A List of Appropriate Islamic Fiction

Introduction

Assalamu 'alaykum warahmatullah wabarakatuh.

Dear Reader/Author:

I have been on Wattpad since 2012, and I started posting my own work in late 2013 or early 2014. I have in recent years completely given up non-Islamic fiction--unless it's an educational requirement, such as in the case of school--and I will only read Islamic fiction. While Wattpad has made that decision easy on me since there are a wide range of authors writing Islamic fiction on here, the dilemma is that many of the books I find on here are not actually very Islamic at all.

The most "Islamic" thing the character does in many of the books is put on her scarf before walking out the door, while the rest of things she does in the book just conflict with how Islam actually is. Yes, no one is perfect in real life, but the stories I refer to may as well as be non-Islamic since the only thing that seems to specify they're not is that the characters are supposedly Muslim. A story doesn't have to have a perfect Muslim in it, but the author should make the effort to clarify within the context of the book when the character is doing something that is against Islam.

I hold the opinion that writing fiction, as a Muslim, should be with the intention to teach others about Islam in some way, not solely for entertainment. There are of course Islamic books that would give greater knowledge than a fictional story, but people--particularly teens--are more drawn to fiction, so implementing Islamic knowledge and lessons into a story is a must. In one of my visits to Islam QA, I found a question in which a person asked the permissibility of writing fiction, and the scholar's reply was that it is only permissible if the person does so to spread knowledge and awareness of Islam, so I hold myself to that in my own writing.

This is a list of Islamic fiction I have read and found most appropriate in Islamic context in comparison to many others. Most of them are not completely Islamic, and there will be flaws, but they are better reading material than others I have seen. My books are also included in the list.

If you would like your book to be included in my list, feel free to send me a message, and I will check out the book to decide if it fits the requirements. The book is not required to be unique--I don't mind cliché books if they are well-written. The book should be Islamic in the true sense, in which the author tries to implement Islamic lessons or knowledge into the chapters, and if the character does something wrong in the context of the book, it should be clarified by the author that it is not permissible in Islam.

I hope you enjoy the books listed as much as I have.

Jazakumillah khair.

Sharifah Zaid AlHadhrami