Even caped heroes are becoming more representative, like the new Ms Marvel, aka Muslim teenager Kamala Khan. Courtesy Marve

Seven Muslim superheroes who fought injustice before Amulet

We take a look back at some other masked crime fighters who have roots in the Muslim world.

Razmig Bedirian
Razmig Bedirian

January 10, 2020

With the arrival of Marvel's newest Muslim superhero, Amulet—an Arab-American superhero from Dearborn, Michigan — we take a look back at some other masked crime fighters who have roots in the Muslim world.

Ms Marvel

Amulet is set to join Ms Marvel in the March 1 edition of Magnificent Ms Marvel. Real name Kamala Khan, the 16 year-old American-Pakistani became the first Muslim to headline her own Marvel comic book. She also became the poster child of the anti-Donald Trump protests in 2017. We might be seeing her in live action soon too. Last year, Disney announced that Ms Marvel will be getting her own show on the entertainment's streaming platform, Disney+.

She will also be a playable character in the upcoming action adventure game, Marvel’s Avengers.

Kismet, Man of Fate

As exciting as Amulet and Ms Marvel’s arrival are to the superhero scene, they aren’t the first Muslim crime fighters to appear in the comic book world. That credit goes to Kismet, Man of Fate. The Algerian fez-rocking hero made his debut in 1944, during the golden age of comic books. Though little is known about Kismet’s origins, we know that he lived in the south of France before the country was overrun by the Nazis. He then hid out in the forest until he emerged as a resistance fighter with scrying powers.

Nightrunner

Nightrunner, real name Bilal Alsselah, first appeared in a two-part story in Detective Comics and Batman Annual in 2011. He was created to mirror the social and political situation in the French projects of Clichy-sous-Bois. A French-Algerian raised by a single mother on the outskirts of Paris, Bilal followed in Batman's footsteps, donning the Nightrunner mask after his friend was mercilessly beaten to death by the police.

A superior parkour and free-run athlete, one of Nightrunner's aliases is the Batman of Paris.

Dust

A member of the X-Men since 2002, Sooraya Qadir discovered her ability to turn to a malleable cloud of dust after a slave trader tried to take off her niqab.

The Afghani woman instinctively lashed out at the slaver with her abilities and flayed him alive. Her mutant power became the basis of her X-Men codename, Dust. She is currently a member of the Marvel superhero group, Champions.

M

As cool as Dust and her abilities are, she wasn’t the first mutant to join the X-Men. Meet Monet St Croix or M, whose super strength gives her the ability to lift buses or snap streetlights like toothpicks. She can even withstand direct blows from the Hulk and has healing abilities. She is also known to have a genius-level intellect. She first appeared in X-Men family of books in 1994.

Iron Butterfly

Kahina Eskandari first appeared in the world of DC comics in 1994. She is a Palestinian ferrokinetic, who can move and shape metals at will. Her origins are uncertain as she often gives conflicting accounts. As Iron Butterfly, she is the field commander of the superhero group, the Shadow Cabinet.

Simon Baz

Also hailing from Dearborn, Michigan, is Simon Baz, the first Muslim member of the Green Lantern Corps. The Lebanese-American joined the extraterrestrial police force in 2012 after Hal Jordan, portrayed by Ryan Reynolds in the 2011 film, quit.

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At a glance

Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.

 

Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year

 

Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month

 

Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30 

 

Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse

 

Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth

 

Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances

Skewed figures

In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.