USA TODAY International Edition
Muslims find inspiration in science fiction
Looking for a sense of belonging in an era when Muslims often face suspicion and prejudice, Farah Rishi stepped across the threshold to another world, one of fantasy and scientific wonders.
In a novel by Octavia Butler, an African-American woman whose science fiction writings expressed her frustrations as a woman of color, Rishi found strength and inspiration.
“Here was a space this author carved out for herself, her people, her culture and her experience,” said Rishi, 28, an environmental law attorney born in the United States of Pakistani parents. wanted to do that too.”
Next year, Rishi, a Philadelphia resident, will publish her own science fiction novel, “I Hope You Get This Message,” about young people who save Earth from destruction by more advanced beings. She will join the ranks of Muslims who create or consume science fiction and fantasy.
Accustomed to stories in which Muslims are more frequently sidekicks or villains, many of these writers make them central characters instead. One of Rishi’s three main characters is a young Muslim man. Her book will be published as a young adult novel, one of the hottest markets in the book world.
“Science fiction provides a way of speaking about the Muslim community that shows Muslims have the same concerns and issues as everyone else,” said Rebecca Hankin, a research librarian at Texas A&M Universit. Hankin, a Muslim, said the genre “is concerned with climate change, science, race, with our place in the universe.”
Muslims’ interest in speculative fiction extends beyond the United States to countries that include Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Pakistan and the Gulf States, said Muhammad Aurangzeb Ahmad, editor of two anthologies of contemporary science fiction by Muslim writers.
“After the Arab Spring (uprisings that began in 2010) there have been a number of dystopian stories of good quality that reflect what is going on in those countries,” he said.
Hankin said science fiction written by Muslims outside the U.S. is often pessimistic because many work in an atmosphere of marginalization, oppression and violence. Muslim-American authors write “much more positive, heroic, and optimistic works that paint Muslims in much more favorable storylines.”