My daughters and I have finally reached the front of the queue to meet Marvel's Sana Amanat.
Janah, 11, and Serene, 10, have waited almost an hour to meet the woman former United States president Barack Obama once called a "real-life superhero".
![Kamala Khan, the Pakistani-American and Muslim teenager who is Ms Marvel.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170527082008im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/c/q/j/u/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gwcqfx.png/1495693558528.jpg)
Amanat, 34, was in Dubai speaking at a literature festival about co-creating the first Muslim superhero, Kamala Khan, a revamp of the classic Ms Marvel character (originally named Carol Danvers and created in 1968).
First introduced in early 2014, Khan is a Muslim, Pakistani-American teenager who fights crime in Jersey City and occasionally teams up with the Avengers.
Marvel Comics took a gamble on Amanat's idea to create the character in an era when Muslims are labelled terrorists, bombing cities rather than trying to save them.
The gamble has paid off. Khan, the teenage girl who gets polymorph powers when a strange terrigen mist descends upon Jersey City, is a global phenomenon.
The success of the Ms Marvel series doesn't surprise me as a Muslim mother of four girls – it's refreshing to see a Muslim girl portrayed as a heroine rather than oppressed.
That's why it was important to me that our daughters wait in line to meet Amanat.
![Kamala Khan, off to save the world.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170527082008im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/c/q/j/3/image.related.articleLeadNarrow.300x0.gwcqfx.png/1495693558528.jpg)
Parenting Muslim girls comes with challenges; not only must we deal with the traditional issues that face adolescent girls, but we must also contend with the negative depiction of Muslim women in the media. We must work harder to empower them with positive images of who they are while teaching them to be strong, resilient and successful women without compromising their religious beliefs and duties.
After meeting Amanat, the girls pose for a picture with her. They walk away from the experience excited and eager to learn more about Ms Marvel's adventures.
![Kamala Khan is "a unifier", says her co-creator.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170527082008im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/c/q/j/n/image.related.articleLeadNarrow.300x0.gwcqfx.png/1495693558528.jpg)
The second half of the creative team is New York Times' best-selling comic writer and author G. Willow Wilson. Amanat admits the women don't always see eye-to-eye, which is a blessing in disguise.
Amanat says she considers herself a progressive who grew up with Islam, while Wilson is more conservative, wears a hijab, and found Islam later in life.
![Sana Amanat, Marvel's director of content and character development.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170527082008im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/c/q/k/5/image.related.articleLeadNarrow.300x0.gwcqfx.png/1495693558528.jpg)
"That's what has been so interesting," says Amanat. "We've utilised that to help develop a character that represents different ideas but also commonalities of our different experiences."
Amanat is right. Muslims' beliefs differ from one sect to another. Most Muslim families have at least one member who is a little more religious than the rest, and one who barely meets the basic criteria of Islam, while others prefer to label themselves moderate.
In the debut issue, Kamala questions female and male segregation in her Saturday-morning Islamic class. Tired of being unable to hear the sermon, she interrupts the class, barging through the partitions, searching for answers from Sheikh Abdullah, the religious leader.
"Didn't you tell us there was no partition at the Prophet's mosque in Medina? That men and women went through the same door and sat in the same room?" she asks.
"Yes, but those were blessed times, free from today's scandal and temptation," responds Sheikh Abdullah
It's through humour that Amanat and Wilson challenge Muslim labels. They've deliberately chosen not to make Khan a hijabi, yet she still dresses modestly, even as a superhero, staying true to her Islamic beliefs.
"Kamala doesn't wear a hijab but [her friend in the comic series] Nakia is a hijabi fashionista who wears high-end brands," Amanat says. "We wanted to show that you can be a Muslim woman and stay true to your beliefs without wearing a hijab; however, if they chose to wear it she can also be stylish."
While the pair are tackling stereotypes, comic fans around the world are asking if the shape-shifting teen will team up with the Avengers to take over the White House and eliminate the racist president who wants to keep families like hers out of the country.
Since Donald Trump's inauguration, fans have created images of Khan tearing up a photo of the president, punching him, and grieving in her room.
Ms Marvel readers give me the strength to get up in the morning. https://t.co/tAJDrvbVeO
— G. Willow Wilson (@GWillowWilson) February 3, 2017
"She's a unifier, she will try to understand the other side, not punch the other side," Amanat says. "I don't want her to get mixed in to the world of politics, I want her to be above all of that.
"If she is on one side of this then the people we want to change the hearts and minds of will automatically look at her as someone who hates and we don't want that. We want to find a way where they can be inspired by Ms Marvel."
"About 97 years ago women were 'granted' the right to vote. It's 2017 we shouldn't have to wait another 100 years for progress" #WomensMarch pic.twitter.com/IveDMaZdAv
— Kamala Khan (@MsMarvelNow) January 21, 2017