#islamic stories with ani

[islamicstorieswithani]

Ek zalim badshah ki kahani | zalim badshah ki kahani | badshah ki kahaniyan urdu mein Urdu and Hindi Badshah urdu story | chor ki kahaniyan | interesting moral stories in urdu & HindiYoutube Video https://youtu.be/6Tqg9sQ1kio Follow our other Social Media channels for More Updates Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@islamicstorieswithani Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/islamicstorieswithani/ Twitter : https://twitter.com/islamstoriesaniTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@islamicstorieswithani Likee: https://l.likee.video/p/S3W95xTumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/islamicstorieswithani Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/islamwithani/ Quora: https://ar.quora.com/profile/Islamic-Stories-With-Ani ================================================= Islamic Stories with Ani bring you Videos Related islam and Deen we want you to educate yourself in the teachings of islam. عانی کے ساتھ اسلامی کہانیاں آپ کے لیے اسلام اور دین سے متعلق ویڈیوز لاتی ہیں۔ہم چاہتے ہیں کہ آپ خود کو اسلام کی تعلیمات سے آگاہ کریں۔ #ramazan #RamadanMubarak #ramazan2023 #fastingin2023 #islamicstorieswithani #islamicrepublicofpakistan#islamicstorieswithani #paksitan #india #ramazan2023 #hindistories

#youtube #islam #urdu stories #hindi stories #interesting urdu #pakistan #india #deen islam #islamic stories #islamic stories with ani

[weldnas]

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#Seeing the dune part 2 american centric red carpet and as a devoted aficionado of the books and yk a moroccan person here are my 2 cents #Dune was one of the few Western works inspired by MENA culture that that felt genuine and respectful #But ofc despite the profound symbiosis with Middle Eastern and North African culture evident within the pages of the novels #the movie adaptation lack of substantive representation from these communities both in on-screen portrayals and within production roles was #very much disappointing in part 1 and i doubt there are any change now #While drawing inspiration from the Amazigh peoples of Algeria and Morocco #the film barely skims the surface of its MENA influences leaving substantial potential untapped #Herbert openly acknowledged the profound impact of Islam and MENA culture on his noveIs #from the metaphorical representation of Spice as oil #to the allegorical parallels drawn between the occupation of Arrakis and real-world MENA geopolitics #By marginalizing Arabs from the narrative fabric of Dune the essence of the story is being undermined particularly its anti-colonial core #the irony of this is kiIIing me because this was a direct resuIt of us impérialism on the middIe east #But the reality is that Dune is an American production tailored for an American audience so it makes sense for it to be what it is now #a big production running from its original essence #What adds to my disappointment is the fact that I liked Villeneuve's adaptation of Incendies and I had what you call foolish hope hfhg #Dune feIt Iike a squandered opportunity to authentically depict the cultural milieu that inspired it #Given the narrative's inherent anti-colonial themes #the omission of Arab and North African voices dilute its message if any of it is even left #without representation from Arabs and Amazigh people the cultural essence becomes another appropriated resource watered down to an aestheti #rather than serving as a critique of the destructive actions of colonialists seeking power and dominance #the narrative becomes susceptible to distortion and co-option by the very entities it was intended to condemn and hold accountable

[art-heap]

not going to watch ms marvel or engage with it at all but i’m definitely curious about Who Exactly decided Kamela’s power should come from Djinn and who decided to have Nakia look like that

Because whoever made those decisions knows exactly what they’re doing. Trying to make Muslim immigrants stomachable for white audiences and in doing so removing the aspects of religion and culture that defined so many characters in this series and moreover define us as people

#only seen the trailer #didn't like what they did with Nakia at all. Not at all #You guys don't understand the awareness of making the choice to wear a hijab especially in a non-muslim country nor the requirement to cover #the neck! Ilhan Omar might do it but she makes a choice and it could be cultural or because the US government would never let her set foot #in the government if she wore a full hijab. Either way I respect her choice but for someone to take what could be either a cultural thing or #a compromise between being a representative of your religion and roots AND your country and to then apply it to a character who #uncompromisingly embraced all aspects of her religion in the comics? and her knowledge and critical thinking of society from an islamic #perspective are her defining features? CHEAP #or nah about ilhan omar it's her personal preference fundamentally but any muslim knows there is a distinction between the 2 ways of wearing #hijab. and for the writers or whoever to apply that nakia is highly dubious #and im assuming that's the link theyre going for. They're going for 'well this muslim woman does it like this so there' THAT'S A HUMAN PERSO #PERSON WHO MADE A CHOICE. BASED ON THEIR VALUES. DO NOT CONFLATE ONE PERSON'S CHOICE WITH ANOTHER'S. #the author of ms marvel made a choice to have Nakia wear her hijab THIS way. Andh for her character to be Like This. Her Values like That #you know what im saying? this is also more insidious than changing plot points or characters for ordinary stories or percy jackson or whatev #because it's about islam. it's about representation or muslim minorities and islam in western media. most of us don't like being represented #in western media because it is NEVER an acceptable representation. here again it's distorted. #anyway i wil stop ranting in the tags #and the thing that bothers me is those are pretty big things already. so what else did they totally change to remove the islamic side

[4thbrighteststar]

</3

#no wait listen to me. listen to me #im south asian. my grandparents were muslim. my great aunt and uncle and their children and my parents siblings are all muslim #my parents aren't. they raised us without any religion. without even our national cultural ceremonies tied to islam #dont let yourself believe for a fucking second that has nothing to do 9/11 happening two years before i was born. two years before we moved #im south asian. my dad's first name is mohammed. when we catch a flight we get to the airport two hours earlier- #to account for the time it'll take my dad to be 'routinely stopped and searched' by airport security #routinely is right lmfao. it happens every time we fly #last time i was on an american airlines flight our checked luggage ended up across the continent and took two days to get to us #(my 12yo cousin gifted us an alarm clock that made an ominous ticking noise and we couldn't shut it the fuck up- #the luggage was labeled mohammed and coming from south asia. my sibling jokes it's a wonder we got it back) #im canadian. i cried my ass off to cfa tonight bc of how touching the story of a small town coming together to help a group of strangers is #(can't help thinking that never would've happened in a bigger city? but thereby lies another tale) #and god normally i hate 9/11 stories bc it feels like two sides of my identity being pitted against each other and it makes me so uncomfy #like as a canadian i should be sympathetic towards the states and at the same time im viscerally aware of the lasting prejudiced impacts #but cfa did it so beautifully #will never get over the 'thorough search' scene. 'you will never understand'. #the lump in my throat i get every time I watch my normally distinguished and tough and coolheaded father be pushed through airport security #how resigned he is to it. how he tries to stay dignified. how scared my mom gets every time. how rough they are with him #when he usually commands respect #and yet also the pride and the lump in my throat i got today knowing it was a little canadian town that made a difference #sigh enough out of me i just have a lot of feelings #come from away #team screams

[cruelsister-moved2]

sc below:

i hate this post wheneveri see it sorry lol i can smell the supersessionism. ‘there’s an old jewish story’ yep because judaism is just a quirky abstract reminiscence to help u fix the brokenness of ur own religion and not like a completely different religion with its own theology and philosophy unrelated to urs. there are no people it belongs to or thinkers it produces there is simply an ‘old story’ which you can now insert ur own very specific cultural understandings and theological baggage onto without wondering what the person who said that actually meant by it and if theywould enjoy u using it 2 talk about the guy who invented antisemitism n was forced down their throats for the next 2000 years 

#i dont even know which 'old jewish story' its referring to because #thats like a super common mystical idea #if anything it sounds like more at home in islamic mysticism but i guess #something something 'judeo christian' [starts coughing up blood] #im aware imbeing a hater its not that deep btu i feel like that was a final straw for me today #if nothing else in the world i want christians to know that when anyone from literally any other religion uses this word they are not #referring to the same thing you are. call it a semantic coincidence #i increasingly avoid using the word because its like it confuses more than it explains #its better that you approach other religions with a complete blank slate and assume ur learning abt different deities altogether than to #think u have any understanding of what another religious person means when they talk about their god/s #its like when a word meaning something as vague as to do wrong or to disobey etc #gets translated as sin and its like. sin connotes an inherently christian concept that no other religion shares #comparative religion stop ittttt fr just stop #im still laughing from when i was watching this video n it was like. comparative religion dramatic reenactment #andthen it was just the guy trying to shove a square block into a round hole like in one of those childrens toys.. #anywya theres more context to this but its not really relevant when this is how its being shared n expressed whatever blows up

[i-bring-crack]

I swear Christianity (and islam!! and islam!!!!!! PLEASE LOOK AT ISLAM!!!) has so many themes that can be esxplored in art and literature but they choose the same Noah, Moses, David, and Jesus stroylines (or the good ol modern christians puritan plot of atheist bad christ good) that Im so ready to snap back with catholic blasphemy.

#'oh but you can't draw anything of the prophets in islam!' you ever heard of refrences?? allegories?? #the quoran also has a lot of added information from the other prophets of judaism and christianity. #in the same way new indie works are starting to reference agnosticism or the book of enoch others could also reference prophets by #using them as inspirations for characters in other stories. #side rant but Iblis seems more of a cool character to explore than lucifer. mainly because The Devil #in chritianity is vague and also a metaphor for all encompassing evil #whereas Iblis can be seen as Evil but still have more than just a textbook defintion of Evil. #One ource states he asked directly to disway adam from Allah. #other sources state than he does have free will. as any other jinn. to be neutral or good or evil. but mainly chooses to turn people #away from Allah. #He is also more likely to be in hell whereas The Satan from the bible is more just trhown into a lake of fire. his second death. #and God knows what the heck any of the Apocalypse is supposed to mean #so yeah Iblis. and other jinns. I need more media (mainly western media) to focus on these little guys. #omg and yeah #THEY ARENT EVEN FALLEN ANGELS so the whole theology of whenever or not angels can revel is just #thrown into the lake of fire

[fairuzfan]

This post is for the anon who sent me that video asking me to debunk it's claims so they can be better equipped against accusations of antisemitism.

Sorry, I won't post the video since I refuse to have that man on my blog but I can give you common Zionist talking points and the illogicality behind it.

To preface: most of the questions Zionists will ask you are a trap, and will make you fall into a "rabbit hole" (as I was once told when I was younger), as we try to apply their reasoning. My advice is to ALWAYS center the humanity of Palestinians. For example, when a Zionist says:

"Don't Jews deserve a homeland to be safe?"

It fundamentally ignores the core issue: Palestinians are being raped, murdered, and expelled from their homes so that the establishment of this so called "homeland" may exist. When people ask this to you, I personally advise saying something like:

Why must Palestinians suffer for the establishment of this homeland?

Always recenter to the issue at hand—the inhumane removal and treatment of Palestinians.

"Palestine belongs to the Jews and Not Muslims"

The whole premise of this claim is flawed—there is a weird tendency to equate Arab/Palestinian=Muslim when it just is like. Completely untrue. There are Palestinian Christians, Bethlehem is famously a Christian city, who have been there for centuries. There are Palestinian Jews, who have been there for centuries. There are Palestinian Muslims, who have been there for centuries. My grandpa told me stories of how he would turn on lamps for his Jewish neighbors in Al-Khalil (or Hebron) during Shabbat.

To claim that Palestine is EITHER Islamic or Jewish doesn't make any sense and completely neglects the fact that dissemination of culture has occurred for centuries, as well as the intermingling of people throughout generations. To somehow assert that for some reason, Jews and Muslims did not have ANYTHING to do with each other—did not create together, did not build families together, did not build culture together, all while being PALESTINIAN—is incredibly racist and nonsensical. "Palestinian" is not a religious identity—it's a cultural and ethnic one.

Also, it does not negate the core issue—Palestinians are being killed, removed, and tortured so that others can live on that land.

"Well what about [something about partitioning land]?"

Honestly like, who cares about the partitioning throughout the 1900 and early 2000s. Sorry, I'm not going to list the whole "partitioning" history nonsense. The whole reason "Israel" exists is because of a Mass Exodus, murder, and rape of Palestinians. Everything after that is rendered obsolete.

"Well, I heard Palestinians allied with Hitler"

I don't know how to tell you this but Palestine was under British Control. No they didn't.

"Israel withdrew from the Gaza and left them to themselves and they put Hammas in charge"

Oh yeah, Israel totally left Gaza, that's why Gazans' water, electricity, internet, and food is completely controlled by Israel (this is sarcasm, Israel still controls basic life in Gaza).

Go back to centering the idea that no human deserves to be shoved into an open-air prison, starved, and controlled. Did you know that the Zionist Entity controls the amount of water Gazans receive, as well as counting their calories to ensure they don't have enough energy on a day to day basis?

"I heard Israel asked Arabs to stay"

Show them these papers and videos when they say this:

If you can't show them these videos, check in the next point what to say.

"Well the Palestinians left of their own will in 1948"

Palestinians in 1948 didn't "leave." They had heard of how the Zionist Entity was slaughtering Palestinians en masse. Women especially heard stories of rape and sexual violence. They fled from *violence*. Again, from an earlier post, that this was a calculated effort on the Zionist Entity's part to try and get them to "leave" on their own and "abandon" their houses so that they can come in and say "hey, they left on their own so, we can come in and take their houses now."

Anyways, the idea that once you leave your house you can't ever come back to it is incredibly odd to me as an argument on Zionists' part. Like if you leave your house right now to go to the grocery store and you come back and see someone in your house and they're like "sorry dude, this is my house now, you left so that means you can't come back," you'd be like, "what the hell!" It would be even weirder if everyone agreed with the guy who took your house, which is what happened to Palestinians.

In Al-Khalil, or Hebron, Palestinians always have to have someone stay in their house or else a Settler will come in and take it from them. So it still goes on today as well.

This is not a point, but when that one person in the video said "Arabs lived under Israeli rule" and showed a clip of a bustling city with mountains, I'm pretty sure that was Amman, Jordan, not Palestine lol. Those buildings in the mountains look like how downtown Amman builds the residential areas. Could be wrong tho.

"There are no Jews living under Palestinian rule in Palestine"

What is this, some sort of gotcha argument? What are they trying to prove, the racist (obviously false) notion that Palestinians hate Jews as a whole? How do they know no Palestinian Jew lives in Gaza? Also, Settlers in Palestinian Territory exist??? I had never heard this claim before, its incredibly stupid lol. You're automatically a citizen of "Israel" if you're Jewish, whether or not you live in or outside of Palestinian Territories. So of course technically they don't live under Palestinian rule, they're granted full rights as an "Israeli" citizen automatically!

Go back to talking about the inhumane treatment of Palestinians, I wouldn't bring up the above counterpoint unless they really won't let it go since the main point is mistreatment.

"Why are Christians supporting Israel then, if it's a secular issue rather than a religious one?"

Well actually for a couple reasons:

Oil interests and regional control of goods (White People Supporting White People).

Weird fundamentalist ideology where they want to enact the second coming of Christ.

And finally because they are racist and don't think Arab Christians deserve to live. They literally bombed a 1500+ year church the other day. Why would (White) Christians cosign that.

Anyways, its a stupid argument again, because it forgets the core issue of Palestinians dying and being displaced.

In summary, always go back to the point of centering the Palestinians being displaced, tortured, and murdered, no matter the argument a Zionist gives you.

#palestine #gaza #info post #maybe i should do a masterpost with links to palestine education #maybe later #Youtube

[booksandwords]

That Can Be Arranged: A Muslim Love Story by Huda Fahmy

Read time: 1 Day Rating: 5/5 Stars

The Quote:  Biodata (noun): personal information about one's life, work, family, personality, goals, financial status, values, beliefs, health history, favourite Pokemon, and preferences about things both religious and secular. Think super-detailed Tinder profile, except instead of dating, they'd get married.

This makes me laugh while being informative. It's an effective way to tell a memoir-style story. I like the style Huda Fahmy has, the choices she makes. That choice to always draw herself with a hijab at all times even when those are not situations where a hijab would be worn is a good one, it likely reflects as she was in the moment, and as she says the book's Huda is simply an extension of her. I appreciate the choice to add a statement to correct some of the assumptions about behaviour for wearing a hijab.

I do not show with it on. I do not sleep with it on. I do take it off to get my hair done. I do take it off at "ladies only" weddings. I do not cover when I'm at home. I do not cover in front of my husband.

There is just something appealing about getting a look into another culture. There are a couple of cute moments like the likening of Austen to Islam, the ticking clock and young Huda's adorable self. There is so much sass in the writing. It has a lovely art style and feels like it perfectly suits Huda's personality of fun and intelligence. I think this could serve as something of an education both to non-Islamic and Islamic people. The Islamic is only a guess because this is a woman who married later than is the norm and is more than happy with her actions. (I apologise to anyone I insult with that statement). For those of us who are not Muslim, it is clearly a way to dispel some misunderstandings. Look it's really cute and I adore this, Huda is a very expressive artist. I think more people should read it. Just because it is readable and a good introduction to the world of Islamic women.

#no offence is intended #i apologise profusely for any caussed #that can be arraged #huda fahmy #book review #that can be arranged: a muslim love story #islam #graphic novel #memoir #ktreviews #read 2022 #booklr

[charliecharlston]

my biggest gripe with the pro palestinian movement is the lying. you can have empathy and feel remorse for gazans without lying and peddling every antisemetic trope in the book

you can realise that palestinian arabs did not kindly welcome jews who made aliyah before and after the shoah, they are not indigenous or the canaanites, they have been violent against israelis and jews, a lot of them do support hamas, the nakba was a war started by palestinians that they lost to israel, the palestinian national identity is reactionary to the israeli national identity, palestinians are not genetically distinct grom other arabs in the middle east, palestine is literally a colonial name given to the land by the romans to mock the jews living there to sever our connection to the land and STILL have empathy for palestinians. you can realise that they arent a perfect innocent victim and still have empathy for them. the source of their suffering isnt israel or jews, its the antisemitic and imperialistic goals of islamist leaders AND STILL. FEEL. REMORSE

if you need to distort the history of this land and its people and use antisemitic tropes in order to support palestine, you are the fucking problem!!!!! arabs are to the middle east what white people are to the west, and they are not victims just be they face oppression if they live in the west. go speak to any person from the indigenous populations of the middle east and levant and they can tell u all abt what islamism and arabs have done to them snd their families if u refuse to believe us sneaky lying je- i mean zionists. oh wait, its gonna be so hard to do that bc the arab world is doing everything in its power to kill them all

tl dr, you dont need to lie to have empathy for palestinians. you can accept the dirty past of palestinians (just as many israelis still love this country despite it flaws, less then pretty history and incompetent, corrupt government) and still empathise and believe in their self determination alongside jewish and israeli self determination. the need to lie, distort and discredit the jewish and israeli story shows your true (antisemetic) colors

(this is a rant from feb that u put on my insta story, thought it should be seen here)

#ישראבלר #leftist antisemitism #טאמבלר ישראלי #jewish #ישראלים #יהדות #antisemitism #israel #i/p #i/p war #i/p conflict #i/p stuff

[cryptotheism]

So I was reading a book on the history of double-entry bookkeeping in early-modern Britain today ("A History of the Modern Fact", by Mary Poovey), and the author mentioned offhand that numbers, far from being afforded universal respect in the late 16th century, actually carried pejorative associations with necromancy and black magic. Can you comment on this?

So, for most of human history, math has kinda been associated with magic. The fact that you can write a bunch of shapes on paper, and then manipulate those symbols to make a really good bridge, is kinda fucking crazy when you think about it.

"England in the late 16th century" is right about when John Dee died. It was after his death that his wizard notebooks were discovered and published. The fact that one of the queens most trusted confidants was actually literally trying to talk to angels with magic, was kinda the story of the century. It was around this time that Shakespeare wrote The Tempest, which featured a heavily John Dee inspired Prospero.

Dee's most significant contribution to England was actually his skill at cartography. Simply by correcting some astronomical math and pouring over charts, he figured out how to shortcut weeks off trade routes to India. The relationship between astronomy, mathematics, and Dee being a wizard, was not lost on English pop culture.

So, if you were an old guy in 1626 with a beard who spent all of his time cloistered in a big castle, and all you did was weird math, people might half-seriously speculate that you might be doing some wizard shit.

Additionally, this is a period where many mathematics texts from the Islamicate world were making their way to England. And you've gotta understand that like 25% of these Arabic math textbooks straight up had spells in them. Any English collegiate mathematician at this time would at least be tangentially aware that Islamic polymaths were doing some pseudo-religious stuff with mathematics. But that doesn't mean it was taken seriously beyond commonplace orientalism.

So I'm not sure if I would go so far as to say that numbers themselves had a negative association with magic. Like, accountants had normal boring math to do all the time and nobody cared.

I would say that mathematics were occasionally regarded with suspicion under specific circumstances.

[writingwithcolor]

Sri Lankan Fairies and Senegalese Goddesses: Mixing Mythology as a Mixed Creator

[Note: this archive ask was submitted before the Masterpost rules took effect in 2023. The ask has been abridged for clarity.]

@reydjarinkenobi asked:

Hi, I’m half Sri Lankan/half white Australian, second gen immigrant though my mum moved when she was a kid. My main character for my story is a mixed demigod/fae. [...] Her bio mum is essentially a Scottish/Sri Lankan fairy and her other bio mum (goddess) is a goddess of my own creation, Nettamaar, who’s name is derived from [...] Wolof words [...]. The community of mages that she presided over is from the South Eastern region of Senegal [...] In the beginning years of European imperialism, the goddess basically protected them through magic and by blessing a set of triplets effectively cutting them off from the outside world for a few centuries [...] I was unable to find a goddess that fit the story I wanted to tell [...] and also couldn’t find much information on the internet for local gods, which is why I have created my own. I know that the gods in Hinduism do sort of fit into [the story] but my Sri Lankan side is Christian and I don’t feel comfortable representing the Hindu gods in the way that I will be this goddess [...]. I wanted to know if any aspect of the community’s history is problematic as well as if I should continue looking further to try and find an African deity that matched my narrative needs? I was also worried that having a mixed main character who’s specifically half black would present problems as I can’t truly understand the black experience. I plan on getting mixed and black sensitivity readers once I finish my drafts [...] I do take jabs at white supremacy and imperialism and I I am planning to reflect my feelings of growing up not immersed in your own culture and feeling overwhelmed with what you don’t know when you get older [...]. I’m sorry for the long ask but I don’t really have anyone to talk to about writing and I’m quite worried about my story coming across as insensitive or problematic because of cultural history that I am not educated enough in.

Reconciliation Requires Research

First off: how close is this world’s history to our own, omitting the magic? If you’re aiming for it to be essentially parallel, I would keep in mind that Senegal was affected by the spread of Islam before the Europeans arrived, and most people there are Muslim, albeit with Wolof and other influences. 

About your Scottish/Sri Lankan fairy character: I’ll point you to this previous post on Magical humanoid worldbuilding, Desi fairies as well as this previous post on Characterization for South Asian-coded characters for some of our commentary on South Asian ‘fae’. Since she is also Scottish, the concept can tie back to the Celtic ideas of the fae.

However, reconciliation of both sides of her background can be tricky. Do you plan on including specific Sri Lankan mythos into her heritage? I would tread carefully with it, if you plan to do so. Not every polytheistic culture will have similar analogues that you can pull from.

To put it plainly, if you’re worried about not knowing enough of the cultural histories, seek out people who have those backgrounds and talk to them about it. Do your research thoroughly: find resources that come from those cultures and read carefully about the mythos that you plan to incorporate. Look for specificity when you reach out to sensitivity readers and try to find sources that go beyond a surface-level analysis of the cultures you’re looking to portray. 

~ Abhaya

I see you are drawing on Gaelic lore for your storytelling. Abhaya has given you good links to discussions we’ve had at WWC and the potential blindspots in assuming, relative to monotheistic religions like Christianity, that all polytheistic and pluralistic lore is similar to Gaelic folklore. Fae are one kind of folklore. There are many others. Consider:

Is it compatible? Are Fae compatible with the Senegalese folklore you are utilizing? 

Is it specific? What ethnic/religious groups in Senegal are you drawing from? 

Is it suitable? Are there more appropriate cultures for the type of lore you wish to create?

Remember, Senegalese is a national designation, not an ethnic one, and certainly not a designation that will inform you with respect to religious traditions. But more importantly:

...Research Requires Reconciliation

My question is why choose Senegal when your own heritage offers so much room for exploration? This isn’t to say I believe a half Sri-Lankan person shouldn’t utilize Senegalese folklore in their coding or vice-versa, but, to put it bluntly, you don’t seem very comfortable with your heritage. Religions can change, but not everything cultural changes when this happens. I think your relationship with your mother’s side’s culture offers valuable insight to how to tackle the above, and I’ll explain why.  

I myself am biracial and bicultural, and I had to know a lot about my own background before I was confident using other cultures in my writing. I had to understand my own identity—what elements from my background I wished to prioritize and what I wished to jettison. Only then was I able to think about how my work would resonate with a person from the relevant background, what to be mindful of, and where my blindspots would interfere. 

I echo Abhaya’s recommendation for much, much more research, but also include my own personal recommendation for greater self-exploration. I strongly believe the better one knows oneself, the better they can create. It is presumptuous for me to assume, but your ask’s phrasing, the outlined plot and its themes all convey a lack of confidence in your mixed identity that may interfere with confidence when researching and world-building. I’m not saying give up on this story, but if anxiety on respectful representation is a large barrier for you at the moment, this story may be a good candidate for a personal project to keep to yourself until you feel more ready.

(See similar asker concerns here: Running Commentary: What is “ok to do” in Mixed-Culture Supernatural Fiction, here: Representing Biracial Black South American Experiences and here: Am I fetishizing my Japanese character?)

- Marika.

Start More Freely with Easy Mode

Question: Why not make a complete high-fantasy universe, with no need of establishing clear real-world parallels in the text? It gives you plenty of leg room to incorporate pluralistic, multicultural mythos + folklore into the same story without excessive sweating about historically accurate worldbuilding.

It's not a *foolproof* method; even subtly coded multicultural fantasy societies like Avatar or the Grishaverse exhibit certain harmful tropes. I also don't know if you are aiming for low vs high fantasy, or the degree of your reliance on real world culture / religion / identity cues.

But don't you think it's far easier for this fantasy project to not have the additional burden of historical accuracy in the worldbuilding? Not only because I agree with Mod Marika that perhaps you seem hesitant about the identity aspect, but because your WIP idea can include themes of othering and cultural belonging (and yes, even jabs at supremacist institutions) in an original fantasy universe too. I don't think I would mind if I saw a couple of cultural markers of a Mughal Era India-inspired society without getting a full rundown of their agricultural practices, social conventions and tax systems, lol.

Mod Abhaya has provided a few good resources about what *not* to do when drawing heavily from cultural coding. With that at hand, I don't think your project should be a problem if you simply make it an alternate universe like Etheria (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power), Inys (The Priory of the Orange Tree) or Earthsea (the Earthsea series, Ursula K. Le Guin). Mind you, we can trace the analogues to each universe, but there is a lot of freedom to maneuver as you wish when incorporating identities in original fantasy. And of course, multiple sensitivity readers are a must! Wishing you the best for the project.

- Mod Mimi

#asks #multiracial #multicultural #south asian #sri lankan #senegalese #west african #identity #representation #worldbuilding #fantasy #mythology #folklore #fairies #deities #adoption #identity issues #mixed experiences #coding

[ghelgheli]

The tradition that Satan invented poetry, mentioned by Shams-e Qays, is in part inspired by an ancient Arabian notion that personal “satans,” much like the “demons” of the ancient Greeks, were responsible for creative impulses. A far more important source of the complex personality of Satan in Islam is the Koranic story of Satan’s first disobedience. According to the Koran, after God molded man from clay and breathed life into him, He ordered the angels to bow before man, and one among the angels—Satan—refused and declared, “I am better than he; You created me from fire and You created him from earth.” And for this God expelled and cursed Satan. Satan, however, asked and was granted a respite from God’s judgment until the day of the Resurrection, and Satan said, “Then, by Your power I will surely lead them all astray, except for Your servants among them, those pure in heart.” Satan’s independence among the angels, God’s willingness to give him a respite, and Satan’s obedient acknowledgment that he was the instrument of God’s power suggested a more interesting Prince of Darkness than a mere “personification of evil,” however full-bloodedly evil this personification might seem in some Koranic passages. The Sufis gazed at the possibilities of this complex Satan with fascination and, especially in the Persian-speaking Eastern Islamic world, they developed an alternate Satan. This Satan was the ultimate monotheist, the angel whose worship of God was so single-hearted that he refused to bow to man because he would bow only to God, the “lover” whose love was so unreserved that he accepted a role of alienation from the Divine Beloved because of his loving obedience to the divine command. The morally rehabilitated Satan is, in fact, a kind of martyr. In the poetry of Attar, Satan explains his motives, his suffering, and his understanding of God’s secret purpose in casting him out:

Far off stood I, yet I cannot abide that for even a moment anyone else except me behold that Face …

Far off stood I, in a state of gloom from separation, because I do not have the radiance of that union’s intimacy.

Although I have been banished from His threshold, I do not turn my head a jot from His path.

From the moment I set my foot in the Beloved’s alley I have not looked in any direction but His;

Since I am now the intimate companion to the secret’s meaning, I shall not look—not even the slightest bit—at anyone else.

The Mantle of the Prophet, Roy Mottahedeh

#deen #reading #vatan #roy mottahedeh

[i-cant-sing]

Baldwin's so damn sweet i keep forgetting that he's supposed to be a yandere lol

Can't wait to see what salauddin is like as a yandere though

Thank u, buff hellokitty

he is such a cutie patootie because you know that niqaab where he embroidered a flower on the sleeve for reader? Guess what else he embroidered in? His name on the inside of the left breast because this way he's closest to your heart.

Honestly Baldwin is such a green flag, i mean this man wakes up and as soon as he's seen you, he gives gold every day to be distributed as charity because he doesnt want you to fall victim to any evil eye (yknow, when people look at you in envy) because in his eyes, youre just too damn perfect.

Did I mention that he needs to have at least 1, if not ALL meals of the day with you? And to melt your heart a little more, Baldwin ensures that you take the first and the last bite of his meal (ofc from his hands. He likes to feed you)

As for Salauddin, well he hosts you two a lot at his place and he pretends to be so disgusted at the way Baldwin looks at u with goo goo eyes, but boy is the Kurdish man JEALOUS because ayo why tf is Baldwin looking so fucking content whenever he's with you? Why does Baldwin's smile and eyes remind him of cool breeze in summer when he looks at you? You cannot possible be that beautiful. But how would Salauddin know for sure because you want to always wear a niqaab and hide your face because "Islam and respecting his traditions" but he knows for a fact that you dont adhere to veiling yourself when you return to jerusalem. His spies told him, and on his inquiry they did tell him that youre not that pretty.

Maybe its the way you talk. You do have the gift of gab and you do tell the most interesting stories. And he does enjoy listening to your religious views too. Youre not- not as conservative as someone would be when they possess such a vast amount of Islamic knowledge- almost as much as his scholars and sufis. No, youre quite... modern, open minded. You really do believe in their being "two sides of the coin". And youre quiet the chess player too and from his last game, it was clear that you werent playing the game... you were playing him.

He doesnt know how, but he for some reason Salauddin knows that you will hurt Baldwin very deeply one day. And it scares him a bit because he doesnt know how the young king will react. He's seen Baldwin on the battlefield, he's seen the way he treats traitors, you do not want to get on his bad side.

Meanwhile Baldwin is just trying to convince Salauddin to be Imam (basically a muslim pastor?) to officiate their nikkah and Salauddin is just telling him shut up.

#yandere baldwin #yandere king baldwin #yandere x darling #male yandere #yandere salauddin #yandere baldwin iv

[mrjocrafter]

*this can take any form, from the Christo-Islamic apocalypse story, to an everlasting kingdom, to a regular apocalypse, so long as it involves our current world ending.

**Seventh-Day Adventist

***Iglesia ni Cristo

****Jehovah's Witnesses

i ran out of options lol

#polls #i love polls #theology #religion #eschatology #apocalypse

[oldshrewsburyian]

As much as I adore your (highly) interesting takes on medievalism and how it differs from what we actually know (or hypothesize) about the medieval period, I don't think I've ever asked: are there any books set in either the real middle ages or some fantasy approximation of the period that you WOULD recommend? They don't have to be "perfect" representations, obviously, but it would be nice to learn about any books that side-step the usual potholes. Thank you!

Hi, friend! A of all, thank you; B of all, there are and I would. From the following list it will become apparent that my criteria are idiosyncratic. Really, I think, the most important thing for my own enjoyment -- for any historical fiction, but especially for that set in the place/time I know best -- is that the work and its author are exploring the period as a way of opening up a conversation between past and present, rather than looking down on the past from the vantage point of the contemporary. This sententious prolegomenon concluded:

The Book Smuggler, Omaima Al-Khamis (eleventh-century Islamicate world, about knowledge and wisdom and religious intolerance)

Morality Play, Barry Unsworth (fourteenth-century England, about justice and law and vocation and community)

The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco (doesn't need my introduction, hilarious and deeply poignant meta-meditation on the genre of the detective story, also on theological debates and the love of one's neighbor and the nature of fear)

Sword at Sunset, Rosemary Sutcliff (fifth-century post-Roman Britain, has some clichés, also some magic, but is so richly imagined and full of people I love. Also good dogs.)

Cadfael Chronicles, Ellis Peters (twelfth-century England; I was wondering why I love these so much and I think a lot of it comes back to how much Ellis Peters loved the particular place she lived/set the books in, and watching the changing of the seasons there, so that that close observation of time -- very medieval! -- is also central. Inequality isn't made invisible or grotesque here, either, and it's often one or the other in Fictional Medieval Europe.)

Isaac of Girona mysteries, Caroline Roe (C14 Spain, also whodunits, but I cannot resist including this charming series about a blind Jewish doctor and his beloved wife and his daughters and the orphan he adopts and his chess-playing buddy the bishop and and and....! It's great.)

The History of the Siege of Lisbon, José Saramago (C12/C20 Portugal, called "metafiction about the instability of history and the reality assumed by fiction" by Kirkus Reviews and... yeah!)

She Who Became The Sun, Shelley Parker-Chan (C15 Ming China, with ghosts, definitely fantasy rather than regular historical fiction, and on the cusp of early modernity, also so so interesting)

The Apothecary's Shop, Roberto Tiraboschi (C12 Venice, deeply weird -- affectionate -- and drawing on Calvino and gialli as well as medieval history; some inaccuracies about women and medicine but I still found it compelling and thought-provoking)

#historical fiction #fun with medievalism #book recommendations #asks and answers

[luminalunii97]

People outside of iran are asking how they can help. I can suggest these options:

Be our voice, spread our stories. It's important to share what's happening in Iran as much as you can. The more people hear about it, the harder it gets for governments to deny it. Acknowledgment can be a tool here.

Have peaceful gatherings and protests in front of Iran embassy in your country of residence if possible. Obviously I don't want anyone to get in trouble but if you live in a country that allows freedom of speech and peaceful protests, do it. The sense of solidarity alone helps our courage.

Demand your government to un-recognize our government as legit. We do not know Islamic republic of Iran as our representative government, we wish other countries to stop shaking hands and welcoming Islamic republic politicians in international affairs. Iran's current government is not recognized by majority of people and it shouldn't be by other nations. You can demand this by just tweeting and posting about it.

Thank you in advance for any help you're able to do. We appreciate it.

#iran #help iran #iran protests #mahsa amini #politics #united nations #freedom #women rights #human rights