Forget Superman, Spiderman, Batman, and Supergran, there’s a new wave of super-heroes protecting the world from villainy. Based on Islamic culture, ‘The 99’ are the brainchild of Kuwaiti psychologist Dr Naif al-Mutawa, who seeks to take back Islam from the hands of militants and extremists. Although the religion of the characters isn’t blatant, they do possess and promote Islamic values.
Each super-hero is empowered after finding one of the ninety nine supernatural Stones Of Light, but the concept of ‘The 99’ is based on the Names Of Allah, by which Muslims regard God. There are, unsurprisingly, ninety nine such names, but owing to disagreement over specifics more than a hundred exist. The characters, who hail from all over the planet, thus take on aliases like: The Powerful, The Afflicter, The Loving, and The Destroyer.
What a great idea. But can comic books help fight radical Islam? Well they sure won’t do any harm, and they may even help tackle Islamophobia, particularly if the children of non-Muslims start to show an interest in them. The comics are already selling a million copies a month, and an animated movie is now in the pipeline. You can download a free edition here:
http://www.the99.org/include/contn/X1ZkxhXHSPO.pdf
