Fiction & Storytelling through a Muslim Lens

Author's Note: This was originally written in June 27, 2025, but I'm 2 months late posting it - currently August 14, 2025. Happy belated new year to my fellow Muslims! May Allah bless us all in the ways we each sorely need. Ameen! 

Fanciful stories they may be, but fictional tales are powerful things. Often, we neglect them at our own peril. Words are powerful - and because they are powerful, they are dangerous. As with any art which elicits emotion, and which passes on its message through entertainment, fiction stories are a strong method through which we can convey an array of lessons to children and adults alike.  

There's a lot of noise out there - a lot of confusion and a lot of question marks. Debates abound about what it means to be a good Muslim man or woman, what's obligatory and what's not, what you can consume and what you need to shun at all cost. Interpretations, opinions, arguments, and even cultural beliefs tip the balances as we figure out what is best for ourselves and for our loved ones. 

I'm not going to pretend that I have any of it figured out. Some of the big questions are still swirling through my head. But there is one thing that I'm pretty certain about, and that is that fiction, and storytelling in any format, has gotten a bad reputation, and that it should, in fact, be embraced rather than villified.

Benefits of Storytelling

There's a common belief that storytelling is nothing more than a mere distraction. Something that serves only to pull people away from the correct path, that makes them stray from their obligations and responsibilities. I don't subscribe to this belief.

True, as a lover of storytelling and a writer myself, I'm probably as biased as it gets. Nevertheless, I am also an educator, and because of my identity as a Muslim and my love for writing stories, I have spent many, many hours considering this belief - and considering whether or not I should put down the plume, so to speak. I've come to the conclusion that writing is a lot like a knife.

You can use a knife to cut fruits and vegetables, to cut and prepare meat, to slice your bread; to ultimately prepare and put food on the table. You can use it to cut herbs, or sharpen a pencil, or even carve wood or leather. How important a knife is to our most basic of needs. 

But you can also use a knife to hurt other people, or to harm animals. The knife exists; it is a tool. How you use it, and what you do with it, isn't the knife's responsibility. It's yours. The knife, in other words, isn't inherently evil because it is sharp and has the ability to cut things. 

While stories are a great deal more complex than a simple knife, the same concept applies. The art of writing, too, can be seen as a tool through which you convey a message. What that message is, however, is your responsibility. It isn't the art of storytelling (which includes writing fiction) that is evil in and of itself; it shoulders no responsibility for what man decides to do with it. 

Therein lies the core of my opinion on the matter, but there's more to it than just that. Consider the way in which we are taught in the Quran - through stories of those who came before us, used as examples to teach us critical lessons and impart upon us the importance of certain rulings. Consider how the hadeeth was passed down, narrated in the form of stories - so-and-so did this, and the Prophet (SAW) said this, and so on - to deliver to us the important lessons that our Prophet (SAW) left us. Real stories - all of these - but storytelling all the same.

So, storytelling on its own is no evil thing, and certainly not a waste of time. The way that our brains are wired, we remember stories much better than we remember random facts or lessons. For example, telling you that lying so much means that nobody will ever trust you again is all good and well - but telling you the story of the boy who cried wolf will really drive the lesson home. Stories give us a safe space to experience all sorts of emotions and outcomes without actually experiencing them ourselves, and therefore we learn the lessons attached to them without having to undergo those difficult challenges ourselves. It's also how we build and enhance connections between people and groups, and their cultures and ideas. 

When we write fiction with these thoughts in mind, it's easy to understand why it can be so beneficial, and not just for young children. I still remember the stories of Juha, funny fictional tales of a man who seemed to get himself into all sorts of trouble, and the lessons that those stories taught. I remember a Moroccan storybook that I had called Il faut que justice soit faite, a story about injustice and how members of a community can stand together to make change, told through the fantastical lens of a greedy housewife who blames her greed on the cat, and the fallout that takes place as a result of her lies.

And as I got older, there were more books, more stories. They entertained, but each and every one of them taught, too (even the ones you wouldn't think have much to teach).  

How to Approach Fiction 

The issue that most people have with fiction isn't that it exists as something you can enjoy and consume. I think that labeling it as a waste of time and an evil hobby is just the lazy way of pushing the real problem aside. The true issue is that people can write entertaining stories that can teach others anything. There are, for example, a slew of fictional storybooks aimed at children that teach them a range of beliefs which go against the teachings of Islam. Naturally, you wouldn't want your children to read these stories as a Muslim parent. It's understandable to feel so overwhelmed by all of it - especially if you live in a predominantly non-Muslim environment - and simply decide that it's all bad. Out with the whole lot!

But children enjoy play, and they enjoy exploring, and they are naturally curious. Stories, as we've seen, are critical to enduring educational experiences. Storytelling, and fictional stories in particular, are also found literally everywhere in today's world. There's the internet, and there are books, and there are podcasts, and audiobooks, and comics, and cartoons, and movies, and series, and video games, and advertisements, and social media, and -- They're everywhere! Banning them completely is not realistic. 

When we grow older and learn to critically analyze the media we consume, it becomes a lot easier to understand why a certain piece of fiction is "good" or "bad" on certain religious scales. We can do that ourselves. However, it should be noted that that's a skill-set that we learn through literature and media literacy classes, as well as a whole lot of practice, and it takes time to develop. Not developing this skill-set leaves you vulnerable to ideologies that aren't healthy, among many other things. Moreover, this also requires a strong foundation in our own beliefs - an understanding of Islamic values and teachings that allows us to critically consume the media we are exposed to.

Very young children don't have the skills just yet to figure all of these things out for themselves. This means that a great deal of supervision and attention has to go to our children and the books that are made available to them, whether in their libraries or in their schools or even in the home. As our children grow and turn into teens, they'll naturally want to explore a range of different topics that often we tell them are taboo, and that pushes them to seek answers elsewhere - whether that's in steamy romance novels, or inappropriate comics, or even explicit movies. 

Once again, it's so easy to push away the whole issue, uncomfortable as it is, and just say, "This is 100000% prohibited, don't you dare!" But, as we've learned, making anything prohibited makes it all the more intriguing, especially for teens as they go through a turbulent time in their development. What's more effective here is to instead curate a range of books or other kinds of stories (in whatever formats) that are more suited to our belief system, and that approach these topics without offering teens un-Islamic solutions. 

(And, for the sake of all that is good, to write some books or make some fictional media that's suited to our belief system, too! We really need to provide our kids with more options; if all they find are the books written by non-Muslims, then those are the ideas they're going to inherit.)

Most importantly, it requires that teens have someone to discuss their thoughts with freely and without feeling like they're committing some big faith-shattering sin. That means parents need to step up, read the books they want their children to be reading, and prepare to discuss the topics in those books with their kids, without anger looming over the exchange. And, if parents cannot do that, then there needs to be some other place where teens can discuss - a book club, or a gaming club, or a movie appreciation club, or so on - hopefully run by someone who can facilitate conversations and discussions about the themes and topics.

I understand that this is a whole lot of work - and what I've talked about in this article is barely scratching the surface. But it's necessary work. Humans seek stories. We love stories, and we consume them voraciously. Give us literacy skills and a good book, and we're going to read. It's how our brains work. "Read!" And, boy, do we read. Stories intrigue us, and help us solidify lessons in our minds. But they also can mislead us, being written by humans who are biased and may have certain agendas. That's okay; when we're older and more experienced, we can appreciate and enjoy a piece of fiction without agreeing with the beliefs held within it. But in the meantime, we need guidance. 

And we need more fiction written from an Islamic perspective! This doesn't necessarily mean that we need stories that focus on Islam and the practice of Islam, though those of course are crucial to have in our arsenal. We also need more fictional stories that simply agree with Islamic values. Stories about being kind, about seeking justice, about fighting discrimination, about handling cultural differences, about the pursuit of the sciences and education, and so much more. Topics which are relevant to Muslims and Muslim societies today, and which we can discuss. 

It's important to remember that reading fiction, or experiencing it through another format, is not a waste of time. It is education by another name; education through entertainment. You might not notice it, but every time you watch a movie or read a book, you're learning something. Your mind is absorbing something. It might be something you agree with, or it might be some bias that becomes a part of your biases - even if it's a harmful bias - so wouldn't it be better to know what you're consuming, to be able to break it down and consider it rather than swallowing it blindly? 

I happen to think that literary analysis and media literacy skills are critical and non-negotiable skills for Muslims to have, today more than ever. And I happen to think that in the same way that others teach us through their fictional stories, we should educate ourselves in the same ways. Storytelling isn't something to run away from or shun. It's something to embrace - and it's time we start to take control of our narratives and teach our children the values we want them to have, in the way that best speaks to them: stories, fiction, and fun. 

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