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| Dr. Ramzi |
The 99 is a comic book, created by Naif Al-Mutawa and published by Teshkeel Comics, featuring a team of superheroes with special abilities based on the 99 attributes of Allah in Islam but some are virtues encouraged by a number of faiths.
The character cast consists of Dr. Ramzi, a scholar and social activist, the 99 youngsters (some of them children), with special abilities conferred to them by "Noor" gemstones. The set of evil characters is led by the power-hungry Rughal, who seeks to steal the power of the Noor stones and their bearers for his personal benefit. The storyline pits the 99 led by Dr. Ramzi in their pursuit of social justice and peace against the forces of chaos and evil.
The 99- Bari the Healer (Haroun Ahrens from South Africa) with the ability to heal the wounded
- Batina The Hidden (Rola Hadramy from Yemen) with the ability to blend into the background and become invisible
- Mujiba The Responder (Sharifa Samsudin from Malaysia) with the ability to access the collective wisdom of mankind
- Wassi the Vast (Ashok Mohan from India) with the ability to temporarily enlarge or elongate isolated parts of his body
- Samda the Invulnerable (Aisha Mokhtar from Libya) with the ability to create a protective force field
- Hadya the Guide (Amira Khan from Pakistan living in London, England) with the ability to track people and objects back along the paths they have taken
- Fattah the Opener (Toro Ridwan from Indonesia) with the ability to open up portals to faraway places and by stepping through them instantly go anywhere he wants
- Darr the Afflicter (John Weller from the United States) with the ability to cause physical pain by focusing his anger on people
- Mumita the Destroyer (Catarina Barbosa form Portugal) with the ability to destroy objects
- Jami the Assembler (Miklos Szekelyhidi from Hungary) with the ability to understand how all machines and gadgets work
- Noora the Light (Dana Ibrahim from United Arab Emirates) with the ability to see the light of truth in others or produce illusions of light
- Jabbar the Powerful (Nawaf Al-Bilali from Saudi Arabia) with the ability to move or break through large objects
Controversies
In a religious decree carried by Saudi websites, the clerics ruled the series blasphemous because the superheroes of its title are based on the 99 attributes ascribed to Allah in the Quran. The Grand Mufti Abdulaziz al-Sheikh, head of the Permanent Committee for Islamic Research and Issuing Fatwas, said "The 99 is a work of the devil that should be condemned and forbidden in respect to Allah's names and attributes." The original comic strip version, first released in 2006, had already run into opposition from Muslims not only in Saudi Arabia but also in neighboring Kuwait.
The fatwa arose when Al-Mutawa was sued by a Kuwaiti civilian for blasphemy in a court of law in Kuwait in 2014. Al-Mutawa fought the case and won. There was an appeal in 2015 which he won as well.
Andrea Peyser, columnist at the New York Post, wrote in October 2010: "Hide your face and grab the kids. Coming soon to a TV in your child's bedroom is a posse of righteous, Sharia-compliant Muslim superheroes, including one who fights crime hidden head-to-toe by a burqa."
On July 2, 2014, The Kuwait Times reported that ISIL members had issued death threats and offered unspecified rewards for the assassination of Dr. Al-Mutawa, via Twitter. Al-Mutawa defended the work saying that he had received clearance from sharia scholars and never would have gone ahead with the project had he not.
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