One of
the recurring motifs in the Ms. Marvel comic is the role of the character’s
faith in Islam. The text does not explain the faith as a fully positive or
fully negative thing, and as such lets the texts engage with it as a living set
of ideas rather than rigid doctrine.
When
the protagonist first receives her powers, three superheroes she is a fan of
appear in a heavenly image, chanting an Arabic prayer. To complicate this,
there are also things in the image that make it seem like this vision is
hallucinatory, most notably a cartoon porcupine wearing foam hulk hands. It ground
the character’s ideas on her religion as something she may not fully take
seriously, but still something she finds important.
The
protagonist’s family also looks at Islam in a few different ways. Her brother
is very devout and clashes with her rather secular father. Her mother is
religious enough to worry about her daughter going to a “devilish” party where
she might drink alcohol.
The
protagonist also has an outwardly religious best friend. This friend always
wears a hijab, and when insultingly questioned if she is forced to wear it,
says that she not only chooses to, but that her dad thinks it is “just a phase.”
The protagonist is shown wearing a hijab only in a mosque.
The scene
in the mosque is probably one of the most revealing about the protagonist’s
relationship with her religion. She and her friend chat with each other as the
imam is sermonizing. When they are berated for it, the protagonist criticizes how
the mosque is segregated by gender. The imam claims it is for getting rid of
temptation, but the protagonist does not respond by claiming the practice is
absurd or sexist, she asks the imam why is this mosque segregated when the
largest and most sacred one in Mecca is not. This highlight that the religion
itself is affected by the cultural demands of the people who practice it and
not all the seemingly negative ideas come as a necessary doctrinal command.
Overall,
Islam takes up the text much in the same way Religion does in many people’s
lives. It is important to them, but it can be challenged and examined as much
as any other set of ideas without taking away any respect for it.
I think that out of all the texts we have read in this class, Ms. Marvel showcased a religion that many are not too familiar with in an interesting light. She is constantly criticizing how she is automatically related to her religion from her classmates and blames this for her parents' strictness. On the other hand, the superheroes speaking the Arabic prayer forces Kamala to realize that her religion isn't what is causing her to be "different." I think religion is an important motif and is reflects the way religion is seen by many adolescents.
ReplyDeleteI think you did a great job highlighting that Islam was not overtly prevalent in Ms. Marvel. It was just a facet of Kamala's identity.
ReplyDeleteHi Luke,
ReplyDeleteI agree with your observation that the scene in the Mosque is the most important for the text's exploration of Islam. Oftentimes, Western society will dismiss Islam as inherently oppressive, sexist, or violent, but when those same criticisms are made of Christianity, we excuse it by saying that is evidence of practitioners manipulating the faith for their own goals. That defense is one we see presented here, but this time in defense of Islam. I appreciate, as you observe, that the representation of faith is neither fully negative or positive. It is not a full rejection or embrace of the full faith but instead a negotiation.