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Islamic Angels (and superheroes)

Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2007 7:45 pm
by acreRake
For my HU game, i came up with the idea of using a Spirit of Light disguised as a human (specifically a Tharsis Avenger), as an extremely powerful NPC hero.

For some stupid reason, i thought it would be interesting to have her be Muslim. I know that similar things have been done in comics (by which i mean: make absolutely no sense). Did i forget to mention that i thought it would be kewl to have her be female? :oops:

Is there anyone out there that could offer an opinion on this?
Could a Spirit of Light come to believe that the Palladium "gods" are counterfeits and that Allah is the only true God? (and that Muhammad is his Prophet...etc?)

I thought her background could start something like this:
"Very little is known about the first ten-or-so-thousand years of her life. She comes from the Realm(s) of Light, as do all Spirits of Light. It is known that she has some hard feelings toward many other angels, and against “gods” as a whole. She has come to believe that Islam is the only true faith, and has dedicated her (immortal?) life to serving Allah. For now, that means living as a human and living exclusively on Earth."

I've done some research about what exactly women are forbidden to do, and is seems like being a superhero could actually work as long as she observes the holy days and is careful with her behavior and relationship toward men. Also travel is a big issue, but i'm not really sure how big (she would be zipping around the globe, ideally...not sure if that's allowed)

I'm pretty sure that angels (in Islam) are here serve "man", and could so be ordered to take the role of superhero, maybe? Would it be considered dishonest for an angel to pass one's self off as human? Is that allowed?

Anyway, anyone who has anything that might enlighten me, please let me know. Also, i hope i haven't inadvertently offended anyone, i admit i am ignorant about a great many things and would love to be corrected.

Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2007 1:26 pm
by acreRake
belial.1980 wrote:Interesting concept BTW. Which book catalogs the spirits of light? I'd like to read up on them some more.
They're from Dragons and Gods.

Maybe my question wasn't very clear, and probably too focused:

Could a member of a race whose very existence contradicts a certain religion's beliefs actually believe in/belong to said religion?

Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2007 6:00 pm
by sHaka
acreRake wrote:
belial.1980 wrote:Interesting concept BTW. Which book catalogs the spirits of light? I'd like to read up on them some more.
They're from Dragons and Gods.


Also in CB1 IIRC.

Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 4:44 pm
by shiiv-a
Marvel comic books .... had a mutant female super hero that was a hero for the entire nation. wore mostly white with some shy blue parts to the costume.

she was strong .. could fly ... and could do other things... well .. she was a mutant .. but could have been a Psi instead of super powers ... =p

cant recall WHO she was tho .. just that its been done

cheers

Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 5:53 pm
by JTwig
shiiv-a wrote:Marvel comic books .... had a mutant female super hero that was a hero for the entire nation. wore mostly white with some shy blue parts to the costume.

she was strong .. could fly ... and could do other things... well .. she was a mutant .. but could have been a Psi instead of super powers ... =p

cant recall WHO she was tho .. just that its been done

cheers


I think I know who your talking about, but isn't she Jewish and the official heroine of Israel?

Posted: Fri Jan 19, 2007 3:02 pm
by Svartalf
acreRake wrote:Could a member of a race whose very existence contradicts a certain religion's beliefs actually believe in/belong to said religion?


How does the existence of a Tharsis "angel" contradict Islamic beliefs? I mean, ok, technically, they are a Siembiedan creation and not one of the Classic varietis of angels from muslim folklore, but aren't they creatures of Allah and in His service? You can tweak folklore a little and decree that the Tharsis is an angel and that as such he serves whatever incarnation of the Highest you deem proper.

Then again, this is bordering on grounds of high theology, and not very easy, not to mention sensitive, in a real world setting game.

Posted: Fri Jan 19, 2007 7:10 pm
by demos606
Allan Rictman wrote:I'm as anatomically correct as a Ken doll


What might work though is an orphaned Xy fragment that somehow survived the identity change to Thoth and lost it's connection to the collective intelligence.

Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2007 4:29 pm
by shiiv-a
yeah .. thats the name .. i remembered it like 3 days ago .. then went looking on the wrong forums for this link.

and while nothing is wrong with running a char with a different background, be it religious and/or cultural .. youshould remember .. not EVERYONE is gonna know the same info you do.

i've run into the 'closed minded' types too often. what with a native american in HU .. she didn't mesh with the game, but i did try to get her to change to adapt to the japanese culture. the other pc's made it nigh impossible for anything to be accepted. ..
then my attempt to run a arabian girl, well .. lets say THAT went over like a ton of bricks. she figured it was better off on her own in a strange world than to continue with the gamers .. and now? .. she's in phaseworld .. someplace .. on her lonesome with her robo horse for company

so be careful is all the advice i can give you. but enjoy the game.

Posted: Mon Jan 29, 2007 9:50 am
by acreRake
Thanks for all the input everyone!

I think svartalf is right, i've just changed the religion of the game-world to reflect the abilities of the angel(s) that exists in it.

I don't know why i thought this was such a touchy subject when i consider what people (and i) have done to other religions for a game!

Islamic Angels

Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2007 2:47 am
by MrMom
Angels are not subject to the laws of man because they are the servents of the gods or God or Allah or whatever. So your angel would be following a different code of conduct. The Koran and the Bible are written for Humans to understand and obey so the rules in them do not apply to angels. There are also examples of angels incognito in both. Hope this helps you a little