Muslim Superheroes On The Rise !

Superman, Spiderman, X Men- You just name it, all these characters and many more are very much familiar in our lives especially the young ones. Even for me, I still remember when I was still in primary school, I loved to watch X Men very much and I was so into it that I chose Gambit as my favourite character. It’s funny though if I think about it again =) Alhamdulillaah, now I am 'enlighetened' ^_^

Anyway, Have you heard anything about THE 99 ? I believe not, because so far I haven’t seen anyone writing on this. I was surprised to know it through a friend of mine who told me about about this the other day. For your info, THE 99 is the first group of comic superheroes born of an Islamic archetype which was created by one clinical psychologist from Kuwait called Dr. Naif A. Al-Mutawa . Yes, Islam and Comics. It might sound peculiar, but Dr. Naif A. Al-Mutawa had proven that it is in fact not.
The comics was brought into existence by Naif came in part from the Sept 11 tragedy in the United States.

In one online article by NST; Naif was quoted as saying that :

The 99 is based on Allah’s virtues of wisdom, healing and love.” Although the characters in the comic are based on Allah’s virtues, the storyline doesn’t delve into religion at all. Instead, it focuses on showing the cultural differences of Islam as the characters come from different countries.“They come from 99 countries and practise any religion. The idea is to have a multi-cultural and pluralistic understanding that not everything is only about Islam. I want to show that irrespective of your religion, you can work with everybody,”.

Brief on The 99 :

THE 99 is about a group of boys and girls who find 99 mystical Noor Stones (Stones of Light) which give them superpowers. They are brought together by Dr Ramzi Razem to fight injustice and evil to create a world of peace, enlightenment and diversity. In their quest, they encounter the sinister Rughal, who wants the stones. Of the 99 characters, Mujiba is from Malaysia. She has the power to answer any question. Initially, she used her power to make money by going on game shows. Under the guidance of Dr Ramzi, she learns to use her power to fight evil.

Other characters are ; Jabbar(The Powerful); Noora(The Light); Darr(The Afflicter); Jami(The Assembler); Widad(The Loving); Fattah(The Opener); Mumita(The Destroyer); Raqib(The Watcher); Bari(The Healer); Sami(The Listener); Musawwira(The Organiser); Hadya(The Guide); Rafie(The Lifter); Baqi(The Everlasting); Baeth (The Sender). ; Jaleel(The Majestic)and also a burqa-wearing character known as Batina(The Hidden) has also been mentioned in interviews as an example of the variety of depictions of female characters in the comic

Created by Naif Al-Muatawa, the first comic book in the series was released in 2006. It is now available in English, Chinese, Indonesian, Turkish, Arabic, Hindi and Urdu. Unfortunately, the comic is not available here, though there are plans to bring the animation to local television by end of the year.

The 99 Animation Preview:

Presentation By Dr. Naif on The 99:

Preview copy of The 99:here

P/s: Luckily the character from Malaysia wears Hijab =)  Alhamdulillah !
To be honest, it’s too soon to say anything. Overall, the initiative sounds good of course. For those who have read the comics, you might want to share something here =)

Allahu A'lam (Allah Knows Best)