Okay, so this one probably fits best in my other book, Writing Stuff (Contests blah blah blah whatever else I put in the parentheses of the title...) , but it seems like this one gets a tiny bit more attention and I want to reach more of you with this one. 

Okay, so people, what's your message?

Let me backtrack a little. 

As a writer, what message(s) and central theme(s) do you hope to convey through your stories? I'm not asking "What's your story about?" or "What happens?"

I want to know what you want the reader to take away from their reading experience. Tell me what it is that you want to say through the story (and hopefully you know to do more showing instead of direct telling). And for the Muslim writers, please don't give the broad and general answer of teaching about Islam or showing that Muslims are people too. Islam is broad in topics, there are endless aspects you could focus in on and subcategories in those. Case and point? Society and interpersonal relations. Dive further. A family unit. Dive further. Marriage. Dive further, rights and duties of the spouses. And it goes on and on and on. 

Now, I know like 90% of wattpad stories (especially in the Muslim community) are romance stories. But even in that, as long as we're not all telling the same cliche, there are differences. And calm down, I'm not turning this into another rant session where I bash the cliches. I'm biting my tongue and refraining from mentioning Mc-anyone. So keep reading and unroll your eyes before they get dusty.

Anyways, to answer that question, someone who is writing a romance story may have the genre as romance, but the theme of their story could for instance be love beyond borders (ie couples who are divided by land but overcome nationalism and tradition to be together in a halal way). So then the message would be to reject nationalism, tribalism, and/or racism. See?

Or perhaps someone else's story is still a marriage story, but it's not just the sugary falling in love and getting married tale, NOR the "BOOM! GLOOM! MARRIAGE IS DOOM" edgy-type stories that are popping up. It could just be a story that doesn't end at the wedding or birth of the first kid(s) but continues through the marriage. I have a book in mind right now that I won't name, but it was quite popular (and still pops up in the top 10's occasionally) and it started from before the couple was married and continued after they married, after they fell in love, and well, further continued into the mundane everyday life struggles a couple might face. It wasn't over the top, it wasn't craziness, and it wasn't boring either. Many of us were hooked on it. And I won't spoil the message in it because that author might read this and want to use it as her answer, but well, I'll just say it definitely had a message that was relevant to Islam without just being "hey....ISLAM!"

And yes, I dare say, even for the stories which feature....bad boys, rich CEOs, and abusive heehaws, there may still be a message. Now, this is not me giving the okay for everyone to go writing up abuse tales. Please don't. My rabbit ran away because of those horrible stories (#TuraabPleaseComeBack). 

But.. *cringes* maybe there can be a message in them. And you know, I think if someone writes an abuse story, they really shouldn't try to go for the whole "second chances" thing where somehow miss patient somehow wins the guy's heart until he realizes what everyone who's not a savage animal already knows, ABUSE IS BAD! PHYSICAL, MENTAL, EMOTIONAL, etc, ALL BAD!  But maybe don't focus too much on that side of "people can change." That's true, people can, but for these types of people, especially physical abuse, statistically speaking, they almost NEVER change. Once an abuser, always so. And by putting out so many of these "if you love him hard enough, he'll stop" stories, you're influencing impressionable young readers who might one day end up dead because they stuck around with Punchy the Pirate thinking she could cry some sense into him and then one day he went too far in the abuse and now she's in the grave, he's in the cage, and no one's innocent.

Instead, if you just absolutely must write a story featuring an abusive or controlling guy (mental abuse) and a so-called strong woman, then perhaps show her as she is. Yes, she may falter and make mistakes in her judgment about him, that's part of life and would make it believable, but eventually, she needs to realize what utter garbage he is and well, leave him and move on to better things. And this doesn't have to become an anti-man message, believe it or not. She can move on to 1)make her own happiness AND 2)find a better man, -not prince charming- whom she can be happier with and in love and they mutually take care of each other. Now it's not a fairytale, nor is it a misery tale. You know?

And okay, the stories needn't all fall under romance either. There's another story, which I won't mention in case that author also decides to comment, but it deals with bullying. Is that not something relevant to Muslims, or do we not care about justice and victims? Of course it's relevant and a good message to focus on. Friendship and bullying are certainly two subjects society needs a spotlight shined on; idk how things are in the rest of the world, but here in the US we read every day about some horrible case of bullying and either the victim ends up committing suicide or shooting up their school or something else. It's awful. I don't think I posted it on wattpad, but we had a case where a freakn 8 yr old hanged himself because he was getting bullied at school and the admins did nothing about it despite having video evidence that the other kids were physically abusing him.

So a story featuring an anti-bullying message, great! And also some stories featuring characters with disabilities (physical or mental) are nice to see not just when they focus completely on the disability, or overcompensate for it, but when they show the character as their own person. Not just a disability, not just a flaw or statistic or medical case, but as a person. Help us humanize each other not so we can feel bad for everyone who has some condition, believe me, pity can make things worse! But so we can relate, understand, appreciate, and know. These are good messages. 

And while we don't all have to go as deep as some of these authors, we should still strive to convey a good message through our works. Especially the authors of Islamic Fiction. And, I don't have time to fully explain the differences between Islamic Fiction and Muslim Stories, but in short, a Muslim story would just feature Muslim characters. Could be written by anyone about anything. Whether it has a message or not. Characters don't even have to be properly observant of Islam. They're fulfilling the quota by just existing as "the Muslim character." That's the representation.

But Islamic Fiction is a bit deeper. Firstly, it should always be Islamically compliant, with nothing contradictory to Islamic rulings and teachings. It should also in someway convey some aspect of Islamic values and morals. Note: it doesn't have to be a straight up book of direct preaching, that'd be boring, but it should teach or remind the reader of something, in a clear but not over the top way. 

Case and point, the story idea I mentioned about love beyond borders. So the message is anti-racism, something the Quran and Sunnah would also agree with, and yet the story isn't just quoting the ayah about us being created in tribes and nations to know one another, or a few ahadith. The story can portray an interesting and enticing love story, centered around unique characters whom we will root for and know their quirks and come to love, and so of course we want them together, and then when we realize the only thing keeping them apart is that she's from Wattpadia and he's from Wordistan,  we realize how silly these borders are and hope for their families to open their eyes and let them marry. We realize that place of birth or skin color or lineage or social status are worldly things that don't matter, but what matters is the soul inside, the attachment to Allah and how such a pair may benefit each other in this life AND the next. Message delivered. 

See what I mean? And before anyone whines, no, the characters in Islamic Fiction don't have to be some perfectly pious and practicing people who never make mistakes or sin. They don't have to be over the top such that they fall down crying and doing istighfaar because they accidentally caught a glance of a fingernail of the opposite gender and now think they're doomed to Jahannam.  BUUUUUT the author should be careful in portraying their flaws. Take caution not to glorify their sins (like dating, smoking, gang-violence, business scams, etc) and focus on graphics or too detailed to where it makes it seem alluring and enticing to people who may either fall into that same sin or are already in and now have justification from you. Don't be overly preachy, but do make sure to show how wrong these things are, not just in text (ie don't just repeat "it's a sin, it's shameful") no, show it. Show some consequences of that and in contrast, the benefits of avoiding it. Show some real life wisdom and teaching.

So you wanna tell a story about little miss pious who gets a crush on a guy in school/work. Don't turn it into a haram fest where she's falling all over him figuratively or literally...ahem, I've seen a story or two where they just HAAAAAAPPEN to bump into each other turning a corner and wouldn't you know it, ABS OF STEEL AND SMIRK! Don't do that. And also don't make her run home and blind herself washing her eyes with bleach and vowing to fast for the rest of her life whilst also spending ever second in sujood.

No. Be real. If she's gonna cave to the whispers of shaytan for a bit, that doesn't mean she throws off her hijab and goes dancing it up in his buddy's house smoking and drinking all night while her parents think she's with her best friend. No. Maybe she falls a little past the boundaries, and puts her conscience aside for a bit, bit by bit, and maybe he's not the bad boy christian/atheist exotic westboy (typically a Josh, Chad, Matt type guy of European ancestry whereas the girl is Arab, Desi, or African) , maybe he's a regular Muslim guy who's just trying to be strong and he too falters and they slip a bit until one or both of them realize things got too far and the story becomes either about one of them getting the strength to leave things and turn to Allah (a good message for our youth) or they find a way to get their parents involved and now the story becomes them repenting from their wrong (that always has to be the first step) and then making things right. Whether they marry or not is up to you, but the message still gets through.

They're human, so they have  human ways, human flaws and slip ups. The message isn't to be perfect all the time or that the opposite gender is the manifestation of evil and sin. No. The message could be about finding halal love, about sacrificing for Allah's sake, and keeping firm on your deen. Heck, there could be a best friend involved in the story who knows about the secret love thingy and doesn't want to snitch but also isn't completely neutral. He/she can constantly be the voice of reason (not preachy though) and sincere goodwill, helping until their friend wakes up and does the right thing. And there could be another friend or group who encourages the sneaky thing and pushes it, until the conflict all culminates into one dramatic scene which finally wakes the love birds up and snaps them to reality, reawakening their conscience (which hasn't been completely abandoned....just because you do one sin, big or small, doesn't mean you fall into them all at once) and that makes them change. Now you've given a dual message about friendship and choosing the right types of companions. Guess what? There's a hadith for that. Congrats, you just wrote something with a good message and it's entertaining and relatable.

Good job.

Bad job me, I fell asleep in between writing this and cook dinner, so I lost my place and mental track. I don't remember what other examples I wanted to give, so I'm just going to skip ahead to the part where I repeat the original question and answer it myself as well. Blah.

So tell me, people, what's your message?

As for my stories, they all have differing messages. 

In Los Heridos Chronicles, which I've unposted for the time being, I hope to deliver some commentary on the political climate of America as well as some basic world problems and social issues. My messages for that will deal with themes of racism, discrimination, justice, overcoming personal demons, etc. Interpersonal relations, family, and finding one's own path and place in the world, as well as some stuff like bystander syndrome vs intervening and standing up for what's right.

In Chasing Pearls and Chasing Dreams (which are being rewritten), my hope is to deliver a message of anti-discrimination, anti-racism, love beyond borders, family importance, pro-halal love and addressing the issues of parents who do the whole "you're too young to get married, focus on school" until you're like 30 and then they wonder why you're not married etc,  and also dealing with conflict in modern society.

For Empires of Faith, I didn't really set out to deliver an exact message when I started writing, however, I will say that there are certain chapters in which I did decide to include messages about racism, proper preaching, and confronting modernism and people who want to change the deen to suit their desires just because it's xyz year or blah blah century. And, there's another secret message and issue I will be tackling in the sequel, one that's very important and even though some people have tried to address it before, I feel that many of them do it in a very offensive way and without understanding or helping. So I plan to address it in a better and more...impactful way, In Shaa Allah.

In Legends of The Lost Desert (which, spoiler alert, I plan for that to become a series) I plan to tackle a few issues and their solutions too. Some of the messages will be about judging, discrimination, tribalism, character vs reputation, seeking knowledge in Islam, and another view at that secret message I mentioned above. Look forward to that. Hopefully, it won't be too on the nose, and will help and educate people.

As many of you may have heard me say throughout my time here, my goal with writing is based on three things: To Educate, Entertain, and Inspire. I think that honestly, that should be the mission of any author writing Islamic Fiction. Educate your readers about some aspect of Islam (and remember, Islam is broad in topics, so no one's saying your book that you wanted to be about a famous Muslim chef and his terminally ill wife now has to hammer in tawheed to the reader's brain every chapter). Entertain them so that they'll keep reading and learning more and more. Inspire them to implement the lessons learned and showcased, to spread the good messages and fully realize the benefit in their own lives and in the real world. That's how your writing becomes impactful. Not just if you make millions and get signed to a 7 movie deal.

Anyways, before I start rambling again, what was supposed to be a short little question and answer, has turned into nearly 3,000 words. That's longer than some of the chapters some of you put out lol. Of course, there are also others who write 20,000 word chapters on the regular, so there's that lol. Nonetheless, now I kind of want to reach that 3,000 word mark, so I'm filling in some random rambling.

Um, I guess we'll turn this into one of my curious questions with a bonus in it. For the bonus question, I want to ask if you personally understand the difference between Islamic Fiction and Muslim Fiction and where do you believe your books fall under in that respect? For those of you who write Muslim Fiction and not Islamic Fiction, I genuinely want to know why you chose that; I'm not going to bash or attack you. I just want to know. And be honest with yourselves please. 

With all of that, I'll rewrite the questions now for anyone who skipped all of the writing above and went straight for the questions so they can start commenting.

Q1: What is/are the message(s) you hope to convey through your story? (Please do include the story name and if you want, you can even explain how you're showing it and give examples, just include a spoiler warning where necessary.)

BQ: Do you know the difference between Islamic Fiction and Muslim Fiction? Where do your works lie in that regard? 

BBQ: Yum.

BBBQ: For those Muslim authors who choose not to write Islamic Fiction, what made you choose instead to just write Muslim fiction or completely secular fiction having nothing spiritual or religious at all?

Leave your answers in the comments down below, thank you!