand and One Nights, G. Willow Wilson’s Alif the Unseen, and Shannon Chakraborty’s The Daevabad Trilogy.

Fiction isn’t the only literary contribution that Muslims have made. There is a rich history of Islamic poetry that praises God and venerates the Prophet Muhammad, such as the Qasida Burdah (I recommend the following translation Mercy’s Cloak Unfurled), or Rumi’s Diwan-e-Kabir. There is also a compelling tradition of biographies, including this early example The Maghazi of Sayyiduna Muhammd available as a free ebook from here: https://imamghazali.co.uk/collections/digital-downloads/products/maghazi-ebook.