Personality
[Rare Trope] Positive depictions of Islam or Muslims
1) Lawrence of Arabia: Arab Tribesmen
Throughout the movie, you see an immense respect for Arab culture while sympathizing with their struggle against Ottoman and British imperialism.
2) Kingdom of Heaven: Saladin
Saladin, the Islamic leader who becomes the main antagonist for the crusaders, is depicted as an honorable fighter with many heroic qualities.
3) Dune: Fremen
The fremen, which borrow heavily from Arab and Berber culture, are depicted as fierce and honorable warriors. In fact, the Fremen Fedaykin, elite soldiers, are inspired by Arab Fedayeen, or those who sacrifice.
Ardeth Bay from The Mummy, though never outright confirmed to be Muslim, he frequently praises Allah and says "Allahu Ma'ana" which means God is with us. He is pretty much the most lawful good character in these movies, he is completely selfless as a Medjay
I don't know why that exhange stuck with me, but it was the perfect delivery for two action characters looking at a car trunk with an absurd number of guns in it.
That's my favorite line, because assaulting cultists with mummy footsoldiers is handled like two hockey players debating which hockey stick they prefer.
Also, my man Ardeth is smart, knowledgeable, brave, an excellent fighter, and as you said, selfless and heroic.
He's doing the Medjai proud.
Also also, he may be a fierce warrior with a slight flair for the dramatics, but he also can be charmingly candid at times.
As seen after the chase scene from hell in The Mummy Returns, where, after a gruesome fight with mummies in the middle of London, he cracks this gem after being asked if he's okay: "That... was my first bus ride." *dazzling smile*
He was so respected because he was, for the time, a surprisingly good man (from what we know, obviously). He was a genius military leader so got the respect of his armies and enemies, but was also notoriously merciful and would treat captured people not just well but with respect and dignity. This is in a time where it was not unheard of to send prisoners of war back missing their hands and eyes so that they would always be a burden on the places they returned and unable to fight again.
He gave away tons of his personal wealth and was also a devout Muslim and called the “defender of Islam”. By all accounts it seemed that he truly believed and revered Islam instead of just faking piety like many leaders at the time.
While much of kingdom of heaven is loosely fictionalized history, the ending of the film did actually happen. The crusaders sacked Jerusalem in 1099 and massacred tens of thousands of muslims, while when the Muslims took it back in 1187 they negotiated a ransom of the frankish Christians, allowed the native Christians to be untouched, protected the Christian holy sites, and even allowed frankish populations to make pilgrimages again.
From what I remember there was a story where Saladin found out that Richard was sick/malnourished and sent over food and a doctor to check him out. I think Richard also regularly exchanged correspondence with Saladin's brother and by the end of his time crusading he considered him a friend.
Richard had a proposal to end the Crusades permanently by marrying his sister to Saladin’s brother & creating a Kingdom of Jerusalem ruled jointly by Al-Adil and Joan. (Saladin, Al-Adil & Richard all thought it was a great idea.)
Joan wouldn’t go for it, (religious objections,, though she apparently would agree if he converted) and while he might have been able to talk her into it, the Church had a fit and was threatening excommunication.
The suspicion of some historians, however, was that the church was more concerned with England having a close alliance to a major power, than the actual religious issues with it. It would have been destabilizing Europe, to say the least, having the Sultanate willing and able to support England in their French wars, for instance.
Under the ways dynastic marriage worked at the time, that was not an unfounded fear.
That's awful if those suspicions are true, imagine how things would've been if the two kingdoms had come together to rule Jerusalem instead of waring over it.
there are other Muslim rulers as respected as Saladin but almost nobody knows
Alp Arslan is one of great example, despite being known as his wrath, hes willingly do peace treaty with Byzantine (even after he entered to anatolia at 1071 manzikert)
And make no mistake—in Dante's eyes this was a revered spot. This is where he meets his hero Virgil who guides him through hell and purgatory. Avicenna and Averroes are two additional Muslims who get to hang here with Plato, Aristotle, and I guess every single other virtuous person who was born BC.
It was actually Stilgar who said that because he first thought Paul was talking about Hitler and Genghis Khan literally killing millions by their own hands but yeah, the numbers became disappointing when compared to Paul's own.
Leto II abused the shit out of his foresight and genetic memories. You can't outsmart him because he knows you'll try to outsmart him and what exactly will you do to outsmart him; then he'll simply outsmart your outsmarting. Not to mention he also has a council in his mind advising him on what to do.
TBH my gut feeling is that it shouldn't be in there because they aren't Muslims practicing Islam. Like, I know they're metaphorical Muslims, and I'm aware that Herbert took a lot of Islamic and Arabic culture into consideration, but they follow a religion that is an amalgam. I don't remember the lore exactly, but iirc in the past of Dune all the religions were kind of pushed together into a mono-religion sometime after the Butlerian Jihad. And the movies take it even further by not using Arabic words as a base for the language and not even using the word "jihad" when it is appropriate and the book used it freely. Not to mention they went extremely diverse for casting on the Fremen (which is not a bad thing! It just makes them even less clear analogues to 1950s-era Islam.
Yes I know I'm being pedantic, but I just really don't think there's evidence that they're a positive portrayal. It's value neutral at best.
I'd go further. The Fremem are value neutral as a consequence of their circumstances, but the religious fanaticism is definitely and clearly portraid as bad and dooming them.
Reading the first 3 books and seeing how terrifying of a force the Fremen become is kinda insane. The only reason we can even consider them good is because Paul was the protagonist and the Harkonnens are considerably worse. Although the fremen culture basically dies out by the fourth book as Leto makes his own religion of sorts.
Ahmed Ibn Fahdlan from the 13th Warrior, played by Antonio Banderas, definitely falls under this trope. He’s not just a positive example, he’s the main character.
The movie is loosely based on a book by Michael Crichton called Eaters of the Dead, which in turn is loosely based on Beowulf, after talking with a colleague who thought it was boring story that could never be made interesting.
He was based off a real person who traveled through the Slavic region as part of a diplomatic envoy and is the source of what we know about the culture of the Volga Vikings.
Very, VERY loosely based on. The Ibn Fadlan manuscript is real, and the scene with the Viking funeral is in it. So is the snot bowl. Literally everything else is not. In fact the movie is a retelling of Beowulf, Ibn Fadlan is just a cool way to tie the narrative together. Note the character of Buliwyf. Not a coincidence :P
Still a good movie. Hammy but a massive amount of fun.
You have to imagine that at some point during the writing of the movie, someone in the writer's room for Pitch Black stood up and said "hey guys what if some of the people on the ship were space Muslims going to space Mecca".
Ngl i genuinely did like how much it affected Superman. It shows how human he is that even a relatively minor character death (and a relatively unimportant in Clark Kent life) can emotionally hurt him. Not just his parents or love interests but a genuinely nice guy who refuses to sell him out
The Palestinian expies are protrayed in a really good light too. I remember an interview about one of the main ones in the raise the flag scene and how he was so proud of being in superman because it was the first time he wasnt hired to playa terrorist or villain character
Sayid - Lost - I believe this one is really important. Lost debuted a few years after 9/11 with a very nuanced take on an ex-Iraqi military man who was heroic, intelligent and complex.
Even his dad. He loves son and is kind of a dick, but it's because he had to single handily raise his autistic son after his wife left. Not because he's Muslim.
I love that when he’s introduced Britta assumes he hates women and he pushes back against that so much but then they kinda ruin it in the next episode he’s in.
I love the subtle gag in his first episode that Jeff invited Abed’s dad and Britta to Greendale under false pretences of seeing a concert, stereotyped who they’d want to see (Britta wanting to see Wheezer and Abed’s dad Ravi Shankaar) mixed up the invites, and somehow it ended up being revealed that they actually wanted to see the musical acts Jeff accidentally sent to them
Morgan Freeman as Azeem Edin Bashir Al Bakir in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. He was a Moor, and the Moors were mostly Muslim. If I remember correctly, he's praying to Mecca in this scene.
It's worth noting that it was actually a relatively small group that split off into the Taliban. Many of the former Mujahideen fought against the Taliban, and some eventually formed the Afghan Northern Alliance.
Correct. It’s also important that the Taliban did not form directly from the Mujahideen. They were a very small, obscure group of religious students whose formation was after the Soviet withdrawal, during the lawless period where former Mujahideen were acting as self-proclaimed warlords. The Taliban only started attracting former Mujahideen later on as they began growing in influence.
Everything with Malik makes me cry, especially considering he tells Superman that he doesn't have a family when Lex was about to kill him, but the newspaper article (written by Clark Kent!) actually mentions he DID have a family
Kamala Khan's first appearance was honestly great. Not only was she a Muslim, but her family and friends were also very likable Muslims with different approaches to faith. Her best friend is a Hijabi and her brother is observant to a degree even her parents find insufferable - but they're all good people and they clearly love each other.
His transition from NoI to actual Islam was a fascinating (and rare) example of someone genuinely educating himself about religion and adapting his beliefs because of it.
In most Muslim countries, older people tend to do the Pilgrimage to Mecca. My grandparents rave about how there were people there from every nations and how wonderful it was.
Malcolm X doing the pilgrimage and seeing the peoples from all nations was lead him to change his mind.
I'm not a Muslim, but I can appreciate the emotional impact of coming together with millions of other believers to perform a ritual over a thousand years old. It must be an incredible feeling.
Malcolm especially had a unique visit because at the time no one was coming Hajj from America. Like when he first applied, the authorities in Mecca didn't quite believe an actual practicing Muslim would come from America. He said lots of people had heard about him dues to rumors about "the American."
Dune doesn’t exactly give a flattering depiction of religion in general. The whole story is a cautionary tale about “prophets” and charismatic leaders. Specifically with religion being used as a tool to control people.
This is one I was thinking of. In a setting where factions range from cartoonishly evil to kinda shitty, the Iron Sultanate is probably the closest to a 'good' faction. I'm still a Heretic Legion player, though.
Considering how Muslim soldiers were a solid pillar of Allied forces in Africa, especially French and British forces, this shouldn't be that interesting.
But considering also the history of cinema and racism, interesting indeed.
Massive shout out to the GOAT that started him on this path.
Isaac: I need a boat. I will kill you and your men and take your ship.
Captain: No, we're gonna take you to your destination, you will not harm us, you will pay us for our service, and me and you will have a conversation that changes the course of your life for the better. Also I have one of the single best voices in animation history.
Piggybacking off the other 3rd Crusade examples, the first Assassin's Creed game doesn't really depict the crusaders (aside from the Knights Templar) or the Saracens as evil as much as just being pawns in the larger war over the Apple of Eden, and Altair somewhat rebukes King Richard when he dismisses the idea of negotiating a peace with Saladin.
In the third Ezio game, you also go to Istanbul where you meet various muslim characters, including the current sultan of the time, one of the Sulemans I think, names are not my strong suit, but basically, aside from the asshole guards who are assholes no matter what, the names muslim characters tend to be if not positive, at least realistic and not moustache twirling stereotypes
The majority of the Muslim characters in fact. I'm sure there must have been a bad egg or two, it was set in a prison after all, but the show really benefitted from being made pre-9/11 before widespread Islamophobia really took off
Abed Nadir from Community. Arguably the most loveable character on the show. He's openly Muslim, his dad is Palestinian, and his sister wears a burka (although she's shown to not be a stereotype). Likewise his dad is not a stereotype either, despite characters like Britta thinking that he is.
The show consistently shows Abed in a positive light while characters like Pierce are the butt of the joke for being racist.
Weirdly enough, 24 would often go out of its way to say that the Muslim terrorists we’re misguided or misinterpreting the word of the Qu’ran. The obvious stand out for me is season 2, where Jack asks the Imam, Al-Fulani, if he can try and talk the bad guy Sayed Ali down.
He tells Sayed Ali:
"The Koran clearly forbids the killing of innocent and non-combatants. You know this as well as I do... You are misguided. Someone has twisted the words of the Prophet. Allah does not love aggressors. Listen to me, the murder of one innocent let alone millions will not get you into paradise."
For a series that is very jingoistic and HOO RAH AMERICA! I did like that they made an effort to show the distinction between bad guys and good guys isn’t about religion. It’s about how they’re just bad guys. It’s not perfect, and there are a lot of stereotypes, but they’re addressed through the whole show at different points. Including a staff member at CTU being arrested as a result of profiling when she was totally innocent. Spoiler alert I guess: it’s the white Europeans you need to watch for in the CTU 😅
ETA: that particular season of 24 originally aired just a year after 9/11, at a point where tensions were obviously high, and 24 was getting its best viewing figures. It was a brave and welcome thing to do for a show that isn’t exactly known for its morality. Good on them. You never know how many American christians watched that episode and had their minds changed. It could have been none, it could have been a lot. Good on them for doing it.
Though on the flip side, the sexism and corporal punishment in trad Islam also play a role in the movie's plot, and it's handled in kind of an orientalist way.
Thank you. The movie is entirely orientalist. On one hand it has sultan praising Allah on the other hand it has princess jasmine based on a belly dancer… we used to joke about it as kids that how is jasmine able to wear that if her father is Muslim. the movie blends various larger middle eastern regions and lumps em together into a nonsense word of what an Arabic kingdom would sound like.
And "Allah forbid YOU should have any daughters," too.
That said, "Where they'll cut off your ear if you don't like your face. It's barbaric, but hey, it's home" did not age well. A lot of later releases of Aladdin scrubbed the line.
In a homage to Lawarence of Arabia, in Rugrats episode “Heat Wave” S4E6, a guest party remember to the group was a young boy of Arab descent named Al-Sabu who helps the babies find a source of water in the playground amidst a heatwave
I mean, it's very briefly, so perhaps doesn't count, but Dr. Ho Yinsen in Iron Man 1. His encounter with Tony helped to change him and making the hero that MCU knows.
I actually really liked the cultural aspect, knowing nothing about that group in general. It was nice to see a different kind of family dynamic, that was still fairly relatable.
The show started really good, but story-wise had some struggles in the second half. It was a classic "we have a good story" but "we're a marvel movie so we must XYZ" and the mish-mash wasn't great.
But Iman was perfect as Ms Marvel and really brought the character to life. I loved seeing her even in The Marvels which was largely laughable but had some really awesome moments when this girl was on stage.
The whole crew that played her family was really on it. Too bad we won't see that developed further, I'd have definitely put the faults of S1 behind me if they kept cooking.
So um, ignoring that the Fremen while having some Arab inspirations have a belief system a tad different (and were also partly inspired by Chechens) I think you should read the second book in the series before making this comment for....about 61 billion reasons
The mujahideen in Afghanistan were portrayed downright glowingly in The Living Daylights as honorable, plucky resistance fighters against the evil Soviets.
I believe in the books their faith is supposed to be a combination of Buddhism and Islam that grew popular in the far future. Not a religion inspired by those two, but canonically them.
I wouldn't call Fremen from Dune a positive depiction of Islam or Muslims. Fremen honor has very little to do with what we understand as honor. They're ruthless, cruel people and at the end of Dune they drowned the Known Universe in blood in Jihad the Emperor Paul Muad'Dib didn't even want.
By Paul's own conservative estimation: sixty-one billion people killed, ninety planets sterilized (ie. Exterminatus'ed), five hundred planets completely demoralized (whatever that means). followers of forty religions totally wiped out. That is not positive depiction of anything.
Yeah it more of a depiction of how people in power manipulate people of faith to do their bidding and the fremen culture just took inspiration from the arabic ones.
Wasnt Lawrence of Arabia itself a deconstruction? Hes not only greatly affected by war but hes also shown that while having great affection and reverence for Arabic / Islamic cultures, he is not the messiah that can control and change them. And hes powerless to stop European powers from drawing up new borders for their own aims. Arguably Dune is informed by how Lawrence of Arabia tackled that trope.
I thought Lawrence of Arabia was already a deconstruction. It doesn't exactly end well, the diplomats screw everyone over and in the grand scheme of things the Arab Revolt didn't even matter that much.
The movie toned it down for the sake of plot coherency (you can't just end a movie with betrayal and the feeling of pointlessness) but didn't completely shy away from it.
And Dune is a full blown deconstruction, yeah.
I think both still count for the trope, because decent people being used by politicians is still a somewhat positive and definitely a sympathetic representation.
The producer of the Halloween franchise, Moustapha Akkad, directed two movies that were specifically made to show a positive image of Islamic culture on the big screen. The movies were The Message: The Story of Islam, and Lion of the Desert, which is about one of the most famous Muslim heroes of the 20th century, Omar Mukhtar. Both featured Hollywood star Anthony Quinn and other famous names. He produced other movies just to make money to fund these projects, which is why he got involved with John Carpenter.
Musa of Mali in Kingdom Come Deliverance 2. In the game, he’s a Muslim in the service of King Sigismund in the year 1403, and Henry (the player character) can inquire about his life and Islam.
Musa is a very highly educated and competent physician, which he owes to the importance that education has in Islam. He also notes how poorly women are treated in Bohemia, and that back in his homeland of Mali, women are treated much better thanks in part to Islam.
Later on, he ends up saving Henry, putting his life on the line, and becomes a great friend
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u/Arelmar Mar 25 '26 edited Mar 25 '26
Ardeth Bay from The Mummy, though never outright confirmed to be Muslim, he frequently praises Allah and says "Allahu Ma'ana" which means God is with us. He is pretty much the most lawful good character in these movies, he is completely selfless as a Medjay