A short story written by Sadiyah Ali.

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I settled deeper into my black sweater, pulling my hood over my face to hide it. I was in the local coffee shop watching people come and go, letting the grief hold onto me relentlessly. I heard so much talk about so many different things - local news, family drama, a popstar, a song they listened to… One man started speaking about a celebrity. He said that the guy was his hero.

Hero.

That word made me angry, and sometimes even the anger overwhelmed the grief, and I had to leave, before the anger left me, and became visible.

Did they even know what the word hero meant? Probably not. Nowadays, hero was a word that everyone threw around. 'You’re my hero,' they’d say, or 'he’s my hero,' but their hero would consistently change, sometimes, day by day.

Did they know a hero? Had they ever met one? I had. My older brother was a hero, and now, this world was one hero less.

This question constantly pops into my head when I ponder upon the problems some people have with the term 'Islamic fiction'. For some, it's an oxymoron - two distinctively separate words mismatched into one phrase. However, which part of the phrase 'Islamic fiction' is inherently out of place? Islamic or Fiction?

Everyone’s an individual, right? What Khalid likes, Bilal may not like; and what Amina likes, Rukhsana may not like. Yet in terms of fiction, there’s a general consensus that preaching is taboo - it should not be done by a writer who wants to be successful.

But what is defined as preaching? Is it where you’re reading more facts than an actual plot (is the story even fiction anymore?), or is it where characters are explicitly stating what is and isn’t allowed?

Muslims tend to think that Islamic fiction is of no benefit; they say it doesn’t increase a reader in anything good. We have found this to be the total opposite, so we’ve come up with a short list of 4 reasons why Islamic fiction is needed.

Here goes...

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We present to you a poem that still causes us to get goosebumps
 - one written by the talented writer, Umm Thameenah. Enjoy! 

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Wings From Above
By Umm Thameenah

An image of utter beauty, gliding so gracefully
Your confidence and sophistication, they truly inspire me.

Like a perfect entity
A servant so true and free
You amaze me
With your love that conquers all.

You’re like a bird
Because you fly so high.
Like a dove
Swimming beneath the sky.
You’re like an eagle
Determined to fly.
You’re a nightingale

Oh, how I wish that I too could fly . . .